Breakout Star Gabriel Sousa, The No.1-Ranked Black Belt Who Won $45,000
Breakout Star Gabriel Sousa, The No.1-Ranked Black Belt Who Won $45,000
He’s 22 years old and the UAEJJF’s no.1-ranked black belt in the world– but most people couldn’t pick him out of a line-up. Get to know Gabriel Sousa.
He’s 22 years old and the UAEJJF’s no.1-ranked black belt in the world– but most people couldn’t pick him out of a line-up.
Get to know Gabriel Sousa; 2019 World Pro champion, and one of the best up-and-coming grapplers in the sport.
Less than a year ago Gabriel Sousa– full name Joao Gabriel Batista de Sousa– was a brown belt competing at the World Championships in Long Beach, California. The young ZR Team representative’s hopes of securing gold that day ended in the opening round of the tournament.
Considering Sousa had just come off winning gold at the 2018 World Pro, the setback required some strategizing with his coaches. “We sat down two days after I lost, and we discussed what I want to do,” says Sousa.
“Do I want to stay as a brown belt and do the same as last year, or do I want to try and make my name as a black belt? I was ready to pay the price.”
The promotion to black belt put Sousa among the elite grapplers in the world. His first major tournament at the new rank would be the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in Tokyo, where he took silver.
In 2018 Sousa’s cash prize for winning at the Abu Dhabi World Pro– combined with second place in the global ranking– earned him a cool $11,000. But it wasn’t until after Tokyo did he decide that he and his teammate Diego Ramalho would follow the Grand Slam Tour and chase the black belt ranking prize.
Sousa followed up his silver in Tokyo with a gold in LA. After that, he told Diego “We go until the end”.
It wasn’t all plain sailing. The year saw some big wins and some tough losses. Silver in Tokyo, gold in LA, silver in Rio, bronze in Abu Dhabi and gold in London.
Sousa gets a win over Hiago George in London
He had running battles with the other main names at 62kg, Hiago George and Joao Miyao. Sousa won some and lost some. But the ranking points kept coming, and the season-long rivalries helped prepare him for the biggest challenge– the Abu Dhabi World Pro in April 2019.
It all came together. Sousa won his three opening matches with two triangle submissions and a 29-0 points win before the razor-thin battle with Miyao in the final, a 2-2 contest decided by just two advantages in Sousa’s favor.
WATCH:
- Alexis Alduncin vs Joao Gabriel Batista De Sousa (starts 13.40)
- Joao Gabriel Batista De Sousa vs Mohd Ali Hayat
- Joao Gabriel Batista De Sousa vs Virgilio Carvalho
- Joao Gabriel Batista De Sousa vs Joao Miyao
It was a good end to the season as Sousa took home $10,000 as the World Pro champion, $30,000 as the top-ranked black belt in the world and a further $5,000 bonus as the top-ranked black belt from South America.
“Where I come from, where I used to train, the things I had in my life. I didn’t think I could get this achievement so young. I didn’t think I could be a World Champion so young.”
Climbing To The Top
Sousa was born in the city of Fortaleza in the north of Brazil. He comes from a poor family as one of seven children and began training jiu-jitsu aged 12 at a social project operated by his first coach Jeferson Teixeira.
There was no money from his family for luxuries like tournament registration fees or a trip out of town. Through donations the social project was able to help to some degree, but a young Sousa learned to hustle from a young age.
“We had a lot of people with good hearts, they would help where they could. And I was the kind of kid who would ask if somebody could help me– even if they said no I wouldn’t get upset. I would go to stores and ask if they could sponsor me.”
Perseverance was key. Sousa decided early that he would focus on jiu-jitsu. He says he avoided distractions, and spent all his time either in school or in the gym.
Sousa met Ze Radiola while still a juvenile blue belt. The charismatic team leader quickly spotted the youngster’s talent and would help him find places to stay all over the world when he traveled to compete. “He does it until now,” says Sousa.
With a silver medal at the World Championships as a blue belt, Sousa decided that he would need to move to the USA in order to fulfill his dream. He moved to the States as a purple belt in 2016 right before Worlds and now lives in Arcadia, CA where he teaches and trains alongside his teammates Lucas Rocha, Diego Ramalho and more at the ZR Team gym.
The Biggest Challenge
It would be easy to look at the impressive medal haul and the huge cash prize and imagine that success came easily to Sousa, but he had to overcome a huge setback midway through the season that almost derailed his plans.
Competing at the Grand Slam in Rio in November 2018, Sousa was submitted by rival Hiago George with an ankle lock in the -62kg final. The attack blew his knee out at the same time, and Sousa was unable to train properly for two months.
The moment Sousa's knee got hurt in Rio
Diego and Lucas did their best to keep him motivated, but Gabriel was relegated to drilling on the sidelines while everybody else trained hard. “I was watching Diego pushing hard and pushing himself and I couldn’t do anything, it was really frustrating.”
Three times his knee popped out when he tried to up the intensity, and he carried the injury into his gold medal-winning performance in Abu Dhabi in January 2019.
The Grand Slam in London was the result of him training normally. That weekend in March he beat both MIyao and George for gold, and would later take bronze in the lightweight King of Mats, too. Being injury free was a liberating experience, says Sousa. “I had a really good mindset, I was ready to fight anyone.”
What’s Next
With the World Pro title belt around his waist and the money in his pocket, you might be forgiven for thinking Sousa would happily relax and wait until the start of the next season. The re-branded AJP Tour kicks off with a Grand Slam in Moscow in June, and Sousa has already decided he’s in.
IBJJF Worlds are just a few weeks away and Sousa is already registered in the light-featherweight division. Because for all his success so far, he has big goals to conquer. “I want to win IBJJF Worlds at least four times – to get into the Hall of Fame,” he says.
Sousa has already showed the power of dreaming big. From fighting his way out of poverty in Brazil to becoming a world-beating black belt, he’s already achieved more than most people could imagine. And while he foresees titles in his future, he also wants to give back to jiu-jitsu.
“In two or three years I want to open up a school,” he says. But that’s not all. He hopes to open up a social project in Brazil, just like he trained in.
“I want to help people who passed though the same challenges in life like I did. To help people be healthy, to travel and compete around the world.”