Amanda Alequin "Tubby"- Aggressive Submission Grappler

Amanda Alequin, known as Amanda Santana, originally belonged to the US. She was born in Brooklyn, New York on 19 August 1994.

Growing up in a rough neighborhood, Tubby's father wanted to teach martial arts to his daughters. Amanda's father saw the possibility of altercations and instilled the need and desire in her daughter to learn and practice martial arts for self-defense.

During her childhood years, Tubby's first step to enter the martial world started with boxing.

Amanda’s family decided to relocate to another state of the US. The family of Amanda relocated and celebrated her 13th birthday in Florida. At that time, she practiced Boxing and other mixed Martial Arts (MMA) at home.

Tubby’s desire to do Jiu-Jitsu started because of his brother. Amanda’s brother started his Jiu-Jitsu practice at home which impressed his younger sister. She fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu techniques, especially joint locks and submission choke holds. Amanda’s brother often practiced multiple Jiu-Jitsu maneuvers with her which increased her curiosity.

Amanda started Jiu-Jitsu practice at the age of 15 under the mentorship of Jerre Norton. Jerry Norton was a Black Belt Champion at that time under the great Eduardo Veio de Lima.

Amanda continued her practice with Norton, who awarded her Blue Belt and later Purple Belt. After that, Amanda's family had some clashes with her coach and resultantly parted ways with her first instructor.

After leaving her first Jiu-Jitsu institution, Tubby joined the Marcio Cruz Academy. She met with Cruz during her training sessions at Norton academy, so it was not difficult for her to adjust to the new place and new environment.

For Amanda, 2015 was a year of accomplishments. She made impressive achievements in national and international competitions. She achieved double Gold Medals in the IBJJF World Championship and in ADCC trials.

The all-rounder- Amanda Alequin not only gave a proud performance in the grappling world but also worked at a veterinary clinic for her necessities. She worked as a technician at a veterinary clinic along with her Jiu-Jitsu training.

Amanda always tried hard to maintain her winning record. Her true struggle paid off on 25th June 2016, when she was awarded the Black Belt by Marcio Cruz.

Amanda tied the knot with MMA and BJJ practitioner Eric Alequin. 

Tubby’s elite submission skills led her to achieve the reputation of a  top-notch and emerging BJJ grappler. She has the record for the fastest submission in the WNO Women's Championship. 

This was the 2019 IBJJF Pan No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship fight held between the two iron ladies, Jessica Santos and Amanda Alequin. They faced each other in the semifinal of the Championship.

The match started with a thrilling guard attack by Jessica Santos. She tried her best to maintain her dominant position. However, after a minute, Amanda successfully passed her opponent’s guard and applied close guard. Amanda also struggled to maintain her dominant position. This match seemed to be in Jessica’s hands.

However, at the last minute, Amanda's powerful foot lock attack proved to be a decisive move. She won the match by the foot lock submission.

The 2021 WNO Championship was held in the last week of September. Amanda Alequin and Jessa Khan participated in the championship to showcase their elite grappling skills.

At the beginning of the fight, Jessa Khan put her energy and effort into strangling her opponent. She tried close guard but struggled to maintain her position. Amanda Alequin's prompt attempts at toehold disturbed the balance of her opponent. Amanda's powerful toehold attempt forced her opponent to tap out in just 42 seconds.

Amanda Alequin made the record of the fastest submission in the FloGrappling WNO Championship against Jessa Khan.  

The 2019 IBJJF Winter Open Championship was worth watching. In the final, Tubby and Laurah faced each other with full enthusiasm to win the medal.

In the start, Laurah Hallock maintained her dominant position by applying her elite BJJ skills. Amanda also showed her potential defensive skills and passed the guard of her opponent.

Amanda struggled to get the title fulfilled by the end of the fight time and she won the fight by points. Amanda won the championship and added one more title to her achievements.

Amanda Alequin VS Jessica Swanson/ New York Fall Open 2019

Amanda Alequin VS Jessica dos Santos / Pan NoGi Championship 2019

Photo credit: @tubbybjj