Claudia Do Val - A Fierce Female BJJ Competitor

Claudio is among the top Jiu-Jitsu Champions of her generation and a representative of the famous Soul Fighter association. She started her martial art journey in her teens and ruled the Jiu-Jitsu world with her phenomenal performance.

Claudia Do Val was born on the 1st of June 1988 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She spent her childhood in Penedo, the southern region of Rio de Janeiro.

In 2006, Claudia started her combat sports journey with Judo. She developed a great love for Judo during her teens and wanted to excel in it. Her love for Judo started from her brother, who used to practice BJJ. After her 18th birthday, Claudia joined the Judo sessions with high motivation and enthusiasm.

While continuing her journey as a Judo player, Claudia joined Jiu-Jitsu classes at the age of 21. She started Jiu-Jitsu practice to improve her performance on the ground. However, the true essence of Jiu-Jitsu inspired her soul. Claudia decided to spend her energy and focus on the submission techniques of BJJ.

In 2009, Claudia started Jiu-Jitsu under the famous BJJ grappler Ricardo De La Riva. She was not thought to become a professional athlete while joining combat sports. She just adopted Judo and BJJ as healthy hobbies. Claudia mentioned her views in her interview:

However, Jiu-Jitsu’s love made a permanent place in Claudia’s heart. Even her injuries on the mat never decreased her passion for Jiu-Jitsu.

Claudia competed in three matches as a White Belt practitioner after joining Jiu-Jitsu.

She competed in only one match as a Blue Belt. Claudia used to spend all her time in Jiu-Jitsu training and took less interest in competing on the mats. Her extensive training in the initial steps made her an incredible grappler.

Although, Claudia had a scarce appearance on the mat as a white and blue belt competitor. However, in 2016 after receiving her Brown Belt, she made remarkable achievements in her Jiu-Jitsu career. She won European and World Championships as a Brown Belt. Claudia also won a Double Gold Medal in the Rio Winter Open Championship.

After presenting such a brilliant performance on the mat. Claudia’s coach awarded her Black Belt in the last month of 2016.

After receiving her Black Belt, Claudia continued to make good track records in Jiu-Jitsu. In 2017, she won the World Championship, European Championship, and Brazilian National Championship in her debut.

She decided to make 2018 more successful than all her previous years. All her sincere efforts paid off after winning the European Championship, IBJJF Grand Slam, and World Championships.

These excellent performances on the mat added her name among the top BJJ grapplers. She secured 2nd place in the IBJJF Gi ranking of 2017/2018.

Do Val won 6 Gold Medals in 2 days after competing in the Master World Championship.

After winning 6 Gold Medals on an international level, Claudia decided to participate in the Asian Championship held in Tokyo. Motivation from previous victories and her elite submission techniques helped her continue her winning streak. She returned to Brazil holding 2 Gold Medals.

Claudio competed in Sao Paulo Open Champion and maintained her record of victories on the mat and won the Sao Paulo Championship in Brazil.

After placing her name on the top in her hometown, Claudia went to Europe to set new records. She participated in 5 different tournaments and returned home adorned with Gold Medals.

All these exceptional victories of this iron lady made the way to reach the next level. She was nominated by FloGrappling Black Belt Female of the Year in 2018. This was the time when Claudia also ranked No.1 in the IBJJF No-Gi Black Belt World.

In 2019, Claudia broke all her records of victories and won 35 Gold medals in European Championships. After that, she was ranked No.1 for the 3rd time in the IBJJF 2019 session.

In the final bout of the IBJJF 2019 Championship, Claudio Do Val fought against the best finisher in Jiu-Jitsu, Venla Luukonne.

This was Claudio’s third world championship after receiving Black Belt. She tried to attack with her favorite Omoplata submission technique. But Venla made a plausible effort to defend against Claudio’s grip and succeeded in her struggle.

After 4 minutes, Claudio attempted a powerful triangle choke to control Venla Luukonen. Claudio’s strong attack forced Venla Luukkonen to tap out. This IBJJF super heavyweight Championship was won by Claudio.

In the 2018 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, Claudia Do Val and Monique Elias faced each other in the final.

In the beginning, Elias pulled Do Val but Claudia controlled her with a prompt guard attack. Monique Elias easily pass the guard and maintained her dominant position for the first 5 minutes of the match and secured 2 points. After that, Claudia came back with her powerful triangle attack.

In the end, Claudia finished the match with her strong wrist lock submission that forced Elias to tap out.

The 2019 IBJJF Manila Open Championship was held between Claudia Do Val and the first Filipino Jiu-Jitsu Champion, Maybelline Masuda.

Claudia controlled her opponent at the start of the match and maintained her dominant position throughout the fight. Both fighters showed their excellent grappling skills on the mat.

The match finished after 10 minutes of the fight and Claudia won the match by points.

Claudia Doval VS Tine Scheldeman / Madrid Open NoGi 2019

Claudia Doval VS Nicole Sullivan / American National 2019

Claudia Doval vs Ana Talita Alencar / Tel Aviv Open 2019

Claudia Doval vs Charlotte von Baumgarten / Lisbon Open NoGi 2018

Photo credit: @claudiadovaljj