Dante Leon - Top No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Grappler

1. Dante Leon Details

2. Dante Leon Biography

Dante Leon is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and is a No-Gi World Champion. He works for Grappling Fight GF in Toledo, Ohio. It was on May 6, 1995, that Leon was born in Ontario, Canada. Currently, he competes in the middleweight class (181.6 pounds).

In his teens, Leon began practicing Jiu-Jitsu and frequently traveled across the Canadian-U.S. borders to take courses. When Dante was just an orange belt, Rubens Charles taught him how to invert during private lessons. After winning the 2017 and 2018 IBJJF Pan No-Gi Championships and the 2019 IBJJF World No-Gi Championships as a black belt, Leon has built a name for himself as a No-Gi competitor and super fighter.

2.1. Early Life and Amateur Fighting

In the small Ontario hamlet of Harrow in Essex County, Dante’s parents were teachers and musicians.

Leon played ice hockey till his teen age in the Ontario region, where Dante was born and raised. Dante's father introduced him to combat sports and martial arts at the age of six, and these occupations remained an important part of his childhood.

He was fortunate that both of his parents were affiliated with different prestigious professions. In his early teen years, Dante’s mother wanted him to learn music besides playing hockey.

“She suggested piano lessons. I said there was no way I was going to do piano lessons,” Leon recalls with a smile. “I turned to my dad for help.”

Dante’s father Dino was a martial artist. He knew the importance of martial arts in life. He was the one to introduce Dante to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

“He never got into jiu-jitsu himself, because he was in a lot of other martial arts,” Dante tells about his father: “But he thought Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu would be the best martial art to do, and I think he’s right.”

Dante began learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 12, followed by boxing. He got the opportunity to train with Windsor Essex's most experienced competitors of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Leon has been training in Jiu-Jitsu since 2007. After meeting with his first coach, Dean Hersche (Late), the youthful Canadian could not resist the urge to swim in the deep waters of grappling.

Leon once said after a session at Tecumseh Jiu Jitsu gym ,“What I love most about jiu-jitsu is competing.”

“It’s changed my life so much. It’s just had such an effect on me.”

Leon once said,
“it’s uncommon for someone to take interest in sports the way I do , especially when I aim to submit the opponent at any cost”.

Despite his growing interest in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, he was aware of the differences and approaches of other martial arts. He's aware that most people don't comprehend the level of skill required to bring down the skilled opponent.

“I like the fact that it’s an individual sport,” Leon says. “All the pressure is on you. It makes you a lot more conscious of how you train, how you compete.”

2.2. Dante Leon Pro BJJ Combat

Leon graduated from a White to a Purple Belt under the Gracie Humaitá/Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu organization. He needed a better training environment as his dreams in the sport intensified. His close friend Kelly Hymore helped him make that happen by introducing him to Abraham Marte and then his meeting was arranged with Vitor Oliveira of GF Team.

“I feel like a lot of the people who ask stuff like that are the people who don’t really understand what it’s like to have that large of a passion for something.”

Kelly Hymore would eventually move Dante and Gutemberg Pereira to Toledo, Ohio, in the United States to get training at Grappling Fight Team (GFT) Toledo, full-time under the guidance of the same Kelly Hymore. The IBJJF and UAEJJF competitions were dominated by the pair (Leon and Pereira) under this new schedule. Vitor Oliveira and Julio César Pereira awarded them Black Belts in June 2017 after a string of successes.

“I’ve always been confident in my game. I train with a lot of good guys, and I think that confidence comes from all those guys. They push me hard,” Leon says. “The reason I’m never afraid is because of the guys I train with.”

As a black belt, Leon's ultimate goal was to win Championship Gold in his weight class and in the Open Weight Class.

He says,
“I feel if you can conquer those things, if you can win double gold, that means you’re exceptional. You’re one of the best ever.”

2.3. Dante Leon Favorite Move

Dante Leon shared about his favorite move,” My favorite move is constantly changing but it’s no secret I love to take the back and finish, rear naked choke being my biggest weapon from the back.”

2.4. Dante Leon Historic Fights

Dante Leon Vs. Tye Ruotolo

Dante faced Tye Ruotolo at Grappler Fest 8 in 2020. Both competitors show off their elite grappling skills in a very offensive style. Dante dominated the fight and won by points.

Dante Leon vs Santiago Furlong

The bout was held in the 2021 Kansas City Open No-Gi competition. Both fighters relentlessly fought but Dante dominates the scorecard and strangled Santiago at the 3:10 of the fight in a lethal triangle choke and get the submission.

Dante Leon vs Renato Canuto

Both fighters faced each other at the eliminator round of 2016 Pan Championship. It was a show off of amazing techniques and defensive style grappling moves. Dante won the fight by getting a submission.

2.5. Dante Leon BJJ Instructorship

Dante Leon is running his gym Adamas Jiu-Jitsu Toledo in Canada in collaboration with GF Team Toledo and GF Team Perrysburg. The basic aim of the gym is to promote martial arts with self-defense and discipline.

A family-friendly environment is maintained for the trainers to learn and pursue their careers as BJJ instructors. There is no age limit to joining the gym.
Dante Leon’s long range of instructional videos is available for learning different techniques of BJJ including takedowns, guard passes, submissions, and back attacks.

“Everything I enter, I want to win,” he says. “I have large goals and small goals. I want to win all the major tournaments next year.”

“I feel if you can conquer those things, if you can win double gold, that means you’re exceptional. You’re one of the best ever,” he says.

2.6. Dante Leon BJJ Championships and Achievements

Dante holds six IBJJF World Championships titles and a UAEJJF World Championship title. The fact that he has achieved world championship status at every belt color ranking, which very few fighters are able to achieve.

• National Championships
• International Championships

3. Dante Leon Main Achievement and Accomplishments

3.1. Gi Tournaments

One time Kasai Grappling
One time IBJJF Pans Championship
One time UAEJJF USA National Pro – Long Beach

Year	Division
2020	Middleweight
2016-13	Middleweight
2016	Middleweight

3.2. No-Gi Tournaments

 One-Time IBJJF World Championship No-Gi.

Year	Division
2019	Middleweight

4. Main Achievements (Belts)

4.1. Coloured Belts

Position	Belt	Event	Year
1st	Brown	IBJJF World Championship No-Gi	2016
1st	Brown	IBJJF Pans Championship No-Gi	2016
1st	Purple	IBJJF Pans Championship	2015
1st	Brown	IBJJF Pans Championship	2016
1st	Blue	IBJJF Pans Championship	2013
1st	Brown	UAEJJF USA NAtional Pro. Long Beach	2016
2nd	Brown	IBJJF World Championship	2017
2nd	Blue	IBJJF Pans Championship	2013
3rd	Brown	UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro	2016

4.2. Juvenile Belt Achievements

Position	Belt	Event	Year
1st	Blue	IBJJF World Juvenile Championship	2012
1st	Blue	IBJJF Pans Juvenile Championship	2012
1st	Blue	IBJJF World Juvenile Championship	2012

4.3. Black Belt Achievements

Position	Belt	Event	Year
1st	Black	Kasai Grappling	2020
1st	Black	IBJJF WorldChampionship NOGI	2019
1st	Black	IBJJF Pans Championship	2018
1st	Black	IBJJF Pans Championship No-Gi	2017
1st	Black	IBJJF American Nationals No-Gi	2017

5. Dante Leon BJJ Professional Record Breakdown

Method	Wins	Losses
Submission	60	9
Points	22	16
Advantage	7	4
Decision	5	12
Other	2	0
Split Decision	0	1
By Penalties	0	0
By DQ	0	0

5.1. Submission W/L Methods

Methods	Wins	Losses
RNC	19	3
Arm bar	15	1
Knee Bar	6	0
Triangle	3	0
Inside Heel Hook	2	0
Outside Heel hook	2	2
Triangle ArmBar	2	0
Choke From  Back	3	0
Reverse Triangle	1	0
Guillotine	2	1
Towhold	1	0
Calf Slicer	1	0
Heel Hook	1	1
Inside Heel Hook	1	0
Kimura	0	1
Botinha	1	0
Manoplata	1	0
Short Choke	1	0
Violin Armlock	1	0
Calf Slicer	0	1
Yoko Sankaku	1	0

6. Dante Leon BJJ Fight History

7. Dante Leon Top Fights (Links)

Photo credit: @danteleonbjj