Diogo Araujo “Moreno”- Third Degree Black Belt

Diogo Araújo was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 30, 1984. He represents Soul Fighters Academy in the Jiu-Jitsu circuit. Souler Fighter’s competitors won major medals like silver and gold medals at the world championships and Rio Open.

Diogo Araújo started Jiu-Jitsu  training because of his father. His father was a big fan of martial arts but he never found time to train. Therefore he wanted his son to be a martial artist. 

Moreno started BJJ training at Vila da Penha, situated in Rio de Janeiro under the superb coaching of Professor Munir. Later he switched his academy and joined Marcos Carvalho. In Marcos’s Academy Moreno met the future members of The Soul Fighter Academy. After the formation of the Soul Fighter Team, Moreno started training under Augusto Tanquinho. He received his blue and purple belt under Master Carvalho while Moreno’s later belt promotions took place under Augusto Tanquinho, including black belt promotion.     

Diogo received his black belt on the podium of the Rio Open by Augusto Tanquinho after receiving his gold medal in 2010.  

Diogo Sampaio started his coaching career when he started teaching Jiu-Jitsu at Evidence Academy in Tijuca situated in Rio de Janeiro. Later he relocated to the USA where Jiu-Jitsu was spreading quickly. Now he is working as a BJJ coach at Underdog MMA.  

Diogo Araújo was nicknamed ‘Moreno’. Moreno is a Portuguese word that means dark-skinned. Diogo used to play water polo when he was a child and he was named so due to the presence of more than one Diogo. So he was named Moreno while another Diogo was called ‘Negão’.       

Diogo Araujo faced Brian Beaury II in the final of the Boston Summer Open. Diogo Araujo started the fight with a pulling guard and tried to apply a full guard. But he could not succeed and Beaury took the top position. Now Beaury tried to dominate and control Diogo Araujo but Araujo encountered it in a very good manner. He used the Gi of his opponent and took him down. This takedown earned him two points.

Now he was in the top position but his one leg was in between the legs of Beaury. The next few minutes passed in the struggle to free his leg from the grip of Beaury and he succeeded. Now Araujo was in the top position and he tried to control Brian Beaury. Beaury on the other hand tried his best to escape but he did not lift his back from the ground in the last minutes. Finally, Diogo Araujo won this fight with points.

Diogo Araujo faced Angel Cicero in the final of the Dallas Spring Open in the medium-heavyweight division. Both fighters tried to dominate each other. A few minutes later, Angel Cicero was on the ground and Araujo was in the standing position. Now he tried to dominate and take control but Cicero encountered by grippinghis Gi. A few minutes passed but Araujo remained unable to overcome Cicero.

Finally, Araujo took the side control and then started making efforts to take his back. Cicero escaped from his grip. Now Araujo started making a continuous struggle to dominate Cicero and take his back. Once again he took side control and scored three points for this impressive move.  After struggling for a few minutes, Araujo took Cicero’sback and applied a collar choke. He submitted Angel Cicero with a collar choke.

Diogo Araujo faced Felipe Cesar, the ADCC Champion in the New Heaven Fall Open 2022. Both the fighters had strong cores and  did not let the other take them down. Both of them tried in the complete match to take down each other. Firstly Felipe Cesar tried to apply a successful pulling guard but he could not make his legs grip around Diogo Araujo.

Araujo successfully escaped. Secondly, Araujo tried to apply full guard which was not successful. He tried to transition its full guard into a triangle but he could not. Contrarily, Felipe Cesar tried to overcome him but Araujo successfully put him on the ground. Diogo Araujo defeated Felipe Cesar Silva with a referee decision.

Diogo Araujo v Felipe Cesar Silva / New Haven Fall Open 2022

Diogo Araujo vs Angel Cicero / Dallas Spring Open 2018

Diogo Araujo vs Yann Cathalat / Dallas Spring Open 2019

Diogo Araujo vs Gabriel Kitober / Boston Spring Open 2018

Photo Credit: @moreno_bjj