Francisco Lo - An Elite Black Belt Champion

Francisco Lo’s full name is Francisco De Assis Lemos Lo. He is famously known as Chico and is now associated with Checkmat Jiu-Jitsu . Lo is a top Black belt Champion who won several gold medals at the IBJJF Worlds, IBJJF Pan, IBJJF American Nationals, Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, and many other international tournaments. His name aired in the BJJ World When he won gold medals at the Sao Paulo Open Gi and No-Gi, and IBJJF American No-Gi Competitions in 2022.

Francisco Lo was born in Manaus, Brazil on the 7th of November 2000. He spent his childhood in Manaus. From a very young age, he was good at sports such as Soccer and Football. Soon he realizes that he needs to work on his athletic skills to become the best. When he was 11 years old he was physically abused by the other kids. After that, he joined jiu-jitsu classes.

Francisco Lo’s nickname is Chico, which is a short form of his name in Portuguese. This name was given to him by his family and friends.

When Francisco Lo first started practicing Jiu-Jitsu his instructor was the daughter of Cosmos Dias, Karen Dias. Francisco worked so hard that he was promoted from white belt to blue belt in no time. It was all because of his instructor Karen Dias that he achieved his juvenile belts so early and became a Purple belt. After that, he became serious about training and started practicing daily with his friends and other competitors.

When Francisco turned 18 years old he decided to move to Sao Paulo to join a more competitive academy to continue his training there and became a BJJ athlete. He talked to Cicero Costha and got a scholarship for training at a grappling house.

After starting training under Cicero Costha, Francisco Lo got many of the best training and opportunities that he never received before. Because of the guidance of the coach and Francisco’s hard work, he earned his brown belt in the Brazilian National Competition. On the 16th of May 2022 in a grand ceremony, Francisco was promoted to Black Belt. After promoting to Black Belt he participated in the IBJJF Absolute GP and won the gold medal. Before the match, he said in an interview, 

In the last year 2023, Franciso Lo announced on social media that he was going to switch to Checkmat Teams and will be representing this team in all the upcoming fights. He shared this news on his Instagram account and he explained why this decision would be the best option for him in the future. He said,

“4 points made me choose:

• First, the type of coaching that I get from Professor Keiser Girao. He matches my style. He fires me up and never allows me to give up. Plus, he has world-class instruction & strategy.
• Second, friends. It’s very important to have a positive environment around you on the team. I have good friends at Checkmat. Most of my friends there are world champions (my primary goal). I want to follow in their footsteps.
• Third, coaches and camps. Under Checkmat, I will have the opportunity to train with legendary coaches. Also, Checkmate is one of the only teams that are equally impressive in Gi and No Gi.
• Fourth, “The cheering.” Man, they are different! I will never forget when I was inside of the pyramid watching the World finals, and I saw their crowd rooting for their athletes. Immediately, I thought I would be part of this family.”

Franciso Lo was married to Yasmin Nayara who is also a top Black belt BJJ Champion. They married on the 16th of October 2023.

In the final of the Sao Paulo Open 2022 for medium-heavy weight, Francisco Lo fought with another Black belt champion, Lucas Gualberto. Lo initiated with the Closed Guard which the Gualberto brilliantly swept. The fight lasted almost seven minutes and both the players applied submission to win the match. At last, Gualberto tapped out and Francisco Lo won the match by triangle submission.

In the final stage of Dallas Summer Open 2023 in the Heavyweight division for the Balck belt category Francisco Lo faced another top black belt fighter, Rafael Silva. Initially, both players tried to take down each other to secure points. After that, Francisco succeeded and got 2 points. The fight lasted for almost eight and a half minutes and in the last thirty seconds, Francisco won the match by Toe hold submission.

In the final match of the Dallas Summer Open No-Gi 2023 Championship for absolute weight in the belt category, Francisco Lo fought with Marco Mendes. It was a very short and exciting fight that only lasted for one and a half minutes. First, Francisco secured two points by taking down the opponent. In the next minute, he won the match by toe hold submission.

Francisco Lo v Lucas Gualberto / São Paulo Open 2022

Francisco Lo vs Rafael Silva / Dallas Summer Open 2023

Francisco Lo vs Marco Mendes / Dallas Summer Open No-Gi 2023

Photo Credit: @franciscolojj