Henrique Cardoso “Ceconi” - Nogi BJJ Black Belt Champion

Henrique Cardoso was born in Criciúma, a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, on October 2, 1993. Cardoso is the best  BJJ competitor in his weight division and a  black belt under Alexandro Ceconit. Cardoso has competed and won many medals in various Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships. Cardoso started his BJJ career in Brazil at the young age of 13. Ceconi was trained by his jiu-jitsu competitor uncle, Alexandro Ceconi. Now, he is one of the  most venerable fighters in the grappling world.

Cardoso, while growing up in Brazil, had two role models in the form of his uncles. One uncle, Alexandro Ceconi, was a jiu-jitsu competitor, and the other was a professional football player. These two had a great influence on Cardoso to play sports. He started his practice in football at a very young age. Then, at 13, he developed his interest in jiu-jitsu.

Henrique Cardoso was nicknamed “Ceconi” because of his close relationship with a famous jiu-jitsu competitor in Santa Catarina state, Alexandro Ceconi. Alexandro Ceconi is Henrique Cardoso’s uncle, grappling coach, and mentor.

Alexandro Ceconi was the reason Cardoso stepped  into BJJ. Alexandro is a mentor for Ceconi who trained him throughout his training period. Cardoso got his black belt under Alexandro Ceconi.

Before Cardoso started BJJ training with his uncle, Alexandro Ceconi,  he  practiced football.  He left after he got interested in jiu-jitsu. Cardoso became  one of the rising stars in Santa Catarina’s jiu-jitsu circuit under Alexandro's training. Cardoso developed BJJ proficiency under his uncle’s tutelage, Alexandro, who spent a lot of time in South Korea to sharpen his judo before opening his school.

 Besides Alexandro Ceconi, Cardoso also  trained as a blue belt under Eduardo Milolo of RGA after his uncle left the country for a few years. Cardoso got his purple and brown belt from coach Eduardo. While he got his blue and black belts from Alexandro Ceconi. 

Cardoso was promoted to purple and then to brown belt under the instructorship of Eduardo Miloli of  RGA.

In April 2016, Cardoso was promoted to black belt under the instructorship of his uncle, Alexandro Ceconi. The belt was awarded in unison with Richard Avila. Cardoso competed at many BJJ Championships and won medals as a black belt.

While competing in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) league, Cardoso participated in many BJJ Championships and won many medals in different events like the South American No-Gi Open, Rio Open, London Open, Madrid Open, and Paris Fall Open.

Henrique Cardoso competed with Helton José at Pan No-Gi Championship 2022. At the start of the fight, Cardoso scored the first two points by back-taking the opponent using the leg-lock position. After that, Cardoso escaped a lethal technique. During the entire fight, both fighters managed to effectively escape each other’s submission attempts. In the end, Cardoso won the fight by points, which he scored at the start of the game by back-taking.

Henrique Cardoso fought with Clay Mayfield at the Pan No-Gi Championship 2022 as a black belt in the quarter-final. Cardoso scored the first 2 points using the back control position. After that Cardoso used the left heel hook position and attacked the neck of Mayfield. At this point, he had gained 6 points while Mayfield was at 0 score. In the end, Cardoso won the fight using the armbar technique.

José Henrique Cardoso faced Felipe de Silva in Balneário Camboriú Open 2021 in the final round as a black belt. Cardoso got two points at the start of the game by taking down Silva using his leg. After that, Cardoso scored three points by trapping his opponent in the bulldog choke. Felipe Silva tried to escape that bulldog choke by grasping Cardoso’s gi but failed. Then Cardoso scored two more points by escaping Silva’s take-down technique. Cardoso played very well during the whole game and won the fight with his great Kimura technique. Cardoso won the game with a handsome score of 15, while Silva didn’t gain any points.   

Erich Munis v Henrique Cardoso / Brasileiro 2021

Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu v Henrique Ceconi / IBJJF ABSOLUTE GP 2022

Henrique “Ceconi” Cardoso v Guilherme Lambertucci / Sul-Americano NoGi 2021

Photo Credit: @henriquececonijj