Larissa Campos - BJJ Black Belt

Larissa Campos Carvalho, also called Lari, is a BJJ Black Belt under Thiago de Guimarães. She represents the Gracie Humaita Reunion BJJ which is located off the coast of Africa. She is one of the female light featherweight competitors who have won the IBJJF World Championships.

Larissa Campos was born in Araraquara which is situated in Sao Paulo in Brazil, on 24 October 1994. She was brought up in Araraquara.

When Larissa Campos was 19 years old, she met Thiago de Guimarães in May 2013. Soon, they became friends. At that time Thiago was a Black Belt in BJJ. He taught BJJ to the people of Reunion Island which is located off the coast of Africa.

Thiago was the one who initiated BJJ on Reunion Island. People on that island were not aware of Jiu-Jitsu.

As Larissa and Thiago both fell in love quickly. By August 2013, Larissa had moved to Reunion Island. She was aware of BJJ her whole life as it was a famous and trending sport in Brazil. But she never felt the urge to start training.

After only 1 month of living on the island, Larissa became so inspired by BJJ that she started training. She was aware of BJJ a long time ago, but now she started to closely observe her favorite BJJ practitioners.

She had been watching students train in BJJ. As Thiago was the head coach of Gracie Humaita Reunion BJJ, Larissa watched him teach BJJ techniques to his students. Having a sharp memory helped her remember the BJJ technique which she had been noticing for a long time.

Only after some months, she had the requisite knowledge of BJJ submissions and techniques. It was a surprise for Larissa herself because she was not an athlete. She never participated in any competitive sport, but she embraced Jiu-Jitsu. She even imagined instructing BJJ to her fellow women who wanted to grapple. When Thiago saw Larissa’s admiration and fascination with BJJ, he started coaching her.

Larissa's grappling skills brought her into the focus of the BJJ community. Her consistency towards BJJ let her win many BJJ championships and tournaments. Her grappling skills were improved enough that his coach gave her the responsibility of coaching women and children.

It was like her dream had come true. She gave her life and heart to BJJ and inspired women.

Larissa was shortly promoted to Blue Belt after she started grappling. She even competed in the IBJJF Championships as a Blue Belt. She started teaching BJJ at Thiago’s BJJ institute while she was a Blue Belt. She had earned that place through her sheer determination and hard work.

Larissa Campos earned the 1st position at the IBJJF European Open Championship in 2015 and 2016, while being a BJJ Blue Belt.

After Larissa's consecutive successes, Larissa was promoted to Brown Belt in 2018. Her win streak did not break; rather she became more serious and enthusiastic about BJJ.

Larissa won the 1st position at the IBJJF World Championship in 2018 as a Brown Belt. Larissa is the kind of fighter who keeps on struggling to get to the top position and then retains it no matter what.

Larissa Campos had a phenomenal and outstanding performance in the BJJ color belt divisions. She had won many national and international championships along with world titles. At last, she received her BJJ Black Belt from Thiago de Guimarães in December 2018.

Larissa was in the limelight the day she started training in BJJ. Though she started training BJJ late, she proved that all her life she has only done one thing and that was BJJ. It only took 5 years and 3 months for Larissa to reach from White to Black Belt. Her enthusiasm and hard work enabled her to gain and retain a tremendous BJJ career.

After receiving her Black Belt in 2018, Larissa conquered the 3rd position at the IBJJF Pan American Championship in 2019.

Clara Dufau is a BJJ Black Belt. Larissa is a composed fighter. She neither stalls her opponent nor goes for the aggressive fighting style. She has a mature and well-constructed form of handling her opponents. Clara, on the other hand, had an aggressive fighting style.

Larissa’s ground grappling skills are the reason for her fame which she earned in no time. Both fighters scored advantage points against each other. Larissa Campos won the fight by submitting Clara Dufau via Armbar in only 7 minutes and 28 seconds.

Bianca Basilio is a BJJ Black Belt under Caio Almeida. She is one of the top BJJ grapplers of her generation. Bianca had an aggressive fighting method at the start of the match. Larissa had, as usual, a calm fighting strategy.

Larissa scored 2 points at the advent of the match and laid pressure on Bianca. Larissa had a strong grip on Bianca that did not allow her to gain the dominant position. Despite Bianca’s struggles, Larissa Campos submitted her via Armlock.

Claudia Do Val is a BJJ Black Belt under Ricardo De La Riva. Claudia did not compete often when she was in colored belt divisions. Still she managed to be a strong grappler and is now one of the top female BJJ competitors.

This fight was worth watching because both grapplers had a calm fighting style. Larissa had a strong hold of grips while Claudia, most of the time, had the dominant position. Both fighters executed excellent grappling skills but Larissa Campos won the fight by scoring more points.

Larissa Campos VS Rose Marie el Sharouni / Paris Fall Open 2019

Larissa Campos v Tammi Musumeci / Nashville Open 2021

Larissa Campos v Sophia Dalpra / San Diego Open 2022

Larissa Carvalho vs Claire France Thevenon / Paris Spring Open 2019

Larissa Campos v Sophia Dalpra / Los Angeles Open 2022

Larissa Campos VS Clara Dufau / European 2020

Photo Credit: @lari.campos_