Mahamed Aly Santos da Silva - The BJJ World Champion

Mahamed Aly is a Black Belt and a world champion under coach Lloyd Irvin. He won many world championships at the colored belt level. He received training at Nogueira Academy situated in Brazil until he was promoted to Brown Belt. Then he moved to the U.S. and got his Black Belt from Lloyd Irvin.

Mahamed Aly’s father was a big fan of boxing and was inspired by the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. He named his son “Mahamed Aly” after this legendary boxer. Mahamed Aly also followed in the footsteps of his father and became a fan of MMA from a young age.  

At the age of 9, Mahamed’s father was murdered in a car theft. After his father’s death, Mahamed moved to his uncle’s home in Jacarepaguá with his family. After some time, he was relocated to Gardenia Azul along with his family.   

Mahamed had a strong yearning to join MMA. He got a chance to join a local gym when he was 15 years old. Then Alye happened to start kickboxing for a short time.

He started his journey in MMA. During his early training in MMA, one of his fellow mates submitted him with a triangle choke. That triangle choke submission proved a turning point and built his interest in Jiu-Jitsu. He started basic BJJ to get training along with MMA.

Eduardo Brigadeiro was Mahamed’s first Jiu-Jitsu coach. Eduardo trained Aly for one and a half years and promoted him to Blue Belt. At that time Mahamed wanted to excel in MMA.  

To pursue his dream and become an MMA fighter, Mahamed decided to move to Team Nogueira. He again pursued his journey to become an MMA fighter. 

Mahamed was very much dedicated to MMA. Even though he left his home and preferred to live in Nogueira's fighter house. So that he could focus on his training.

At the age of 17, Mahamed weighed 98 kg and competed with senior athletes in the gym.    

Mahamed wanted to take part in tournaments but his coaches Rogério Nogueira and Antônio Rodrigo did not let him in due to his younger age. They suggested waiting until he turned 18.

Before he took part in MMA tournaments, his coach Everaldo Penco convinced him to take part in BJJ tournaments. He took the advice of his coach and won the tournament easily and was promoted to Purple Belt by the Nogueira brothers and his BJJ coach Everaldo Penco.    

Success in BJJ tournaments and promotion to Purple Belt has diverted Mahamed’s interest toward BJJ. He again started his journey as a grappler.

Mahamed started to take part in various international tournaments. During his visit to the U.S. for Abu Dhabi World Pro, Mahamed met Lloyd Irvin. Irvin got impressed with Mahamed’s talent in grappling and invited him to join his team in Maryland. Mahamed did not accept his invitation because he wanted to continue his journey from Rio de Janeiro.         

Mahamed Aly wanted to learn BJJ with more dedication. In 2014, before the World Championship, Mahamed Aly accepted the invitation of Lloyd Irvin to visit his gym and prepare for World Championship 2014. He visited his gym as his friend Eberth Santos already settled there. He enjoyed his visit and also won his first World Championship and got the title of World Champion.    

Mahamed Aly found himself an explosive fighter and also aggressive to some extent. He thought strength and mobility are the crucial factors of BJJ. He uses some Judo and wrestling techniques in his BJJ. 

Eduardo Brigadeiro Promoted Mahamed Aly to Blue Belt in 2011 after almost 2 years of training in his gym.

Mahamed was promoted to Purple Belt in 2012 after his tremendous success in his first BJJ tournament. His Coch Everaldo Penco and Nogueira brothers gave him his Purple Belt.

After winning the first World Championship, Everaldo Peco promoted Mahamed to Brown Belt in 2014.

In September 2015, Lloyd Irvin promoted Mahamed Aly to Black Belt.

This bout was between Mahamed Aly and Igor Scheinder in the 2019 World Championship. Both fighters showed a fantastic performance.

Mahamed was very focused from the beginning. He tried to take down Igor in the initial seconds but Igor countered with his full energy. Later in the game, Igor applied closed guard with Mahamed Aly on his top. Igor tried to apply an ankle lock but Mahamed Aly did not let him move and they both got stuck in a complicated position with Mahamed Aly on his chest. Finally, Mahamed managed to escape his foot.

Again Mahamed Aly took him down but Igor strangled Mahamed’s foot with his legs. This time Mahamed succeeded to escape his foot again. Igor tried to strangle Mahamed from his back and then applied a wrist lock but failed.

At the end of the match, Mahamed Aly submitted Igor Schneider with Kimura. 

This bout was between Mahamed Aly and Gregory Walker in Washington DC Open 2017.

Both fighters showed great sportsmanship in this bout. Gregory tried to control Mahamed from the back and took down Mahamed twice but Mahamed successfully managed to escape. Gregory also tried to put down Mahamed with both of his legs but Mahamed did not allow him to do so and showcased a brilliant performance.

Mahamed Aly pulled him down with full force but Gregory succeeded to escape. At the end of the fight, Mahamed Aly submitted Gregory with Flying Armbar.   

This Bout was between Mahamed Aly and Nicholas Wolz in the 2019 Boston Spring Open.

Mahamed Aly put Nicholas down with his foot stuck in Nicholas’s legs. Mahamed Aly managed to escape his foot and ended up in a standing position again. Mahamed Aly takedown Nicholas with his knee on Nicholas’s chest.

After three and a half minutes of fighting, Mahamed Aly submitted Nicholas with Cross Choke.

Mahamed Aly vs Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu / World Championship 2017

Mahamed Aly VS Igor Schneider / World Championship 2019

Mahamed Aly vs Nicholas Meregali / World Championship 2018

Mahamed Aly VS Michael Musumeci Jr. / European Championship 2020

Mahamed Aly vs Gregory Walker / Washington DC Open 2017

Photo credit: @alybjj