Matheus Diniz - BJJ Instructor at Marcelo Garcia’s Academy in New York

Matheus Diniz is one of the top Black Belts under Marcelo Garcia. He earned a name as a grappler who showcased his maximum potential in his Brown Belt division. He won major championships in his color belt career and was included to the list of top-class grapplers of his generation. 

Born in the state of Minas Gerais on 8th April 1993, Matheus As a kid Diniz was a troublemaker as most of the brilliant kids usually are. They are hard to control and prone to do whatever they like and decide. He started his Martial Arts journey at the age of 10 in his school but Matheus was a mischievous kid and once he was expelled from school. After leaving his school, Matheus left his Capoeira classes.  

At the age of 15 when Matheus was in high school, he heard of a boy who wanted to fight with him. Matheus tracked that boy who used to live in his neighborhood. There was a catch, the boy was a Jiu-Jitsu student in a gym.

Matheus went to his gym and invited him to fight. But the coach at that gym, named Rodrigo Ranieri, did not allow them to fight in his gym. The coach addressed both boys,

This was the time when Matheus was introduced to BJJ and his first coach, Rodrigo Ranieri.

After a well-spent few years in Rodrigo’s gym, Matheus wanted to follow the footsteps of legendary Marcelo Garcia. He moved to Poços de Caldas to continue his BJJ journey at Paulo Rezende’s gym, 300 km away from his home. He stayed in Paulo’s gym and trained in Jiu-Jitsu with full devotion.  

Throughout his journey from start to Brown Belt, Matheus was very much inspired by Marcelo Garcia. Both fighters belonged to Formiga and both trained under the same coach, Rezende. Marcelo Garcia saw the abilities of Matheus.

He invited Matheus to New York to join him and train in his academy. This was a golden opportunity for Matheus which he utilized. Under the great coaching of Garcia, Matheus’s BJJ skills potentially flourished.  

Matheus attained various nicknames but “Gorilla” stayed with him for a long time. This name suited him very well because of his Gorilla-like walking style. He was also nicknamed “King Kong.” 

A few years after joining Rodrigo’s gym, Matheus was promoted to Blue Belt by Rodrigo Ranieri. After the Blue Belt promotion, he joined Paulo Rezende’s gym. At Paulo Rezende, Matheus achieved his Purple and Brown Belts.

Matheus made an extraordinary journey in the Brown Belt division. He achieved big achievements like Pans, World No-Gi, and New York Spring Open as a Brown Belt. After these consecutive big achievements, Marcelo Gracia promoted him to Black Belt in April 2015.    

Under Marcelo Garcia’s coaching, Diniz improved his fighting style and made big achievements in the coming years. He won major championships like World and Pan under his legendary coaching.

Matheus won IBJJF World No-Gi for continuous two years in 2013 and 2014. In 2015, he also won IBJJF Pans under the weight and absolute categories. In 2014 he was runner-up in IBJJF World.    

After the fabulous performance in the Brown Belt and promotion to Black Belt, both Matheus and Marcelo came into the spotlight. Matheus was burdened with a lot of expectations that he had to achieve.

In the IBJJF New York, Matheus executed his best performance against the MGA team. Matheus defeated Neiman Gracie and Gilbert Burns (BJJ & UFC legend) in the 94 kg and absolute division finals respectively and won two gold medals. This was one of the first-ever victories of Matheus in his Black Belt division.

In 2015, he again came into the spotlight when he defeated Garry Tonon in the absolute weight division of No-Gi Pans. He submitted this legend with Wrist Lock and won the final.     

In 2019, Matheus was invited to fight at the ADCC World Championship. Matheus started his training with great effort. This was a great chance for him to attain the title of Champion in BJJ. Matheus was categorized in the 88 kg weight division and he had to fight big legends like Pedro Marinho, Craig Jones, Gabriel Arges, and Josh Hinger.

His first challenge at ADCC was Pedro Marinho, one of the great legends of Gracie Barra. He defeated this great legend with staggering points (5-0). In his second match, Matheus faced Gabriel Arges. He won the second match by the referee’s decision. In the semi-finals, Matheus faced the legendary Josh Hinger, from Atos and won the match by points.

In the final, Matheus faced Craig Jones who is famous for his leg-locking techniques. Matheus won his first-ever BJJ title by defeating Craig Jones in the final with points and became ADCC World Champion in the 88 kg weight category.         

Matheus Diniz is now a BJJ instructor at Marcelo Garcia’s Flagship Academy situated in New York. His online lecture series is also available on the internet.  

After becoming ADCC champion, Matheus Diniz was aiming to fulfill his dream of becoming IBJJF World Champion. In 2020 and 2021, Matheus Diniz faced defeat by Kynan Duarte, Lucas Barbosa, Fordon Ryan, and Otivio Sousa in the IBJJF World Championship. Now in 2023, Matheus is training hard and looking for another chance to become a World Champion.     

Matheus Diniz faced Craig Jones in the final of ADCC 2019. Matheus defeated various super fighters in the ADCC 2019 to reach the final of the championship. In the final, he was very energetic to take this championship title with him.

Matheus Diniz pulled the leg of Craig Jones and tried to mount him. Jones countered by applying full guard. He did not let Matheus mount him completely. Matheus successfully escaped from the full guard but secured top position. The next few minutes passed as Matheus tried to overcome Jones but Jones did not let him do so.

In the next few minutes, the audience saw different phases of head-to-head tussle, take down attempts, and again head-to-head. At the end of the match, Matheus was in the top position trying to overcome Jone when times up. After a 30 minute fight, Matheus won the match with 2 x 0 points and became the ADCC champion. 

Matheus Diniz faced Lucas Barbosa in the quarterfinal of the 2019 World Championship. Matheus Diniz was taken down by Lucas Barbosa at the start of the match but he did not let him score points.

Lucas tried his best to overcome Matheus but Matheus's energetic movements worked well. Matheus Diniz showed a fantastic comeback and not only escaped the mount but also pushed Lucas out of the boundary.

Next ten minutes passed in head-to-head tussle. Both competitors tried to take down each other. At the end of the match, Matheus Diniz found a chance to take down Lucas. Lucas countered by going for an arm lock but he could not submit Matheus as time was over. Matheus won the match with points 2x0.     

Matheus Diniz faced Joseph Watson in the final of the 2020 Atlanta Winter Open. Joseph Watson started the match with a pulling guard in which Matheus secured the top position. Matheus did not let him apply full guard.

So Joseph tried to strangle his leg. In this struggle, Matheus succeeded to take the back of Joseph Watson. Later, Joseph freed his back but Matheus did not let him free completely and mounted him.

Finally, at the end of the match, Matheus mounted him completely and scored three points. Matheus won this match with 3x0 points.  

Craig Jones vs Matheus Diniz - 2019 ADCC World Championships

Matheus Diniz v Adam Wardziński / Pan Championship 2022

Matheus Diniz v Lucas Lisboa / Charleston Open 2022

Matheus Diniz VS Joseph Watson / Atlanta Winter Open 2020

Photo Credit: @matheusdinizjj