Pablo Lavaselli - Argentinian Self-Trained BJJ Black Belt

Pablo Lavaselli is an Argentinian BJJ Black Belt under Eduardo Duarte. He competes in the Black Belt division of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF). He is one of the top lightweight grapplers of his generation. Pablo Lavaselli is one of the emerging fighters of the IBJJF and Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro (AJP) tours. He is famous for training under no coach from Blue to the Black Belt level. The true motivation for self-training aspirants.

Pablo Lavaselli was born on 31st May 1995 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Pablo Lavaselli was an active athlete from an early age. He was a proficient tennis player. His outstanding athletic skills made him famous when he was in his teens. His never-ending love for tennis became his passion.

Pablo Lavaselli has extensively played tennis since his childhood. As Pablo reached early adulthood, he gradually lost interest in tennis.

He also came to know that he had made a lot of friends after playing for so many years and he was continuing tennis for the sake of friendships. He understood that he can do much more than only being a tennis player. Pablo was well aware of his potential so he went to try his luck in MMA. 

As soon as Pablo realized that tennis is not the sport he wanted to pursue professionally, he switched to MMA. He instantly liked martial arts after watching some fights. When Pablo turned 17, he joined an MMA gym where his friend used to train. His dream was to fight inside the cage and he trained hard and uplifted his skills in a short time.

Pablo Lavaselli fully intended to fight in the cage as he was very much inspired by cage fighting. During his MMA training, Pablo had to attend boxing, wrestling, and grappling classes. After some time, Pablo realized that he was more skilled in grappling techniques as compared to the other techniques. Submission grappling techniques of BJJ fascinated him, a lot more than wrestling or any other martial art discipline. He then left MMA classes and joined a BJJ gym.

Pablo trained under coach Eduardo Amarante at Team 360 in Belgrano, Buenos Aires. Pablo trained hard under Eduardo Amarante. Pablo trained under Eduardo up until the Blue Belt level. After some time, Pablo suffered from some issues at the gym and decided to leave it.

When Pablo reached the Blue Belt level, his difference with Eduardo Amarante increased. Due to some personal differences with the coach, Pablo left Team 360 and started training with his friends at his house. His successful self-training became the identity and prominent reason for his fame in BJJ.

Pablo never felt odd getting trained by himself. He had been a tennis player for a long time so he was aware of the hard training regime and had great management skills. So he opened a mini gym at his home with the help of his friends. He invited his friends to the gym. As he had a huge social circle, many of his friends and acquaintances used to visit his gym and trained with him.

Pablo’s training at his residence made him known in the BJJ circuit. Many practitioners from different gyms came to train at his gym, getting inspired by the self-trained BJJ fighter. During this time, Pablo’s success and name got noticed by Miguel Alderete and Eduardo Duarte of Nova Uniao .

Pablo Lavaselli was promoted to Blue Belt by coach Eduardo Amarante. Shortly after the promotion, Pablo left Eduardo’s BJJ institute.

Pablo Lavaselli won the 1st position at AJP Argentina National Pro in 2017 as a Purple Belt.

As a Brown Belt, Pablo secured the 1st position at the CBJJE World Championship in 2018.

Though Pablo used to train by himself, Eduardo Duarte and Miguel Alderete were the ones that looked out for him. Pablo did not join Nova Uniao, still, Duarte and Alderete helped Pablo with his BJJ training. Being a BJJ coach for a long time gives you a lens to look at the grappler and tell whether he/she might become a fine or exceptional grappler or not. Eduardo Duarte awarded Pablo with his Black Belt on 3rd August 2019.

At the start of 2020, Pablo got a training invitation from Andre Porfirio to train in Orlando with him. Patrick Cooligan was the head of the BJJ’s biggest project, “Agora  ”, which aimed to transform young novice BJJ grapplers into fierce ones. Pablo Lavaselli was a part of that biggest project. There he was exposed to the world’s best BJJ grapplers and coaches which made him an exceptional grappler.

Pablo won the 1st position at the Brazilian Nationals in 2022 as a Black Belt.

Osvaldo “Queixinho” Moizinho is a BJJ Black Belt under the founding members of the Soul Fighters, Rafael Barbosa, Bruno Mendes, Leandro Escobar, and Augusto Tanquinho. Pablo earned 2 points at the start of the fight. Pablo quickly gained the dominant position.

Osvaldo tried to restrict Pablo’s movement by holding him by leglocks, but Pablo escaped. Osvaldo took advantage of the situation and scored 4 points. At the end of the match, both grapplers scored the same points but Pablo won the match by an advantage point.

Vinicius Cruz is a BJJ Black Belt under Carlson Gracie. He is famous for his loop chokes. At the advent of the fight, Pablo went for a submission from the back position but Vinicius defended and escaped. Pablo scored an advantage point for the attempt. Getting trained under the legendary Carlson Gracie, Vinicius has developed strong grappling skills. Even though Pablo did not directly train under a famous coach, still his techniques beat Vinicius and Pablo won the match.

Pablo gained 2 leading points (2x0) from the sweep and won the match against Vinicius Cruz.

Rehan Lavaselli is a BJJ Black Belt fighting out of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu. Rehan’s strong Gi grips did not let Pablo secure the top position for a long time. Rehan was quite swift in his techniques but as soon as Pablo understood Rehan’s fighting style, he scored 2 points against Rehan . Later on, Pablo submitted Rehan via Choke from Back and won the semi-final of the IBJJF Orlando Open.

Pablo Lavaselli vs Jason Valle

Pablo Lavaselli v Brandon Perry / Atlanta Winter Open 2023

Pablo Lavaselli VS Alexandre Molinaro / Houston Open 2020

Pablo Lavaselli v Osvaldo "Queixinho" Moizinho / American National 2020

Pablo Lavaselli vs Vinicius Cruz - Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu

Pablo Lavaselli v Rehan Muttalib / Orlando Open 2020

Photo Credit: @pablojj