Professor Ana Laura Cordeiro - A 3rd Degree Black Belt BJJ Champion

A woman reaching the pinnacle of BJJ is still astonishing to any BJJ enthusiast because it is a male-dominated sport. It wasn't until recently that women started competing and earning the spotlight in BJJ. Ana Laura Cordeiro rose to fame while competing for the Gracie Barra academy, where she won four straight World Championships. In 2009, she was already thought of as a potential challenger for the title of the best female "Pound for Pound" Jiu-Jitsu fighter. She proudly received her Black Belt from Carlos Gracie Jr. (Founder of Gracie barra Academy) in 2009. She put down big names of BJJ such as Michelle Nicolini, Penny Thomas, and the most famous, IBJJF Hall of Famer, Gabi Garcia during her short but sensational career.

Ana Laura was a weighted girl in her early teens and said that she started BJJ training after observing that one of her friends significantly lost weight by doing BJJ. Her passion for Jiu-Jitsu began when she was a teen in the Brazilian town of Unai. Laura started her BJJ journey at age of 17.

Ana Laura's family did not agree with her BJJ training decision. She told in 2019 by giving an interview with Tatam Magazine; Ana’s mother stopped her from BJJ training by hiding her BJJ Gis and using other tactics. However, all these never stopped her from continuing to pursue what she loved to do and from becoming a World Champion.

She joined Gracie Barra academy when she was training for the BJJ Championships. Where she learned BJJ techniques under the supervision of Carlos Gracie Jr. Although, she spent this time with a hurdle as she was stuck with her study, job, and intensive BJJ training. However, hard work paid off in the end and she won four consecutive World Championships Titles.

In 2009, during her early career, Lura got an unfortunate back injury that kept her away from the mat for five years. When she came back, she said in her interview:

Cordeiro had the privilege to learn BJJ techniques under the great mentorship of Carlos Gracie Jr. She had a strong passion for Jiu Jitsu, so she'd find creative methods to fund her trips to Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo for competitions in the hopes of securing additional fights.

Her enthusiastic performance in BJJ opened the way towards a bright career. She was invited by Marcio Feitosa to teach BJJ techniques and moved to America. She started her coaching classes in Yorba Linda. She moved to the US with her husband Rafael (also black belt champion)

Ana Laura, an instructor at the Gracie Barra Upland in California. The coach at Gracie Barra Upland has never lost in a Jiu-Jitsu tournament and maintained his winning streak.

Anna retired early due to her back injury after an intense grappling career and an impressive BJJ record. She was diagnosed with degenerative disc L5-S1, which pulled her away from BJJ mats for 5 years. She also lost the reflex of her left leg. She attributes the exacerbation to a combination of extremely demanding training camps and exercising with bigger and stronger athletes. Her nasty back pain stopped her for five years from coming on mats.

Ana was working out twice daily and used to instruct for five hours a week before she got a back injury. She made every effort to postpone her back surgery. However, after five years due to severe back pain, she decided to undergo lower back fusion surgery.

Choosing the right doctor for your surgery would be a great advantage for your speedy recovery. She also said that her surgery process was about 4,5 hours long and her doctor chose to operate without sectioning her lower back muscles which help her in her speedy recovery.

Anna proved herself a strong BJJ Champion of all time. Doctors told her that she won't heal completely, and even if she did, she wouldn't be able to compete like she used to. However, Cordeiro truly made a comeback at the 2014 Las Vegas International Championship. Despite the injuries, she won the Gold Medal in the +60 kg weight category. She has strong self-belief that plays a core part in her victories. Anna attributes her rigorous training to miraculous success. She not only maintained her dominance in Jiu-Jitsu events, but also learned about anxiety, recovery, and patience during her career and recovery process.

Professor Ana Laura has documented a number of BJJ courses, which are now available via the Gracie Barra Official web portal. Check them out, as it is a significant achievement for women and Gracie Barra as a whole to be at the forefront of advancement in the Jiu-Jitsu world.

Ana Laura conducted a number of BJJ seminars to introduce women with BJJ.

Professor Ana Laura believes that awareness and sponsoring for women will grow in the coming years to ensure that more women can fulfill their ambitions of making Jiu Jitsu as a profession.

One of her students paid tribute to the great work of Cordeiro by saying:

Professor Anna Said:

It was a light heavyweight division fight. Ana Laura said that was the easy part. Although Charleen Marie is an active and tough competitor. However, after a thrilling match, Laura won the Light-Heavyweight Gold with a back choke against Charlene Coats.

In 2009, the Semi Final of the Pan Championship was held between Gabi Gracie and Ana Laura- undefeated BJJ Champion throughout her career. The match turned to Laura’s side after she used a spider guard against IBJJF Hall of Famer Gabi Gracie. She went home as Black Belt Gold Medalist.

This was held in 2008 by IBJJF, and Laura defeated Penny (medium heavy). Ana laura dominated from the start and attacked her opponent by close guard submission. She maintained her dominant position. Penny failed to escape from Ana's strong attack. Ana Laura won the match by Advantage.

In 2014, two Black Belt Champions faced each other at the California IBJJF Championship. This was an open-weight match between Ana Laura And Makenzie Dern. Both fighters tried their best to win the title. In the end, Mackenzie Submitted, and Laura won the championship title.

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan American Championship
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship
• 1st Place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan American Championship

Ana Laura Cordeiro

Ana Laura Cordeiro VS Penny Thomas / World Championship 2008

Ana Laura Gonçalves Cordeiro vs Andresa Correa

Ana Laura Cordeiro vs Gabi Garcia

Ana Laura Cordeiro

Photo credit: @analauragb