Raquel Pa'aluhi – No Gi World Champion

Raquel Pa'aluhi is an American grappler and former mixed martial arts fighter. She represents the Zenith team, she has a diverse passion for combat sports. This remarkable athlete was awarded a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by a coach named Robert Drysdale . Paaluhi has faced tough opponents and made her way to victory. As the No Gi world champion, with her remarkable performance, she continuously won the championship in the years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019. Recently she won a bronze medal in the IBJJF European championship on the 27^th of January, 2024. 

Raquel Paaluhi was the daughter of mixed martial arts pioneer David Paaluhi. At the age of 9, little Raquel Pa'aluhi began the training of karate. During High School, her interest diverted towards freestyle wrestling. In Jamestown College Raquel secured 4 ^th place in All American WCWA and marked her spot in Hawaii’s National Wrestling Team. 

At the age of 19 years, Raquel started her training in MMA in the year of 2009. At that platform, Raquel was introduced to the art of Brazilian jujitsu . Moreover, she continued learning, improving, and growing in BJJ. In 2014 She secured the purple belt and she decided to flourish her career by travelling to Las Vagas.

She showed improvement in MMA fights, subsequently, Raquel's coach suggested she take a break of almost one year from fighting and put her sole focus on practicing jiu-jitsu to which she agreed. The journey of endurance and prosperity has been started as Raquel Paaluhi was diving deep into the sport of BJJ. As a result, she won the first tournament of UAEJJF’s World Pro Trials.

In 2018, Paaluhi and her husband Renato Canuto started training at Checkmat and a year later they offered to become head coach there. In August 2021, Paaluhi and her husband started their gym named Hybrid Jiu Jitsu, In Las Vegas. Now the couple is successfully running the gym. 

The scenario is tough as a woman in the regional MMA scene. Raquel extends her journey beyond the cage through BJJ. Some notable MMA bouts include Invicta FC 21 where she defeated Pannie Kianzad with the technique of rear naked choke that resulted in victory.

Raquel Pa'aluhi Canuto entered into the sport of BJJ as a amateur in 2012. She dedicated her career to Jiu-Jitsu which resulted in numerous victories.IBJJF European Championship depicts the grappling styles of Raquel Paalhui; in which she grabbed the bronze medal. The versatility of Paaluhi is a symbol of strength in the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 was scheduled on March 3, 2024. Paaluhi faced Karol Rosa and won the match with a rear naked choke.

Raquel Pa’aluhi Canuto brought the grappling spirit from her ancestors and faced the toughest competitors in women’s mixed martial arts. Raquel Pennington, Amanda Nunes, and Sara McMann are prominent practitioners of BJJ who competed with Paaluhi. 

Paalihui’s passion for Jiu Jitsu not only opened up the ways to success on the mat but also helped her to find her soul mate. Renato Canuto is a black belt and Paaluhi’s husband has been training together since 2016 in the BJJ academy. They got married in the summer of 2016. She shares her feelings with the words 

The name of Raquel Paaluhi is one of the best women grapplers. She competed with the strongest opponent Pannie Kianzad. An intense MMA fight happened between both fighters but in the end, Paaluhi made her way to victory with the submission technique of Rear Naked Choke. 

An aggressive fight was held at IFC 9 between Kaitlin Young and Raquel Pa’aluhi in IFC. Young repeated hits on the face left her to bleed severely. The grappling specialist Pa’aluhi ended up winning by using the technique of rear naked choke. 

In 2015 No Gi Worlds exciting grappling held between Raquel Pa’aluhi vs Chelsah Lyons. Both of them scored points. Chelsah was taken down and grabbed to attempt submission which made her unable to move. She tried to release herself. The fight went to the duration of 7 minutes. Paaluhi won the match by rear naked choke. 

• 1st Place at IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2017 / 2019 / 2021)
• 1st Place at IBJJF Long Beach Open (2017 )
• 1st Place IBJJF Dallas Open (2021 )
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2018)
• 2nd Place IBJJF European Open (2018)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship (2021)

Raquel Paaluhi 2015 No Gi Worlds Purple middle final

Raquel Pa’aluhi Canuto wins with RNC of Pannie Kianzad #mma #invictafc #bjj

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Photo Credit: @raquelpaaluhi