Renato Canuto - The King of ArmBar

Renato Forasieppi Canuto is a top BJJ black belt produced by Checkmat Jiu Jitsu Academy under his father and 5th-degree BJJ black belt, Valdir Canuto. He has also trained under Robert Drysdale, Rodrigo Cavaca, and Leonardo Vieira. He started his training in Jiu-Jitsu at an early age securing numerous titles in the IBJJF World, IBJJF Pan, CBJJ Brazilian Nationals, Kasai Pro, UAEJJF Grand Slam, IBJJF International Open and American Nationals Championships to date. Renato Canuto married the IBJJF World Champion, Raquel Canuto.

Renato Canuto was born on June 13, 1996, in Sao Vicente, an island in southern Sao Paulo, Brazil. When Canuto was born, his dad, Valdir Canuto, was already a BJJ athlete and was training, so Canuto grew up playing the sport. Valdir Canuto was the first to start a martial arts training academy in Sao Vicente. In 2004, at eight, his father introduced him to jiu-jitsu, and he was the first student in his class. For one whole year, he practiced Karate and Judo. Then, he started training in Jiu-Jitsu. After a few months of training, he competed in a national tournament and won the fight. This victory made him desire more advanced competitions, and he started working hard. He used to spend most of his day in the gym on the mats, with just one goal in his mind: to become a world champion one day. When he was young, he wanted to be a funk singer. Therefore, he kept jumping and dancing during training because the rhythm played in his mind.

Renato Canuto has never spent his time playing games or socializing. Instead, he has always been focused on sports. Initially trained in his father’s academy, he got promoted from white to brown belt. At his colored belt, from age 12, he started traveling to the US to compete in BJJ tournaments. In 2012, he won a silver medal in the CBJJ Juvenile Brazilian Nationals at Blue Belt. After that, he competes in the IBJJF Pan, CBJJ South American, and IBJJF Sao Paulo Championships, winning titles. At his brown belt in 2016, he moved to Las Vegas. For the first time, this young boy won the gold medal in the IBJJF World Championship Gi and Nogi.

Canuto is one of the most powerful and entertaining BJJ black belt athletes because of his acrobatic guard passing style and flying armbar technique. In 2016, Canuto moved to Las Vegas for better opportunities and with the dream to win the World IBJJF title. He joined the Zenith Academy and trained under Robert Drysdale and Rodrigo Cavaca. In that same year, three life-changing events happened in his life. First, he won the gold in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Secondly, he met the love of his life, Raquel Paalhui, and they married. And finally, by the end of the year, in December, his father, Valdir Canuto, traveled to the US to promote him to BJJ black belt. After that, he won multiple titles in the world’s top BJJ tournaments: IBJJF World, IBJJF Pan, Kasai Pro, and UAEJJF Grand Slam. He became the rising athlete of his era. He also started training in Drysdale’s Academy.

In 2018, before the Pan Championship, Canuto and his wife left the Zenith, joined the Checkmat Academy in Las Vegas under Leonardo Vieira, and competed from the Checkmat Team. Later on, they became the head coach there.

After moving to Las Vegas for international tournaments and to win the World Championship in 2016, Canuto met Raquel Paalhui, an elite BJJ black belt female grappler at his training academy. Since 2016, they have been together. After a few months of dating, the couple got married. Both the fighters were World Championship winners and had very different fighting styles. In his interview, he said:

In 2019, Renato Canuto and his wife, Raquel, were offered to join the Venum Training Center, aka the Checkmat Las Vegas, as BJJ head coaches. They accepted the offer and trained athletes there for two years while competing in tournaments. Unfortunately, on August 06, 2021, the gym got closed. However, on August 16, 2021, the couple opened their own BJJ academy, Hybrid Jiu-Jitsu, in Las Vegas. They are currently training jiu-jitsu to young athletes and active competitors in IBJJF competitions.

In 2022, Canuto announced that he would soon start his career in MMA, and he prepared the whole year training and improving his martial arts skills for his debut fight. On August 26, 2022, Canuto debuted in the ONE Championship against Tommy Langaker. Before the match, he said:

He will soon appear on MMA mats.

The BJJ black belt fighter Renato Canuto is famous for his acrobatic style of fighting that no other fighter has ever shown on the mats. That’s the reason he has become the dynamic grappler today. Canuto has a professional record of 66 wins and 25 losses. His majority wins are via his favorite position, the armbar. Canuto’s grappling journey to date has been remarkable, as he has secured top-ranked titles by competing against the best BJJ fighters.

In the 2022 ADCC World Championship, Renato Canuto competes against Mica Galvao. Canuto took a back flip and takedown Galvao on the mat. Galvao attempted a heel hook followed by an armbar and, via submission, won the fight.

In the 2021 IBJJF World Championship, an exciting match was held between Renato Canuto and Levi Jones. Both fighters looked for foot sweeps to drag their opponent down. Canuto came on top and got an advantage. Jones’s guard-pulling techniques were spectacular, taking grip of Canuto’s pants and collar. But Canuto is quite strong, so he easily releases the grip, takes control over his opponent, and attacks him back, winning the fight via points.

In the 2020 IBJJF Pan Championship, a thrilling ten-minute bout took place between Renato Canuto and Alexander Lane. At first, Canuto dragged down his opponent and secured two points. He attacked Lane via reverse armlock followed by a triangle choke and armbar. Within a few seconds of the grapple ending, Canuto choked his opponent from behind until he tapped on the mat, and Canuto won the fight.

In the 2021 IBJJF World GP, a ten-minute grappling fight occurred between Tainan Dalpra and Renato Canuto. Dalpra pulled an open guard with Canuto on top. Dalpra held his opponent via toe hold, but Canuto performed a cartwheel guard. Dalpra submitted his opponent with powerful leg lock techniques and won the fight by points and advantages.

Renato Canuto v Vitor Oliveira / World Championship 2018

Nicky Ryan vs Renato Canuto - 2022 ADCC World Championships

Lucas Lepri vs Renato Canuto / World Championship 2018

Michael Liera Jr. VS Renato Canuto / Pan Championship 2020

Tommy Langaker vs Renato Canuto / European Championship 2018

Renato Canuto VS Alexander Lane / Pan Championship 2020

Renato Canuto v Murilo Amaral / World Championship 2021

Photo Credit: @renatocanutobjj