BJJ

Rida Haisam - Ghanaian BJJ Black Belt

Rida Haisam - Ghanaian BJJ Black Belt

1. Rida Haisam’s Details

Rida Haisam’s Details

Name Rida Haisam Isaac
Nickname ‘Giraffe’
Born Accra, Ghana, West Africa
Date of Birth July 25, 1993
Weight Division Heavyweight (94.30 kg / 208.0 lbs)
Last Weigh-in N/A
Height 6'5"
Disclosed Career Earnings N/A
Rank Black Belt
Last Fight 2023 Quintet 4
Favorite Position Kneebar
Head Coach Yuki Ishikawa
Lineage Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rolls Gracie > Romero Cavalcanti (Jacaré) > Alexandre Paiva (Gi-gi) > Mitsuyoshi Hayakawa > Yuki Ishikawa > Rida Haisam
Fighting out of Tokyo, Japan
Team Association Assembly Jiu-Jitsu
Carpe Diem Academy
Detroit Jiu-Jitsu Syndicate
B Team Jiu-Jitsu

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2. Rida Haisam’s Biography

Rida Haisam is an accomplished black belt in Brazilian  Jiu-Jitsu. He is a native of Ghana and a professional Jiu-Jitsu athlete with a great number of accomplishments.

2.1. Rida Haisam’s Early Life

Haisam had a great interest in basketball and football in his early years. He participated in both sports and performed well throughout elementary and high school. But at 15, his family moved to Tokyo, Japan, as his father was employed by a Japanese construction company. When his father was working there, Haisam’s family developed a strong relationship with his father’s manager. Then in 2011, Rida was introduced to BJJ by this manager.

2.2. Rida Haisam’s Formative Years in BJJ

Rida Haisan earned his blue, purple, and brown belts under  Yamada Shigetaka. As a brown belt, Rida gained fame after showcasing his exceptional grappling skills at the ‘Quintet: Grappling Team Survival Match II. Although he was a brown belt, his submission finishes against four top black belts gave him prominence as a top-notch BJJ athlete.

2.3. Rida Haisam’s Achievements and Techniques

Rida Haisam has a series of accomplishments in Jiu-Jitsu. By applying his favorite kneebar technique, Haisam won multiple BJJ tournaments, including IBJJF American Nationals No-Gi and WNO Championships.

2.4. Rida Haisam’s Promotion to Black Belt

Haisam wanted to excel more so he moved to the Carpe Diem Academy of Japan, where he trained under  Yuki Ishikawa. On  September 15, 2018, Yuki Ishikawa promoted  Haisam to the black belt level.

2.5. Rida Haisam’s Focus on Improving His Skills

Rida Haisam was a very technical athlete who focused more on BJJ techniques. Once, he was asked about Jiu-Jitsu training with Japanese boys to which he replied,

“When I started BJJ, I thought my size was going to make it easier to dominate or pin my opponent down, that wasn’t the case. I got beat up a lot in practice then I started to realize size didn’t mean anything if you don’t know the techniques. I started focusing more on techniques and my Jiu-Jitsu started to get better.” “I have had a different kind of experience during my eleven years living here. Most of my adult life has been here in Japan since high school and most of my experience with the local Japanese has been mostly good, especially when you’re genuinely respectful to their culture.”

Rida Haisam also shared that he preferred no-gi BJJ,

“I think my name blew up after a no-gi event so most people think I’m more of a no-gi guy, but I’ve been training longer in the gi and I like both equally.”

3. Rida Haisam’s Historic Fights

3.1. Rida Haisam vs Roberto Cyborg

In the 2022 ADCC World Championship, Rida Haisam faced Roberto Cyborg. After the long intense battle, Haisam successfully executed the armbar technique and won the match. He also received the FloGrappling Award for Best 2022 Submission for his remarkable submission finish in this bout.

Year Event Opponent W/L/D Method Stage Weight Class
2022 ADCC World Championship Roberto Cyborg Win Armbar N/A N/A

3.2. Rida Haisam vs Patrick Gaudio

In the 2022 UFC Invitational Tournament, Hoisam Rida fought against Patrick Gaudio. Both competitors tried hard for submission. During the last few minutes, Patrick attempted the triangle and won against  Rida Haisam.

Year Event Opponent W/L/D Method Stage Weight Class
2022 UFC Invitational Patrick Gaudio Loss Triangle 4F ABS

3.3. Rida Haisam vs Rodrigo Acioli

In the 2019 New York Fall Open Championship, Rida Haisam defeated Rodrigo Aciol in a heavyweight bout. Rida attempted an armbar,  securing the championship title.

Year Event Opponent W/L/D Method Stage Weight Class
2019 New York Fall Open Championship Rodrigo Acioli Win Armbar Final Heavyweight

4. Rida Haisam's National and International Achievements

Year Event Medal/Position Weight Division
2018 Dumau Cup Gold Gold Medal Icon 100 kg
2018 Dumau Cup Gold Gold Medal Icon ABS
2019 Gunavy Cup    Gold Gold Medal Icon O75 kg
2019 Grand Slam TYO Bronze Bronze Medal Icon Heavyweight
2019 Marianas Open Bronze Bronze Medal Icon O85 kg
2019 NYC Fall Open Gold Gold Medal Icon Heavyweight
2020 American NGN Gold Gold Medal Icon Super Heavyweight
2020 American NGN Bronze Bronze Medal Icon ABS
2021 Dallas NGO Gold Gold Medal Icon Super Heavyweight
2021 Houston NGO Silver Silver Medal Icon Heavyweight
2021 Detroit Open Gold Gold Medal Icon Super Heavyweight
2021 American NGN Gold Gold Medal Icon Super Heavyweight
2021 Fuji 16 Man Gold Gold Medal Icon ABS
2022 Indianapolis NGO Bronze Bronze Medal Icon ABS
2022 American NGN Silver Silver Medal Icon Ultra Heavyweight
2022 NoGi Pan Silver Silver Medal Icon Ultra Heavyweight

4.1. Rida Haisam's Main Achievements (Black Belt)

Year Event Belt Position
2021 WNO Championships Black 3rd
2021 IBJJF American Nationals No-Gi Black 1st
2020 IBJJF American Nationals No-Gi Black 1st
2020 IBJJF American Nationals No-Gi Black 3rd
2019 Quintet Fight Night II Black 1st
2018 Quintet II Challenge Black 2nd

4.2. Rida Haisam's Main Achievements (Colored Belts)

Year Event Belt Position
2018 IBJJF Asian Open Champion Brown 1st
2018 IBJJF European Open 3rd Place Brown 3rd
2018 UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro Brown 3rd
2017 JBJJF All-Japan Champion Brown 1st
2017 UAEJJF Grand Slam Tokyo 2nd Place Brown 2nd
2018 JBJJF All-Japan Champion Brown 1st

5.  Rida Haisam BJJ Professional Record Breakdown

68 Matches 44 Wins 24 Losses
By Points 5 7
By Advantages 0 0
By Submission 31 14
By Decision 5 2
By Penalties 0 0
BY DQ 1 1
Draw 2

5.1.  Methods of Submission W/L

Methods Wins Losses
ARMBAR 11 0
SUBMISSION 3 0
KNEEBAR 2 0
TOE HOLD 1 0
INSIDE HEEL HOOK 1 5
TRIANGLE ARMBAR 1 0
RNC 5 1
TRIANGLE 3 1
CHOKE FROM BACK 1 1
VERBAL TAP 1 0
SHORT CHOKE 1 0
OUTSIDE HEEL HOOK 0 1
SHOULDER LOCK 0 1
KATAGATAME 0 1
ESTIMA LOCK 0 1
STRAIGHT ANKLE LOCK 0 1

6. Rida Haisam’s Fight History

Opponent W/L Method Competition Weight Stage Year
Marcelo Nunes L Katagatame Quintet 3 ABS SPF 2018
Lachlan Giles L Inside heel hook Wu Lin Fang ABS R1 2018
Walter Santos W Choke from back Desafio Angola ABS SPF 2018
Lachlan Giles L Outside heel hook Wu Lin Fang ABS R2 2018
Diemerson Hatta W Submission Dumau Cup Super Heavyweight F 2018
Diemerson Hatta W Submission Dumau Cup ABS F 2018
Sergio “Pichilinga” Rios W Points Gunavy Cup Lightweight F 2019
Yuji Arai W Kneebar Ginna be Cup Lightweight 4F 2019
Kikuchi Bruno W RNC Ginna be Cup Lightweight SF 2019
Declan Moody W Kneebar Quintet FN2 ABS SF 2019
I. “Fat Ninja” Tanabe D --- Quintet FN2 ABS SF 2019
Anton Minenko L Estima lock World Pro Heavyweight RPC 2019
Zaid Sami W Triangle World Pro Heavyweight R1 2019
Adam “Megatron” Wardzinski L Pts: 9x2 World Pro Heavyweight 4F 2019
Fernando Reis L Pts: 6x2 Grand Slam TYO Heavyweight SF 2019
Anton Minenko W Pts: 4x0 Grand Slam TYO Heavyweight 3RD 2019
N/A W Pts: 17x2 NYC Fall Open Heavyweight 4F 2019
Kaynan Duarte L Choke from back Marianas Open Medium Heavyweight SF 2019
Choi Won W Toe hold Marianas Open Medium Heavyweight 3RD 2019
Rodrigo Acioli W Armbar NYC Fall Open Heavyweight F 2019
Charles Mcguire W Armbar NYC Fall Open Heavyweight SF 2019
Kyle Chambers W Referee Decision Quintet FN4 ABS SPF 2019
Igor “Fat Ninja”  Tanabe L Points Kinya Boyz TYO ABS SPF 2020
Charles McGuire W Verbal tap American NGN Super Heavyweight SF 2020
Igor “Fat Ninja”  Tanabe L Straight ankle lock Quintet FN5 ABS SPF 2020
Francisco Leon W Armbar American NGN Super Heavyweight 4F 2020
Robert Dunn W Armbar American NGN Super Heavyweight F 2020
Enrique March W Armbar American NGN ABS R1 2020
Gabriel  “Todd” Almeida L Referee Decision American NGN ABS SF 2020
Alexandre Molinaro W RNC American NGN ABS 4F 2020
Brandon Allen W Referee Decision F2W 161 Heavyweight SPF 2021
Patrick Goncalves W Inside heel hook Dallas NGO Super Heavyweight F 2021
Nonso Ebed W Referee Decision F2W 167 N/A SPF 2021
Alexander Le W RNC Dallas NGO ABS R1 2021
Tex Johnson L Pts: 0x0, Adv Dallas NGO ABS 4F 2021
Charles McGuire W Triangle Houston NGO Heavyweight 4F 2021
Joseph Watson W Pts: 2x0 Houston NGO Heavyweight SF 2021
Matt Leighton L Pts: 2x0 NoGi Pan Am. Super Heavyweight 4F 2021
Bruno Matias L Inside heel hook Houston NGO Heavyweight F 2021
Sloan Clymer W Referee Decision WNO 8 Heavyweight SPF 2021
Joseph Watson L Inside heel hook NoGi Pan Am. ABS R1 2021
Antonio Zuazo W Armbar Detroit Open Super Heavyweight RR 2021
Lucas Norat W Pts: 2x2, Adv American NGN Super Heavyweight 4F 2021
Antonio Zuazo W Armbar Detroit Open Super Heavyweight F 2021
Miha Perhavec W Armbar WNO 10 Super Heavyweight SPF 2021
Diego  “Sem Noção” Ramalho W Armbar American NGN Super Heavyweight F 2021
B. Schneider W RNC Fuji 16 Man ABS SF 2021
Devin King W Armbar Fuji 16 Man ABS F 2021
Orlando  “The Cuban Tree Stump” Sanchez W Short choke WNO Champ. ABS RPC 2021
Tim Spriggs L Inside heel hook WNO Champ. ABS 4F 2021
Giancarlo Bodoni W Referee Decision WNO Champ. ABS 3RD 2021
Xavier Silva W Triangle NoGi Worlds Super Heavyweight 8F 2021
Vinicius Trator L Pts: 7x0 NoGi Worlds Super Heavyweight 4F 2021
William Vincent W Triangle armbar BJJ Fanatics ABS RR 2022
Clay Mayfield L N/A Indianapolis NGO ABS SF 2022
Elder “El Monstro” Cruz W RNC WNO 12 Heavyweight SPF 2022
Joshua Guerra W Submission American NGN Super Heavyweight SF 2022
Helton Jose L DQ American NGN Super Heavyweight F 2022
Giancarlo Bodoni L Shoulder lock ADCC ABS 8F 2022
Roberto  “Cyborg” Abreu W Armbar ADCC Super Heavyweight R1 2022
Roosevelt Sousa L Pts: 2x0 ADCC Super Heavyweight 4F 2022
Salenco Coutinho W DQ NoGi Pan Super Heavyweight SF 2022
Davi Cabral L Pts: 4x2 NoGi Pan Super Heavyweight F 2022
Patrick Gaudio L Triangle UFC Invitational ABS 4F 2022
Luke Griffith L Inside heel hook WNO Super Heavyweight SPF 2022
Richie  “Boogeyman” Martinez D --- Quintet 4 ABS NA 2023
Vinicius Trator L Referee Decision Grapple ITT3 N/A SPF 2023
Felipe  “Preguiça” Pena L RNC WNO 19 ABS SPF 2023

7. Rida Haisam’s Top Fight Links

Haisam Rida vs Felipe Pena | Tezos WNO 19: Meregali vs Duarte

Haisam Rida vs Lachlan Giles. Main event WLF, China

Beatriz Mesquita vs Luisa Monteiro

Rida Haisam v Diego Ramalho / American National NoGi 2021


Photo Credit: @haisam1jj

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