Robson Moura Fonseca - IBJJF Hall of Famer

Robson Moura, also known as Robinho is a six times World Champion and top competitor in the Super Featherweight category. He is also inducted into the IBJJF Hall of Fame. Now he is coaching in his own BJJ academy in Florida.

He was born in the small town of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Now Robson Moura lives in Florida and runs his academy there. He just competed and won in 2022 Polaris 21. 

Robson Moura was fond of Jiu-Jitsu from an early age. His family especially, his father supported him to join BJJ. In 1988, Robson’s father sent him to a local gym in Teresopolis when he was 10 years old.

He was a very passionate student who wanted to become like his idols. From his first day at the gym, he dreamed of becoming a Black Belt and winning a World Championship.  

Ailson Jucao Brites was the first coach of Robson Moura. For Robson, he proved to be a very good and dedicated coach and trained Robson very well. But he is not the one who promoted him to Black Belt because he left Teresopolis and went to Rio de Janeiro.

To fulfill his dream of becoming a Black Belt, Robson Moura started hard training three times a day. His sheer toil attracted the attention of his coach, Jucao. Robson’s extraordinary skills and hard work took him to the mat when he competed in a local competition when he was only 13 years old. 

After the relocation of Jucao from Teresopolis, Robson once again started searching for an excellent coach to fill the colors in his dreams. His search took him to a good result and he joined Nova Uniao. Here he trained under a well-known coach, Master Andre Pederneiras.

Nova Uniao had two coaches, Andre Pederneiras and Wendell Alexander. Both these coaches proved very valuable in the uprising of Robson Moura, the great competitor. Robson won various championships when he was training in this academy.    

Robinho is the nickname of Robson Moura which is a little funny style of saying Robsons in Portuguese. This means “Little Robson”. This might be due to his short height compared to other fighters.  

Under the coaching of Andre, Robson Moura won various Championships in 1996. He was IBJJF World Champion in his Purple Belt level. After promotion to Brown Belt he also became IBJJF Pan American Champion and CBJJ Brazilian National Champion the same year. 

Andre wanted Robson to compete in the World Championship after his continuous performance in 1996. He was promoted to Black Belt at the age of 18 against Jiu-Jitsu Federation minimum time frame guidelines.

As Andre planned, Robson competed in the 1997 Black Belt World Championship and became champion in the super featherweight category.

Robson Moura defended his title of super featherweight champion for five consecutive years from 1996 to 2000. He won five World Championships. After that, he wanted to focus on his RMNU association and his coaching career.

After five years, he again took part in the world championship and again recalled history by winning the world championship.

In an interview, Robson Moura recalled an untold story of his life that showed his dedication to BJJ. He said this when he was on the way to Rio De Janeiro for the world championship with his wife and two students, Ricardo “Demente” Abreu and Rodrigo Ribas. He was driving the car.

Their car crashed and no one thought that the passengers could survive. But they came out alive. Rodrigo got injured so they left him at his house and took a bus. They did not tell anyone about their accident.

Robson said that he was the champion that year. And his student Demente got the silver medal in the Blue Belt division.         

Robson Moura was inducted into the IBJJF Hall of fame in 2014. He was six times IBJJF World Champion, Brazilian National Champion, and IBJJF Pan Champion.

On 18 May 2022, IBJJF gave honor to Robson Moura and again posted his big achievements on the official Instagram page of IBJJF.

Robson Moura has some reputable schools in Brazil which are giving BJJ classes under well-known Black Belt coaches. Ribeiro Preto Academy is one of the most famous institutes of Robson in Brazil.

He knew that the USA would be the main center of sports in the coming years. So he decided to establish a well-known BJJ academy there. Now, Robson RMNU’s association is now a very well-established and reputed BJJ institution in the USA.

 Ricardo Abreu and August Cruz are acknowledged Black Belts under Robson Moura.  

Along with his RMNU association and schools in Brazil, Robson also gives online sessions. Various websites have his instructional videos to teach BJJ techniques.

Robson also appeared in Mix Martial Arts. he has a 2-1-1 record in MMA. Now he is a head instructor at an academy in Tampa, Florida named Martial Arts Advantage. Here is the record of his MMA fights.

Robson Moura faced Samuel Braga in the 2007 World Championship. After dominating the Light Featherweight division for five years, Robson took a break from competition. After 5 years, Robson appeared on the World Championship mat.

He took down and overcame Samuel from the start of the match. Samuel tried his best for a long time to escape from Robson’s grip. But Robson did not let him. Samuel strangled his leg. Robson sensed the danger and tried to free his leg.

After escaping from Samuel’s grip, Robson again overcame. Samuel tried to apply the armbar twice. But Robson defended well. At the end of the match, Robson became the world champion and won the match with an advantage.

Robson Moura faced Armando Conde in the 1997 IBJJF Worlds final. Robson took down Conde at the beginning of the match. Conde tried to strangle Robson’s head with his legs but Robson escaped and overcame him. Conde pushed Robson’s right leg with his left hand so that he lost his balance.

But Robson did not let him do any counter move. Robson actively overcame Conde. He did not let him escape. At the end of the match, Robson submitted Conde with Armbar in just one and a half minutes.     

Robson Moura faced Ulysses Gomez in Grappler Quest IBJJF. Robson started the fight with an unsuccessful Guillotine attempt. After a few moments, he took down Ulysses, mounted him, and scored four points. Ulysses escaped after struggling as Robson was very active and warmed up.

Ulysses tried to take him down. Robson grabbed his leg and tried his best to apply a leg lock. But Ulysses escaped again. Ulysses got another takedown opportunity and mounted Robson but Robson countered with full guard.

At the end of the match, Robson strangled Ulysses’s leg and went for a Kneebar. Robson submitted Ulysses with Kneebar.  

Robson Moura VS Samuel Braga / World Championship 2007

Robson Moura vs Baret Yoshida - Polaris Pro 2 - OFFICIAL

ROBSON MOURA VS FREDSON PAIXÃO

Photo Credit: @robinhomoura