Sergio Rios - 3rd Degree BJJ Black Belt

Sergio Rios is considered a powerful black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Rios effectively worked on his athletic skills by training under the top renowned BJJ instructors including Marcos Matos, Eduardo Telles, and Helder Menezes.

On 31 July 1988, Sergio Rios was born in Campo Formoso. Rios spent his childhood playing football and started practicing jiu-jitsu at the age of 15. His brother, Junior Rios motivated him to indulge in BJJ activities, and then in 2003, he started practicing BJJ at the Academia Dojô Jiu-Jitsu school.

Once Sergio Rios was asked about his inspiration, he said:

Rios always remained motivated and he had a strong belief that a fighter learns more by losing in a competition. He said:

Rios was trained under the supervision of Marcos Matos. By working hard and developing the perfect fighting skills, Rios made his impressive mark in both BJJ and Mixed Martial Arts . He defeated various top competitors and secured multiple titles in various IBJJF Championships. 

The main founder of the Academia Dojô Jiu-Jitsu team was the late Helder Menezes, a famous BJJ instructor. Although he built that institute but Helder shifted to America due to some personal reasons and led the charge of the Academy in the hands of his student, Marcos Matos. Although Helder was not there but he always had contact with the institute and Marcos. In 2013, Helder noticed the rising talent of Sergio Rios so he challenged him to move to America to fight there by displaying his professional grappling skills. Rios accepted the offer and immediately migrated to California. After moving to the United States, Rios joined the Ninety-Nine (99) team headquarters and trained under the top coaches. One of his instructors was Helder’s best friend whose name was Eduardo Telles. Then in 2014, Helder Menezes passed away but Rios continued his training at the Ninety-Nine (99) team.

After some time, Sergio Rios decided to start his career in Mixed Martial Arts by maintaining an active connection in jiu-jitsu with and without gi. Rios practiced in the Muai Thay program and secured victory by competing as a Muai Thay fighter. He earned a red rank at Blue Ocean Muay Thai under the head instructor Alex Palm. Then in 2022, Rios laid the foundation of his coaching school in San Diego, California. Besides the academy, he also developed his own BJJ team, Rasai Jiu Jitsu.

On 20 November 2009, Sergio earned the black belt under Marcos Matos.

In the 2022 IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix Championship, Sergio Rios faced the Jonnatas Gracie. Both fighters displayed their tremendous grappling skills but the battle ended with Gracie’s victory based on the points.

In the 2022 Phoenix Open Championship, Sergio Rios competed against Josh Guerra. Both fighters tried to apply their BJJ techniques but the match ended with Rios’s victory when he applied the Leg Triangle Choke.

In the 2022 Phoenix Open Championship, Sergio Rios defeated Mateus Rodrigues by applying the Cross Collar Choke technique.

Fellipe Andrew v Sergio Rios / Los Angeles Open 2022

Sergio Rios v Sebastian Rodriguez / Orlando Summer Open 2022

Marcos Tinoco VS Sergio Rios / World Master 2019

Sergio Rios v Shane Woosley / World Master 2021

Sergio Rios VS Marc Adami / World Master 2019

Photo credit: @sergiopichilinga