Jackson Sousa

Career

He is a black belt under Ricardo Vieira and competes for the CheckMat team Born on 24 January 1990 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sousa started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of ten under Fernando "Terere" Augusto. At the age of 16, he joined the CheckMat team, founded by the brothers Ricardo Vieira, Leo Vieira and Leandro Vieira and headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Jackson Sousa dos Santos lives in London, Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro.

Sousa has competed in numerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships at the international level Sousa"s first appearance in an American competition was finally made possible in 2013 when his United States visa application was approved after four unsuccessful attempts in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Sousa rose to fame winning gold in the heavyweight division and bronze in the absolute division in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Long Beach, California. He lost the semi-final in the absolute division against Keenan Cornelius in what constituted one of the most awaited fights between two star brown belt athlets that year.

Achievements

• In 2011, he won gold in the heavyweight division and silver in the absolute division at the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship. In the same year, he also won gold in both heavyweight and absolute divisions at the Brazilian National Number-Gi Championship. In 2012, Sousa won gold in the heavyweight division and silver in the absolute division at the European Championship in Lisbon, Portugal. He also won five more gold medals that year at the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship, the Brazilian National Number-Gi Championship and the CBJJE World Championship. Sousa was awarded his black belt by his master Ricardo Vieira in October 2013 and subsequently won gold in the heavyweight division at the World Number-Gi Championship in Long Beach, California. In 2014, Sousa won gold in the heavyweight division and silver in the open class at the European Championships in Lisbon. He also won silver in the heavyweight division at the World Number-Gi Championships in Long Beach, as well as gold in the open class and bronze in the heavyweight division at the Pan Number-Gi Championships in New New York In the same year, Sousa won several other international tournaments, including the Dallas International Open (double gold in the open class and heavyweight division), Las Vegas Spring International Open (double gold in the open class and heavyweight division), and Rome International Open (gold in heavyweight and silver in the open class). In 2015, Sousa won bronze in the heavyweight division at the World Championships in Long Beach and silver in the heavyweight division of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championships.