Career
Living close to the beautiful beaches in Brazil, Mauricio"s hobby was surfing, but once he experienced Jiu-Jitsu, he fell in love with the sport. Mauricio’s first experience with the martial arts was not Jiu-Jitsu. When he was seven,he began practicing Judo at Clube do Flamengo,in Rio de Janeiro.
At the age of fifteen, Mauricio began to practice Muay Thai.
A few months later, a friend invited him to visit a Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy and for Mauricio, it began a lifelong journey studying the worlds most effective fighting and self-defense system. Almost immediately after becoming a Jiu-Jitsu student, Mauricio began to compete at local and regional tournaments in Brazil.
Later, he began to assist Professor Royler Gracie with classes, developing his passion for teaching. In 2002 Mauricio moved to south Florida.
Recognizing the opportunity to build a small business in the United States, he decided to continue teaching his style of jiu-Jitsu in the Palm Beach County, Florida area.
Since 2002, Mauricio has been developing and expanding Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the West Palm Beach area where he lives and operates an academy in Wellington. WIth an expanding academy Professor Villardo has also continued his success in competition. Mitsuo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie Senior
→ Hélio Gracie → Royler Gracie → Mauricio Villardo.