Carlos Henrique will now be facing off with Matheus Gabriel in the first defense of his lightweight title at UFC BJJ 3 on October 2nd, 2025. It’s going to be a pretty stacked event with several matchups between elite grapplers, and this isn’t even the only title-fight on the card. Mikey Musumeci will also be making his first title-defense against Keven Carrasco and the rest of the card beneath them is filled put by a great mixture of rising stars and veteran competitors. With so many vacant titles still up for grabs in the new promotion, everyone will be doing everything they can to stand out and earn a shot at some silverware.
Henrique was one of the first to wear the UFC BJJ belt, and he had to battle through the inaugural season Road to the Title in order to win it. He had an incredible run on the show as well, as he won all three of his matches by submission despite having some seriously tough opposition. In fact, Henrique’s armbar win over Danilo Moreira in the finale at UFC BJJ 1 was one of the highlights of the whole season. He was already a top competitor but Henrique really made a name for himself on the show and it’s great to see him getting another match so quickly.
The promotion has done him no favours in the matchmaking process though, as Matheus Gabriel is a three-time IBJJF World Championship winner and his last title came in the 2025 edition. Although those titles were won in the gi, he has also reached the highest level of no gi competition as an ADCC veteran. This isn’t the first time that they have shared the mats either, as Gabriel holds a win over Henrique on points. That match was back in 2023 and in the gi though, so it’ll be interesting to see how both time and a change of ruleset might effect the outcome this time around.
UFC BJJ announced the news that Matheus Gabriel was going to challenge Carlos Henrique for the lightweight title at UFC BJJ 3 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
