BJJ legend Joao Miyao has just been promoted to black belt in Luta Livre courtesy of two elite coaches and competitors, Nicolas Renier and Jarbem Pacheco. Renier is a multiple-time ADCC veteran and FILA world champion while Pacheco is a BJJ brown belt who has won the Pan-ams both in the gi and out of it. Miyao apparently originally approached Pacheco after taking an interest in learning the art of Luta Livre and arranged to have private lessons with him. This was because Miyao didn’t want any special treatment despite his unbelievable and undeniable grappling ability, and wanted to pick up the sport just like any other newcomer would.
It should come as no surprise though that Joao Miyao didn’t take long to reach the highest ranking in Luta Livre, considering he had more than a little bit of a headstart than anyone else. A regular BJJ black belt would be lightyears ahead of his fellow Luta Livre white belts in their first class, but Miyao is no ordinary BJJ black belt either. Both he and his brother Paulo have managed to register over 200 wins in competitive BJJ at the highest levels of the sport, with Joao having won five IBJJF world championships in his time.
Joao Miyao has been competing and winning for almost a whole decade now and still finds himself at the very peak of the sport, having shared the podium with his brother at the IBJJF Pan-ams just last year. Understandably then, regardless of whether Miyao was treated as a regular student or not, he certainly wasn’t one. He was already grappling at a higher level than most Luta Livre competitors can ever dream of, and he’s only gotten better since using the art to help develop his skill even further.
The news of Joao Miyao being promoted to black belt in Luta Livre was announced by one of his coaches, Nicolas Renier, in a post to his official Instagram account:
