Top competitor Marcio Andre has just been promoted to third degree BJJ black belt by his long-time coach and mentor Fabio Andrade. It’s been 9 years since Andrade first promoted Andre to black belt, after he had spent around a decade training under him. Andre actually found Fabio Andrade and BJJ through one of a number of social projects in Brazil back when he was just a child. The academy itself was Nova Uniao – Bangu and the social project designed to use Jiu-Jitsu to help local kids stay off the streets and away from a life of crime.
The project worked wonders for Andre and plenty of other kids over the years, so he continued training under Andrade throughout his rise through the colored belt ranks. From 2011 to 2014, Marcio Andre won the IBJJF world championship every single year and at every belt level before receiving his black belt. It didn’t take long for Andre to continue that success at the highest level of the sport and he stood on the podium of several major IBJJF events over the years that followed.
The crowning achievement in Marcio Andre’s career so far came in 2016 when he won the IBJJF no gi world championship, but he’s also registered several victories over some of the greatest competitors of his generation. Andre has defeated Gianni Grippo, Paulo Miyao, and Rubens ‘Cobrinha’ Charles among many other elite competitors. After almost a decade competing at the highest level, Andre is still winning as well. He added an IBJJF Pan Championship to his resume earlier this year and defeated ADCC veteran Fabricio Andrey in the process. Given that Andre hasn’t even hit his 30s yet, he’ll likely continue putting in these performances for several years to come.
Marcio Andre announced the news that he had been promoted to third degree BJJ black belt in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
