Braulio Estima

However, a year later, his judo instructor suffered an untimely death, which caused Estima to take a break from martial arts.

Estima was first under thetutelage of Charles Dos Anjos when he first began training Brazilian jiu-jitsu at Gracie Barra.

Following more successful tournament showings, such as the bronze medal at the Pan-American Championship in 2000, he was promoted to brown belt.

[3] At the end of 2002, Maurição Gomes invited Estima to teach at the Gracie Barra Academy in Birmingham, England, to replace him.

Since then, Estima has taught several respected UK grapplers such as Graham Keys, Kenny Baker, Tom Barlow, Chris Rees and Luke Costello.

This victory made him well respected among other Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners because he was only a black belt for 5 months when he won the tournament.

[5][6] Estima began training in mixed martial arts, and MMA organization Shine Fights signed him to a multi-fight deal.

[8] In 2012, Estima signed with Authentic Sports Management and trained with MMA fighters such as Rashad Evans, Jorge Santiago, and Eddie Alvarez.