João Manuel Roque (born July 22, 1971)[3] is a Portuguese-Angolan former featherweight Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) black belt World Champion and a retired mixed martial artist.
His first coaches of BJJ were Marcio Pinheiro and Gerson Velasco, and he stayed under their guidance until he was a purple belt.
When Master Oswaldo had to move to Manaus Roque joined André Pederneiras, right at the start of the Nova União.
Joao Roque began his MMA career in 1996 in the United States (Oklahoma) with a win by armbar.
Roque went on to form one of the strongest teams in that state and his gym "Clube Vizinhança" still runs today.