Wallace Costa
Address
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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About Us
Wallace Costa was born on August 26, 1993, in Realengo, a neighborhood in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Growing up, Wallace was very connected with sports and particularly martial arts, starting through judo, an activity in which trained and competed during his childhood, going on to muay Thai after with the intent of competing in the striking art as well. Unfortunately for Costa, his parents only allowed him to compete if he had good grades in school and, much to Wallace’s misfortune, he did not do well. As he was not allowed to enter the ring, the young Rio de Janeiro native slowly lost interest in this combat style.
In 2014 Wallace started training jiu-jitsu, influenced by his friends, who already practiced the gentle art at a local grappling club with coach Manuel. Costa earned his blue belt at this local academy but, at the time, his instructor’s life was too hectic, leading Manuel to put the class on hold. Already fascinated by jiu-jitsu, Wallace found another gym to train, then joining Gabriel Marinho’s GF Team affiliate gym in Rio de Janeiro.
Although a late starter to the game, Wallace dedicated himself fully to jiu-jitsu from the very start of his white belt career and his progression was quick, earning important medals in many of the sport’s main tournaments.
In 2019, after successful runs during the first few months in BJJ’s competitive circuit, where Costa earned a silver medal in the European Open and gold at the Pan American Championship, everything looked set for Wallace to make a real challenge for the World title at purple belt. Unfortunately, with 5 days left until the big event, a bacteria infected Costa’s knee. The infection spread into his blood system and left the vigorous athlete in a life-threatening condition, one he recovered after a few weeks, this way missing his chance to win his second world title.
In October 2020, after experiencing great success on the mats in every belt division, Wallace Costa was promoted to black belt by his long-time instructor, Mr. Gabriel Marinho.
