Ronaldo Junior
Address
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Phone
About Us
Ronaldo Souza Júnior was born on August 28, 1996, in Teresópolis, a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in a mountainous region known as Região Serrana.
Growing up Ronaldo Júnior played football (soccer) recreationally, prior to learning about jiu-jitsu, which happened in 2007. At the time, a local gym was offering a free patch to any student who would bring a friend for a trial class, a marketing strategy that drove one of Ronaldo’s friends to convince him to try one. With the permission of his mother, Ronaldo went for his first class wearing sweat-pants and an old gi top, provided by the instructor, and he immediately fell in love with this sport/martial art.
Ronaldo’s first coach, Mr. Luiz Felipe ‘Profeta’ immediately recognized the talent possessed by Júnior, and advised his parents to support their teenage son in the sport, as his future should be as a professional grappler.
Soon after earning his blue belt from Profeta, Ronaldo started training in Teresópolis’s top jiu-jitsu gym, the historical Academia Pitbull led by Adilson ‘Bitta’ Lima, where first started climbing the ladder of success in jiu-jitsu.
At the Pitbull Academy Ronaldo Júnior earned both his blue and purple belts, but by 2017 he was offered the opportunity of a lifetime by André Galvão, to train with the (then) world champion team, Atos Jiu-Jitsu, at the academy’s headquarters, being offered a full scholarship to train with the best. His success at Atos grew exponentially, and by June 2019, after two successful runs at the IBJJF World title, Júnior was promoted to black belt by coach Galvão.
