Cobrinha: Record, Net Worth, Weight, Age & More!
Posted by Benjamin Strusnik on
Who is Cobrinha?
Charles “Cobrinha” Maciel is a Brazilian black belt in Jiu Jitsu and one of the greatest competitors to ever step on a mat. His nickname means “Little Snake”, an appropriate name for a featherweight known for his sneaky bottom game and relentless pursuit of submissions from guard. He has claimed IBJJF World Championship Gold four times, first place at ADCC twice, and won the Pan, European, and Brazilian Nationals. In 2017 he became the first man to win gold at all five events in the same year.
Who is Cobrinha?
Charles “Cobrinha” Maciel is a Brazilian black belt in Jiu Jitsu and one of the greatest competitors to ever step on a mat. His nickname means “Little Snake”, an appropriate name for a featherweight known for his sneaky bottom game and relentless pursuit of submissions from guard. He has claimed IBJJF World Championship Gold four times, first place at ADCC twice, and won the Pan, European, and Brazilian Nationals. In 2017 he became the first man to win gold at all five events in the same year.
The Cobrinha Kimura Trap System by Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles
Cobrinha was born in the late seventies in the southern part of inland Brazil, located nearly 700 miles from the world-famous Jiu Jitsu culture of Rio de Janeiro. Charles, like many Brazilian children, grew up playing the beloved sport of soccer. While he excelled at team sports, something the far less conventional sport of Capoeira caught his attention.
While that style is not often seen as deadly here in America, make no mistake: traditional Capoeira is a hard, bare knuckle style of kickboxing that breeds incredible movement and abnormal flexibility. He practiced this art for the better part of 14 years, turning himself into a world-level master and developing physical attributes that would lend themselves to one of the best competitive jiu jitsu careers of all time.
Amazingly, this all-time great found his way to Jiu Jitsu at the relatively old age of twenty one.
Given that he was a master of Capoeira, Cobrinha was shocked to find himself helpless at the hands of a nameless purple belt. As the story goes, he joined Mauro Pacifico’s Jiu Jitsu academy the next day and immediately translated his fourteen-times-a-week schedule to grappling.
After an unusually short time, Cobrinha found himself battling against Fernando Terere for the state championship. Although he lost the bout, Terere was impressed by the skills of the relatively inexperienced Maciel and invited him to move to Sao Paulo to train with a rebranded group of the defunct Alliance Jiu Jitsu, the TT Team. Cobrinha lived a spartan life in this gym for a period of time, teaching and learning with no other focus besides professional Jiu Jitsu.
After just five years of training in Jiu Jitsu, Terere awarded Cobrinha with his black belt. This is very fast, which brings to mind legends like B.J. Penn, who have been able to train to black belt in a surprisingly short amount of time. It was, however, quite clearly deserved. Charles won five matches, submitting three opponents along the way, and won gold at the IBJJF World Championships almost immediately after receiving his black belt.
In the decade that followed, Cobrinha would continue to earn World Championship titles and dominate every tournament he entered, standing on the podium for each of ten consecutive years at the Mundials. He is now a member of the ADCC Hall-of-Fame and a standard by which future superstars, including his son Kennedy who is also a World Champion, will be judged.
The Cobrinha CapoFit Workout For Grappling by Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles
How Old is Cobrinha?
Cobrinha was born on December 24th of 1979 in Londrina, Parana, Brazil. He is 42 years old as of 2022.
Cobrinha Family
There isn’t much out there about Cobrinha’s family, but he has begun to dedicate a significant portion of his time to his son, Kennedy, who is a rising star in the jiu jitsu community. He proudly watched his son take over his legacy in 2018 by winning the 2018 IBJJF No Gi World Championships.
How Much is Cobrinha Worth?
Cobrinha’s net worth is not public information. Between sponsorships and his successful international affiliation, it’s safe to say that Cobrinha’s bills are paid.
How Tall is Cobrinha?
Cobrinha is a small grappler, and stands about 5’5” tall.
How Much Does Cobrinha Weigh?
Cobrinha has competed at several weights. He’s gone as light as 67.5 kg, or 149 pounds and as heavy as 74 kg, or about 163 pounds. He’s also won both a bronze and a silver medal in the absolutes of the World Championships, which is impressive given the world-class heavyweight and super-heavyweight talent present at those events.
Cobrinha Fight List
As a grappler, Cobrinha has had far too many bouts to list them all here. To get an idea of his prowess on the mat, we can take a look at some of his proudest accomplishments in the sport:
- 2006 IBJJF World Championships - Gold
- 2007 IBJJF No Gi World Championships - Gold
- 2009 ADCC World Championships, Barcelona - Silver
- 2013 European Jiu Jitsu Championship - Gold
Cobrinha's Best Fight of All Time
For a living legend like Cobrinha, it’s tough to pinpoint one moment that stands above all else. He did experience a “slump” of silver and bronze medals at the World Championships from 2013 to 2016, but hit a proverbial walk-off home run in 2017.Cobrinha reclaimed his titles as the European, Pan American, ADCC, and IBJJF World Champion all in one year and, in doing so, solidified himself as one of the greatest grapplers to ever compete.
Who Did Cobrinha Lose To?
Cobrinha only has 17 losses in his career… but ten of them have been to the same man, and another one of the best grapplers to ever do it: Rafael Mendes. This rivalry came to a head two years in a row, at the 2014 and 2015 IBJJF World Championships in California. Both men easily stomped their way to the finals for a matchup that everyone had anticipated. In back-to-back years, Mendes took gold, fueling the fire for Cobrinha to win gold at every World Championship tournament he entered during his unofficial retirement tour in 2017. The long-standing rivalry stands at 3-10 in favor of Mendes.
Cobrinha Record
Cobrinha is one of the most dominant featherweight grapplers to ever compete. His overall professional record as a black belt in submission grappling tournaments is a stunning 106-17-0 (W-L-D). Amazingly, he has an 82% match win rate for the duration of his time at black belt. Many traditional grapplers prioritize points over submissions as a means of victory but Cobrinha is a rare case: 55 of the 106 black belts he faced were forced to submit. These numbers make for a 52% finish rate which is an unusually high finish rate for a gi competitor.
Cobrinha Injuries
Grapplers take a tough path in their sport and often end up with a ton of physical damage at the end of their careers. While Cobrinha now speaks about feeling as healthy and vital in his forties as he did in his twenties, he did suffer some time off from the sport at one point. Around 2009, Cobrinha was forced to drop out of the European Open due to a back injury. It rehabbed fairly quickly and Cobrinha was never off the mats longer than for this short period of months.
Is Cobrinha Retired?
Cobrinha insists he’s not officially retired but, if he does decide to hang up the gi, he’ll have gone out on top in 2017 after regaining every World Championship title he had missed in his slower years from 2013 to 2016. Now that he is not competing as often, Cobrinha focuses on his son, Kennedy Maciel, who is a budding professional grappler in his own rite.
Aside from his personal competition pursuits and coaching his son, Cobrinha owns and operates an successful, international Jiu Jitsu Affiliation, Cobrinha Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. They manage nine schools in three states and four countries, demonstrating that BJJ transcends culture, language, and politics.
In addition to his impressive competition resume, his son’s burgeoning career, and his successful chain of affiliate academies bearing his name, Cobrinha works with BJJ Fanatics to produce extremely detailed instructions focusing on his system of staying fit, attacking, and submitting. His “The Capofit Workout for Grappling” and “The Cobrinha Kimura Trap System”. As one of the greatest featherweights to ever do it, Cobrinha can help you elevate your submissions to the next level.
If you enjoyed this piece, check out these athletes:
- Cyrille Diabate
- Dan Covel
- Height Dan Vallimont
- Charles Negromonte Age
- Charlie Vinch Age
- CJ Brucki Age
ARE YOU A BJJ FANATICS INSIDER? IF NOT, YOU’RE MISSING OUT!
Take a deep dive on one specific skill per month with the top instructors in the BJJ Fanatics family.
With your subscription you’ll get:
- Private Lesson (Masterclass)
- Preview of our Upcoming Daily Deals to better plan your purchases
- Rolling breakdowns & more.
You’ll also get At Home Drills to work on, a Preview of our Upcoming Launches More!
FREE FOR 7 DAYS TRIAL