Claudio Calasans: BJJ & Judo Star
Claudio Calasans might not be a household name yet, but he soon will be. He is one of the stars that is a part of the world famous, Atos Academy, which houses champions such as Andre Galvao and JT Torres. He is considered one of the top, rising middleweights in the world when it comes to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Here is a little background on the man tearing up the scene right now.
Claudio is the son of Judo master, Camargo Calasans who was the youngest Judoka to ever receive a coral belt in Judo, at the age of 38. It turned out that Claudio was a natural like his father, and picked up Judo very quickly. He was a very successful Judo competitor as a child. As he got older, he wanted to improve his ground work (submissions & chokes) as more ground techniques became available in his Judo competitions. After some time, he fell in love with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and decided to focus on it only, putting Judo in the back seat.
Calasans began training at Liga Jiu Jitsu, where he first earned his blue belt and eventually earned his black belt. While making black belt was big for Claudio, he found it was tough being a professional Jiu Jitsu fighter. He was not able to find the time to train for big competitions, until one fateful day. His friend, and BJJ great, Andre Galvao created the renowned Atos Academy. Calasans knew that Atos would be the place to help his career flourish and requested to his friend that he wanted to train there. Galvao accepted the request.
In 2010, Claudio was able to claim two big prizes that he worked very hard for. He won the World Pro Cup at both the middleweight and absolute divisions. Since then he has won other big championships such as the Pan Am’s, the IBJJF Championships and ADCC. Claudio is a very well rounded competitor, with wins by a variety of different techniques. Though he does seem to partial to arm locks, wrist locks and chokes. Also due to his Judo background, he is a fierce takedown artist. He employs trips, sweeps and throws to get his opponent’s to the ground.
Claudio Calasans is a world champion because he can fight almost anywhere a Jiu Jitsu match can take him. He is hard to match on the feet, and just as dangerous on the ground. Keep an eye out for him, as he will continue to be competitor on the rise in the Jiu Jitsu scene.
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