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Ultra-heavyweight Roosevelt Sousa’s first IBJJF major tournament as a black belt came at the 2022 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships where he competed in his division and the absolute. Although he received his black belt in 2020, he had yet to put together a competition run in the U.S. “This year has been special for me because it’s my first year competing as a black belt here in the United States. I’ve been working hard to become one of the best black belts in the world. I believe I’m very close to achieving that.”

His performance at the Pans resulted in two bronze medals, where he submitted two of his opponents with his signature foot lock. “I’ve been doing foot locks since white belt,” commented Roosevelt. “I still keep adjusting and improving this position. One piece of advice I can give to anyone who wants to learn is not to be in a hurry to execute. If you try to execute too fast you can miss and your opponent will defend easily. But if you do it slowly you can control and adjust your body until you finish your opponent.”

As part of the IBJJF FloGrappling Grand Prix, Roosevelt will partake in a super fight against #1 ranked Fellipe Andrew, another athlete known for his dangerous leg attacks. “I respect Felipe a lot. He is a great athlete. I admire his jiu-jitsu a lot but I know his game well and I’m ready to face him. I believe it will be a jiu-jitsu show on both sides and I believe the public will really like it.” To prepare for the event, Roosevelt will be training with his team at Fight Sports Miami. “Here at Fight Sports we are lucky to have very experienced athletes. I feel blessed to always be learning from Cyborg, Vagner Rocha, and Viktor Doria. I believe this is our main advantage. We learn much more than just jiu-jitsu.”

The event will feature two Grand Prix’s, a medium heavy GP for the males and a lightweight GP for the females. Roosevelt shared his thoughts on how these brackets could play out. “This GP will be mind-blowing. I can’t wait to watch all these fights. I really like Isaque’s jiu-jitsu, but I think André Porfirio will take the title. I’ve been training with him every day and I believe he will stand out a lot in this GP.” Roosevelt also commented on the first ever Female GP. “My bet for the women’s GP is Luiza Monteiro because she is the most experienced,” said Roosevelt. “I’ve seen her fight up close and I think she’ll take this.”

Be sure to catch Roosevelt’s match and all the other great matches from the IBJJF FloGrappling Grand Prix. It all goes down on Friday October 28th only on FloGrappling.com.