André Almeida

André Almeida was born on June 26, 1991, in Rio de Janeiro, and grew up in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood surrounded by jiu-jitsu. At age 12 he followed his older brothers, Flávio and Ricardo Almeida, into training at the Gracie Barra headquarters, where his development passed through the hands of several respected figures in the GB lineage, including team founder Carlos Gracie Junior, Jefferson Moura, and Lucio 'Lagarto.'

Unlike many of the sport's most decorated names, Almeida's breakout did not come until relatively late in his development. His strongest competitive stretch arrived as a brown belt in 2018, when he put together a run of results across the IBJJF's regional Open circuit — including wins at the Las Vegas Summer Open, the Chicago Summer Open, and the Atlanta Spring Open — along with podium finishes at the Pan American No-Gi Championship and other regional events. That brown-belt form, combined with an earlier gold at the 2016 ADCC US Nationals and ADCC US Gi Nationals, built his reputation as one of Gracie Barra's most promising super-heavyweights.

In October 2018, Almeida was awarded his black belt directly by his brothers, a promotion that reflects both the family lineage running through his career and the trust the Gracie Barra leadership placed in his development. His inclusion in the IBJJF Hall of Fame speaks to his standing within the Gracie Barra organization, though it is worth being direct about the scope of his record: unlike some of the sport's most famous super-heavyweights, Almeida does not carry a run of black-belt IBJJF World Championship titles, and his best-documented results remain concentrated in his brown-belt years and in ADCC's regional trial circuit rather than at the sport's very top invitational or Worlds-gold level.

Stylistically, Almeida uses his size to good effect at Super-Heavyweight, favoring a patient, pressure-based passing game — distance passing is listed as a signature technique — that lets him wear down opponents from top position rather than relying on flashier guard work.

As of the most recent verifiable information, detailed public reporting on Almeida's black-belt-era competitive schedule is sparse compared to his 2016-2018 run, and he is best understood today as a respected Gracie Barra super-heavyweight and IBJJF Hall of Fame member whose most visible competitive accomplishments came in the lead-up to his 2018 black belt promotion. Note: there is another, unrelated BJJ competitor also named André "Dedeco" Almeida, affiliated with American Top Team; this profile covers the Gracie Barra super-heavyweight born in 1991.

A big-frame super-heavyweight game built around distance passing and top pressure, using size and base to control smaller opponents from over-under and stack pa