Jackson Sousa

Jackson Sousa dos Santos is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor who has won various gold medals at international Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu championships, including the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, the World Nogi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship, the European Championship and the Pan-American Championship. He is a black belt under Ricardo Vieira, competing for the CheckMat team, and has also been hugely influenced by Leo Vieira. Sousa's training partners include several notable fighters, including Marcus Almeida, João Assis, Lucas Leite, Michelle Nicolini and Leandro Vieira.

Biography

Born on 24 January 1990 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sousa started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of ten under Leandro Martins who was part of the team founded by Fernando "Terere" Augusto. At the age of 16, he joined the CheckMat team, founded by the brothers Ricardo Vieira, Leo Vieira and Leandro Vieira and headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sousa gave his international debut at the European Championships in 2011 and since then has been competing at an international level.

Professional career

Sousa has competed in numerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships at the international level. In 2011, he won gold in the heavyweight division and silver in the absolute division at the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship. In the same year, he also won gold in both heavyweight and absolute divisions at the Brazilian National No-Gi Championship.

In 2012, Sousa won gold in the heavyweight division and silver in the absolute division at the European Championship in Lisbon, Portugal. He also won five more gold medals that year at the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship, the Brazilian National No-Gi Championship and the CBJJE World Championship.

In December 2012, the international Jiu-Jitsu community was disappointed when a super fight between Sousa and one of his biggest opponents, Keenan Cornelius, was cancelled due to the fact that Sousa was denied his visa for the US. Sousa's first appearance in an American competition was finally made possible in 2013 when his US visa application was approved after four unsuccessful attempts in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Sousa rose to fame winning gold in the heavyweight division and bronze in the absolute division in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Long Beach, California. He lost the semi-final in the absolute division against Keenan Cornelius in what constituted one of the most awaited fights between two star brown belt athlets that year.

Sousa was awarded his black belt by his master Ricardo Vieira in October 2013 and subsequently won gold in the heavyweight division at the World No-Gi Championship in Long Beach, California. In 2014, Sousa won gold in the heavyweight division and silver in the open class at the European Championships in Lisbon. He also won silver in the heavyweight division at the World No-Gi Championships in Long Beach, as well as gold in the open class and bronze in the heavyweight division at the Pan No-Gi Championships in New York. In the same year, Sousa won several other international tournaments, including the Dallas International Open (double gold in the open class and heavyweight division), Las Vegas Spring International Open (double gold in the open class and heavyweight division), and Rome International Open (gold in heavyweight and silver in the open class).

Despite not being able to compete for a few months in the beginning of the year because of an injury, Sousa went on to win several important tournaments in 2015. He won bronze in the heavyweight division at the World Championships in Long Beach, silver in the heavyweight division at the World No-Gi and silver in the heavyweight division of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championships. He also won several other gold medals that year, including at the European No-Gi (double gold in open class and heavyweight), Berlin International Open (double gold in open class and heavyweight), Berlin International Open No-Gi (gold in open class) and Rome International Open (gold in heavyweight).

In 2016, Sousa won gold in the heavyweight division and bronze in the open class at the European Championships. Sousa lost by referee decision against André Luis Leite Galvão at the World Championship heavyweight finals and took home silver. Later in 2016, he competed at the British Nationals, winning double silver in open class and heavyweight division, and at the British National No-Gi, winning gold in the open class and silver in the heavyweight division.