On May 11, 2023 the IBJJF announced that they would posthumously be inducting Leandro Lo into the IBJJF Hall of Fame.
The BJJ legend and x8 world champ has been posthumously inducted into the IBJJF hall of fame alongside other all-time greats in the industry such as: Andre Galvao, Alexandre Ribeiro, Carlson Gracie, Roger Gracie and Rolls Gracie to name a few.
So far there are only 22 athletes that have been inducted into the IBJJF hall of fame, Lo will make that number 23. Of those 22, five are Gracie’s (the family that invented BJJ).
A remarkable legacy
The jiu jitsu phenomenon was not short of remarkable and he had an incredible stint during his jiu jitsu career; not only was he an x8 world champion in IBJJF but he also has won the world championships in five different weight categories.
Lo started BJJ at just 14 years old – and prior to his death he had trained for nearly two decades – alongside his commitment to the sport he had built up an overwhelming amount of accomplishments across both Gi and No-Gi competition.
The prodigy won his first world championship at blue belt and was awarded his black belt in 2010.
During his jiu jitsu career, Lo has fought some of the toughest guys (and beat them) such as: submitting UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns at black belt in a 20 minute match at Copa Podio, he also beat Keenan Cornelius at the 2019 World Championships semi-finals, as well as beating Gordon Ryan in 2017 via 4-0 in points in a superfight at ADCC West Coast Trials, and in his earlier black belt days he beat both Michael Langhi and Celso Vinicius at the 2011 Abu Dhabi World Pro. Langhi and Vinicius were considered the best lightweights in the world at the time and Langhi hadn’t lost a competition in three years up until this point.
In 2016, Lo made history by becoming the first ever Copa Podio triple champion: winning three titles in three separate weight classes: lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight. Lo accomplished this all in the same year. In 2018 Lo became a two-time Pan Absolute Champion after winning both the heavyweight and absolute divisions, earning his eighth Pan title. It is fair to say he was an extremely accomplished grappler.
At the 2019 World Championship, Lo won silver after losing to Kaynan Duarte in the final. However, after Kaynan Duarte was stripped of his victory for failing a USADA test, Lo was crowned world heavyweight champion, making him a world champion in five different weight classes; breaking a record that was once held by Saulo Ribeiro for 20 years.
The multiple time world champ fought at lightweight (u76kg), middleweight (u82kg), medium-heavyweight (u88kg), heavyweight (u94kg) and super-heavyweight (u100kg).
Shortly before his death, Lo was crowned the 2022 World Champion after beating Isaque Bahiense in the medium heavyweight final, winning his eighth and last world championship title.
A very well-deserved induction into the IBJJF Hall of Fame.
RIP Leandro Lo.
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