Joao Roque - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

João Roque is a former Pluma weight Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) black belt World Champion

World Jiu-Jitsu Championship

The World Jiu-Jitsu Championship is the most prestigious Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in the world. They are hosted annually by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. The first Mundial tournament to be held outside of Brazil was in 2007 at the California State University in Long...

and a retired Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

. He competed in the Featherweight

Featherweight (MMA)

The featherweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*UFC's & Pancrase's featherweight division, which groups competitors within 136 to 145 lb...

division in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)

Mixed martial arts

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His first coaches of BJJ were Marcio Pinheiro and Gerson Velasco, and he stayed under their guidance until he was a purple belt. It was under prestigious Oswaldo Alves, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Red Belt and a legend in the sport of BJJ, that Joao Roque graduated to brown belt. When Master Oswaldo had to move to Manaus

Manaus

Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....

Roque joined André Pederneiras

Andre Pederneiras

André Pederneiras is a Brazilian mixed martial artist with a record of 1-1-2. Andre "Dede" Pederneiras is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under the late grandmaster Carlson Gracie and also one of the two founders of team Nova União...

, right at the start of the Nova União

Nova União (mixed martial arts)

Nova União is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy and mixed martial arts team located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Their BJJ black belts have participated in BJJ, submission grappling and MMA competitions all over the world...

.

Joao Roque joined MMA in 1996 in the United States (Oklahoma) with a win by armbar. He retired in 2005 in the Japan (Tokyo) with a loss by decision.

Today he lives in Brasília

Brasília

Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...

, capital of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Roque went on to form one of the strongest teams in that state, his gym “Clube Vizinhança” still runs today.

Notable BJJ black belts graduated

Bernado Pitel
Jonatas Gurgel “Tagarela”
Mark Andrew Bocek
Mark Bocek
Mark Andrew Bocek is a Canadian mixed martial artist. He competes in the Lightweight division.-Background:Bocek is one of Canada's first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts and has been studying the art for more than a decade...

Mixed martial arts record

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Alexandre Franca Nogueira

Alexandre Franca "Pequeno" Nogueira is a Brazilian Luta Livre fighter and the former Lightweight champion of Shooto, a Japanese mixed martial arts organization. Nogueira began his professional career at the age of 21, defeating Noboru Asahi. He trains with the World Fight Center...

Hiroyuki Takaya

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

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|Win
|align=center|7-1-3
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Hiroyuki Abe

, also known as Abe Ani, is a Japanese former mixed martial artist, currently retired from fighting and teaching full time at his gym, Abe Ani Combat Club...

Japan

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|Win
|align=center|6-1-3
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Tokyo

, Japan

Japan

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|Win
|align=center|5-1-3
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Tokyo

, Japan

Japan

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|Win
|align=center|4-1-3
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Japan

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|Win
|align=center|3-1-3
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Stephen Palling
|Submission (armbar)
|World Fighting Alliance 1

World Fighting Alliance 1

World Fighting Alliance 1 was the first mixed martial arts event held by World Fighting Alliance on November 3, 2001 at The Joint in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.-Background:The event marked the professional debut of Vitor Ribeiro....

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Win
|align=center|2-1-3
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Yokohama

is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

, Japan

Japan

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|Loss
|align=center|1-1-3
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Jens Pulver

Jens Johnnie Pulver is an American mixed martial artist . He was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion and was a coach on the The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show, which aired on Spike TV. He was formerly signed as a featherweight with World Extreme Cagefighting , which is...

|Decision
|UFC 26

UFC 26

UFC 26: Ultimate Field Of Dreams was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 9, 2000 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.-History:...

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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| Draw
|align=center|1-0-3
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Tokyo

, Japan

Japan

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| Draw
|align=center|1-0-2
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Noboru Asahi

Tokyo

, Japan

Japan

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| Draw
|align=center|1-0-1
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Tokyo

, Japan

Japan

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|Win
|align=center|1-0
|Abdelaziz Cherigui
|Submission (armbar)
|EF 3 - Extreme Fighting 3
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|align=center|1
|align=center|4:02
|Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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External links

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