“They always supported me” - Matheus Gabriel is thankful to his parents and grandmother for a comfortable life

Grappling wizard Matheus Gabriel wouldn’t have gotten as far as he did in jiu-jitsu without the support of his parents but more importantly his grandmother.

The 25-year-old blackbelt is living the dream that many young Brazilian athletes aspire to experience.

He is expected to make his first appearance this Friday and challenge grappling superstar and inaugural world champion Kade Ruotolo for the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title.

The massive double-header event will take place in Manila, Philippines at ONE on Prime Video 5, which will be aired live and for free on Amazon Prime Video for North American subscribers.

With the potential to be the next world champion, Gabriel has admirably remained grounded. Never forgetting his roots and the people who supported his journey from the start, Gabriel singled out one more important person deserving of praise for his success.

The Brazilian native told ONE Championship:

“My family is very humble, but we have never had difficulties. My father is self-employed and my mother works in sales – she is a manager in a shopping center. They always supported me, but as I said, it was my grandmother who supported me since I was little.”

Matheus Gabriel is a world-class grappler with 48 wins to his credit and holds multiple IBJJF world titles under coach Kaiser Girao.

Despite his quick rise to the top, Gabriel has a difficult task ahead of him in Kade Rutotolo, who has become a nationwide superstar for his historic triumph at the 2022 ADCC wWorld Championshipand at ONE on Prime Video 3 for the ONE lightweight grappling heavyweight world title.

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Matheus Gabriel isn’t intimidated by Kade Ruotolo’s achievements, says he’s ready for the belt

Underdog or not, Matheus Gabriel isn’t intimidated by Kade Ruotolo’s achievements ahead of their submission grappling matchup this Friday.

According to BJJ Heroes, the Brazilian grappler won his first IBJJF world title back in June 2018 when he was just a brown belt and captured another world title within the no-gi category.

Before being promoted to Blackbelt by Checkmat academy coach Kaiser Girao in 2018, Gabriel had already achieved an insane 33-1 record and a high submission rate of 70%.

So competing against the BJJ poster boy of ONE Championship doesn’t faze Gabriel one bit.

At the ONE on Prime Video 5 press conference, Matheus Gabriel said:

“I’m so excited to do my debut match and get the title. So, I don’t feel any pressure. You know, I’ve been fighting like 17 years in jiu-jitsu, so I’m ready to get the belt.”