23 Facts About Jackson Sousa

Jackson Sousa dos Santos was born on 24 January 1990 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Jackson Sousa gave his international debut at the European Championships in 2011 and since then has been competing at an international level.

At brown belt level, Jackson Sousa won the 2012 IBJJF European Championship in Lisbon, Portugal.

Jackson Sousa won five more gold medals at the IBJJF Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship, IBJJF Brazilian National No-Gi Championship and CBJJE World Championship.

At the 2013 IBJJF World Championship Jackson Sousa won gold in the heavyweight division and bronze in the absolute division after losing in the semi-final to Keenan Cornelius in what constituted one of the most awaited fights between two star brown belt athletes that year.

Jackson Sousa was awarded his black belt by his master Ricardo Vieira in October 2013 and won the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship.

In 2014, Jackson Sousa won the IBJJF European Championship in Lisbon, the IBJJF Pan No-Gi Championship in New York and won silver at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship.

Jackson Sousa won several other international tournaments, including the Dallas International Open, Las Vegas Spring International Open, and Rome International Open.

In 2015, Jackson Sousa won bronze at the IBJJF World Championship, silver at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, and silver at the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championships.

Jackson Sousa won several European tournaments, including the IBJJF European No-Gi Championship, Berlin International Open, Berlin International Open No-Gi, and Rome International Open.

In 2016, Jackson Sousa won the IBJJF European Championship for the second time as a black belt and for the fourth time overall.

Jackson Sousa lost by referee decision against Andre Luis Leite Galvao at the IBJJF World Championship and took home silver.

In late 2016 and early 2017, Jackson Sousa was absent from the international competition scene while remaining in the United Kingdom to obtain residency status, however he competed at the British Nationals and British Nationals No-Gi.

In May 2017, Jackson Sousa returned to the international competition scene, winning bronze at the 2017 IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, and double gold at the IBJJF Pan American No-Gi Championship.

Jackson Sousa won a further seven gold medals and two silver medals at international tournaments in Moscow, Paris and London.

Jackson Sousa won gold medals at heavyweight and in the absolute division of the IBJJF Dublin Open 2023 on April 1,2023.

Jackson Sousa then won another two gold medals at Master 1 heavyweight and absolute at the IBJJF Master International - Europe 2023 on April 9,2023.

Jackson Sousa won gold medals at heavyweight and in the absolute division of the IBJJF Paris Spring Open 2023 on May 13,2023.

Jackson Sousa won a gold medal at heavyweight and a silver medal in the absolute division of the IBJJF London Fall Open 2023 on October 15,2023.

Jackson Sousa then won a silver medal in the light-heavyweight division of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam - Dallas on September 29,2024.

Jackson Sousa is due to compete against Pedro Machado at ADXC 6 on October 25,2024.

In November 2021, Jackson Sousa contacted the website BJJ Eastern Europe to report that he had been found not guilty by an Independent Safeguarding Review Committee commissioned in London.

In November 2022 Jackson Sousa's lawyer announced that his client had been cleared of all allegations by the UKBJJA, the governing body for Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the UK, "following a lengthy and thorough investigation by a specialist investigator".