Roberto Jimenez

Roberto Jimenez was born on May 19, 2000 in Miami, Florida, United States of America. His parents are from South America - Ecuador.

Roberto's father, Raul "Gacho" Jimenez, was an ardent practitioner of Thai boxing who, in 2001, decided to start training in jiu-jitsu. His love for grappling led Gacho to enroll Roberto in a BJJ class at the age of 4.

When Roberto turned 10, the Jimenez family returned to the United States, this time settling in Texas. Roberto was not very English fluent at the time, having Spanish as his mother tongue, a lack that made him a target for school bullies for a while. This problem would be overcome by using jiu-jitsu to protect himself.

Although he was an avid competitor from an early age, Roberto didn't win his first gold medal until his 13th birthday. This was a turning point in Jimenez's life, as he hadn't taken a lot of interest in competing until then. The desire of victory opened a new door in Roberto's career, he began to focus more on training as he had never done before.

By the age of 15, Roberto was competing weekly in several divisions, ranging from the teenage division - weight + absolute, gi + no-gi, to the adult division, weight + absolute, gi + no-gi. He won up to 8 medals per event. It was also at this age that Roberto made his first big breakthrough into the BJJ public, after participating in the Royal Invitational, a professional tournament where the main stars of the colored belt divisions fought for a cash prize. Despite being the youngest athlete, Roberto came out with the trophy, winning by submission over some of the sport's most promising stars. Names such as Gabriel Sousa, Thalison Soares and Gabriel Almeida.

"My father (and teacher) always taught me to think about jiujitsu realistically, as if I had to use it in a real situation, so that if someone tries to attack you or rob you, you won't get two points for a sweep and then a knee on your body. Of course not, you will find the quickest way to put that person asleep or break an arm or leg. And that's the mindset I have for competition. ». And it is with this mentality that Roberto has been able to subdue most of his opponents.

After winning the absolute brown belt at the No-Gi Worlds, Roberto received his black belt and was looking forward to testing himself in 2020. On the stage of Flograppling's Who's #1 on February 13th, Roberto was the outsider but finally won it against the 6x world champion in his category: Keenan Cornelius.

At the end of this fight, but also in several interviews, Roberto draws attention to frequent use of steroids in the BJJ, which gave him the nickname "Natural".

During a fight, the patch on his gi labelled "All Natural Steroid Free BJJ" drew people' s attention to this topic. "All Natural BJJ" is an association dedicated to promoting Jiu Jitsu without the shortcuts of performance enhancing drugs: "We are committed to focusing on the purity of the art and to the technique, devotion and hard work as the only ways to the top of the podium," argues the association.

Jimenez said he didn't know he was wearing this patch until he was pointed out to him. In fact, he was wearing his father's gi, but the patch fits perfectly with his opinion on the subject: "If you have a good lifestyle, a good diet, training hard and a good mental, the use of steroids in BJJ is simply not necessary.

ROBERTO AND THE MOSKOVA FAMILY