Fellipe Andrew

Fellipe Andrew Leandro Silva was born on October 24, 1994, in Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil. Sport was part of his upbringing, but his first serious martial-art phase came through kung fu in his mid-teens. In April 2011 friends convinced him to try Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and he quickly committed to training under Adriano Estanislau, whose Checkmat-affiliated academy regularly hosted Rodrigo Cavaca. That connection became the core of Andrew’s jiu-jitsu education: Estanislau guided him from the beginning, while Cavaca became the coach who shaped his elite competitive career.

As a purple belt Andrew left home for Santos, São Paulo, to train full-time at Cavaca’s headquarters after Cavaca founded Zenith JJ. The move accelerated one of the strongest colored-belt runs of his generation. He won major IBJJF and AJP titles at purple and brown belt, reached the final of Copa Podio’s mixed black/brown middleweight grand prix in 2017, and earned his black belt in December 2017 in a ceremony led by Cavaca and Estanislau. Even before the promotion, Andrew had become known for a high-output, submission-first style built around triangles, botinhas, armlocks, and attacks from front headlock and mounted-control sequences.

Andrew’s black-belt career made him one of the busiest and most decorated heavyweight competitors on the IBJJF circuit. He won the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals in 2018, the IBJJF European Open and Pan Championship in 2019, and continued collecting European, Pan, American Nationals, Copa Podio, AJP Grand Slam, and World Pro results across weight and absolute divisions. His official World Championship breakthrough came in stages: the 2021 absolute title entered the record books after the original final result changed, and in 2023 he validated that status on the mat by winning the heavyweight world title at the Pyramid, defeating Pedro Machado in the final after wins over Roberto Jimenez, Jackson Sousa, and Rider Zuchi.

After years associated with Zenith and then Alliance, Andrew moved deeper into the U.S. scene, spending time with Robert Drysdale in Las Vegas and later joining Art of Jiu-Jitsu in Costa Mesa in 2024 alongside Leticia Cardozo. That same season showed both his no-gi ceiling and a major career interruption: he reached the final of the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational over-80 kg bracket, submitting Inacio Santos before losing to Nick Rodriguez, then accepted a two-year USADA-administered ineligibility period after testing positive for clomiphene and its metabolites from an in-competition sample at the 2024 IBJJF Pan Championship. The sanction began April 16, 2024, and disqualified IBJJF or Code-signatory results from March 24, 2024 onward, including the 2024 Pan title. Outside that sanctioning context, Andrew has remained active in professional and AJP events, with one of the sport’s most prolific submission records.