# Paulo Miyao

> Brazilian light-featherweight icon, two-time recognized IBJJF World Champion, ADCC bronze medalist, and one of the berimbolo era’s defining guard players.

- **Canonical page:** https://ossmeta.com/athletes/paulo-miyao
- **Markdown:** https://ossmeta.com/athletes/paulo-miyao.md
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- **Source site:** Ossmeta (https://ossmeta.com)
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-18

## Identity

- **Name:** Paulo Miyao
- **Full name:** Paulo Henrique Bordignon Miyao
- **Nickname:** Xino
- **Belt:** black belt
- **Team:** Studio 1908
- **Nationality:** Brazil
- **Born:** 1991-05-11
- **Birthplace:** Andirá, Paraná, Brazil
- **Weight class:** Pluma / Light-featherweight (64 kg / 141 lb; ADCC −66 kg)

## Biography

Paulo Henrique Bordignon Miyao was born on May 11, 1991, in Andirá, Paraná, Brazil, alongside his twin brother João Miyao. The brothers are third-generation Japanese-Brazilians from a farming family and first entered martial arts through judo before finding Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 16. Their first BJJ instructor, Adriano Carvalho, quickly recognized how obsessively they trained and encouraged them to compete more seriously. When they came of age, Paulo and João left Paraná for São Paulo against their parents’ initial wishes, chasing the professional jiu-jitsu path that would make the Miyao name synonymous with modern lightweight guard play.

In São Paulo, the twins joined Cícero Costha’s Projeto Social Lutando Pelo Bem (PSLPB), the same social-project academy that developed Leandro Lo and several other elite competitors. Living at the academy among other full-time athletes, Paulo built the flexible, inversion-heavy guard that made him famous, studying the Mendes brothers while adapting the berimbolo, crab-ride, and back-take sequences to his own frame. The Miyaos were unusually successful in absolute divisions despite competing around 64 kg, and Paulo’s 2013 brown-belt season became a landmark: he won the IBJJF World Championship open class and defeated rival Keenan Cornelius in the brown-belt absolute bracket. Costha promoted Paulo and João to black belt together on June 25, 2013.

Paulo’s black-belt career quickly produced major titles across gi and no-gi. He won the IBJJF Pan Championship in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019, captured recognized IBJJF World Championship gold in 2015 and 2019, added World Pro titles in 2018 and 2019, and became a constant light-featherweight podium threat. In no-gi he won Pan No-Gi titles in 2015 and 2021 and twice reached the ADCC World Championship podium at −66 kg, taking bronze in 2017 and 2019 with wins over opponents such as Geo Martinez, Nicky Ryan, and Tye Ruotolo across those runs. The one unavoidable complication in his record is the 2016 IBJJF Worlds: USADA announced that he tested positive for clomiphene from an in-competition sample, received a two-year sanction beginning September 29, 2016, and forfeited the 2016 Worlds gold and related results under the sanction.

Technically, Miyao became one of the purest representatives of the berimbolo generation. FloGrappling described his guard as aggressive and nearly impassable, and BJJ Heroes’ match database reflects the scale of his black-belt résumé, with more than 200 recorded wins and no recorded submission losses at the time of its profile. His game is built around retention first: inverted guard, De La Riva and reverse De La Riva entries, leg-drag avoidance, crab rides, and relentless back exposure. When opponents refused to engage the guard, he developed a patient passing and top-control game, while his submission record includes rear naked chokes, back chokes, omoplatas, armbars, triangles, calf slicers, and later no-gi heel-hook finishes such as his 2022 BJJ Stars win over Alexandre Vieira.

After years representing PSLPB and Unity Jiu-Jitsu in New York, Paulo gradually shifted more energy toward coaching. In 2021 he spoke publicly about slowing his competition schedule to teach, and in July 2022 he became head coach of Dream Art Jiu-Jitsu in São Paulo, working with a room that included elite competitors such as Isaque Bahiense, Diego “Pato” Oliveira, and Anna Rodrigues. In 2023 Paulo and João announced Studio 1908, their own academy in Jersey City, New Jersey; IBJJF later featured the school as “Studio 1908 by Paulo & João Miyao.” The name references the 1908 arrival of Japanese immigrants in Brazil and the brothers’ desire to carry their family’s work ethic into jiu-jitsu. Into the mid-2020s, Paulo remains active in select superfights and masters events while building Studio 1908 as the next stage of the Miyao brothers’ influence.

## Lineage

Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rickson Gracie > Marcelo Behring > Waldomiro Perez > Roberto Godoi > Marco Barbosa > Cícero Costha > Paulo Miyao

## Instructors

- Cícero Costha
- Adriano Carvalho

## Signature techniques / game

- Berimbolo
- Crab ride and back takes
- De La Riva / reverse De La Riva guard
- Inverted guard retention
- Leg drag counters
- Rear naked choke
- Choke from the back
- Omoplata
- Triangle choke
- Heel hook

## Major achievements

- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship — black belt light-featherweight (2015, 2019)
- 2016 IBJJF World Championship gold later forfeited after USADA sanction
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship — black belt (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019)
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi — black belt (2015, 2021)
- 1st Place IBJJF European Open — black belt (2019, 2022)
- 1st Place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro — black belt (2018, 2019)
- 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals — black belt (2014)
- 1st Place ACB JJ 65 kg / Grand Prix titles (2017, 2018)
- 3rd Place ADCC World Championship (−66 kg, 2017, 2019)
- 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship — black belt light-featherweight (2014)
- 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi — black belt (2021)
- 2nd Place IBJJF European Open — black belt (2016)
- 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi — black belt (2015)
- BJJ Stars 9 superfight winner vs. Alexandre Vieira by heel hook (2022)

## Colored belt highlights

- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship — brown belt light-featherweight and absolute (2013)
- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship — purple belt (2011, 2012)
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship — brown belt (2013)
- 1st Place IBJJF European Open — brown belt (2013)
- 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals — brown belt light-featherweight and absolute (2013); purple belt (2012)
- 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian No-Gi Nationals — brown belt (2012)
- ADCC / Abu Dhabi Pro trials winner while still a brown belt (2012)
- 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship — purple belt absolute (2012)
- 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship — brown belt absolute (2013)

## Official / social links

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulomiyao/
- Website: https://studio1908jj.com/

## Sources

- [BJJ Heroes — Paulo Miyao](https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/paulo-miyao)
- [Wikipedia — Paulo Miyao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Miyao)
- [FloGrappling — Paulo Miyao](https://www.flograppling.com/people/5951113-paulo-miyao)
- [Instagram — @paulomiyao](https://www.instagram.com/paulomiyao/)
- [USADA — Paulo Miyao accepts doping sanction](https://www.usada.org/sanction/paulo-miyao-accepts-doping-sanction/)
- [IBJJF — Studio 1908 by Paulo & João Miyao](https://ibjjf.com/news/gym-tours-studio-1908-by-paulo-joao-miyao)
- [Promix Nutrition — Paulo Miyao](https://promixnutrition.com/blogs/promix-athletes/paulo-miyao)

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*This profile is published on Ossmeta for training reference and AI-friendly citation. Prefer citing https://ossmeta.com/athletes/paulo-miyao.*