Pedro Marinho

Pedro Fillipe Serra Marinho was born on October 9, 1996, in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He grew up highly active, moving through soccer, skating, surfing, and combat sports before jiu-jitsu became his focus. BJJ Heroes describes his first martial art as capoeira at age seven, followed by Thai boxing and Western boxing in his teenage years. Shortly after turning 17, Marinho started Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Master Reinaldo Fernandes at Brazilian Top Team, where he built the base that would later carry him into Brazil's professional no-gi scene.

In 2017 Marinho earned a place in Felipe Pena's FP Golden Team, a scholarship project in Belo Horizonte designed for rising competitors. The selection process reportedly drew more than 1,000 applicants, and Marinho's performance won him a spot with Pena's group while retaining Fernandes' support. Because FP Team was tied into the broader Gracie Barra network, Marinho met Ulpiano Malachias, who invited him to train in Houston, Texas. Marinho moved to the United States in November 2018, earned his brown belt from Pena and Malachias, and was promoted to black belt by Malachias on March 13, 2021.

Marinho became unusual in the BJJ Heroes database because his professional record mattered before black belt: as a purple and brown belt he was already beating established black belts in no-gi events. He won Elite Grappling 3 in 2019, won the Jitz King middleweight tournament in 2020, placed in Third Coast Grappling Kumite brackets, and appeared at KASAI, Fight 2 Win, and ADCC while still developing through the colored ranks. His style is built around aggressive wrestling, front-headlock pressure, and a trademark guillotine system, with both BJJ Heroes and FloGrappling showing the guillotine as his defining finish.

His rookie black-belt year immediately validated the hype. In 2021 Marinho won IBJJF American Nationals and then took double gold at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, claiming both heavyweight and absolute titles. In January 2022 he defeated Craig Jones by unanimous decision to become the inaugural WNO light heavyweight champion, later defending the belt against elite names including Giancarlo Bodoni, Rafael Lovato Jr., and Izaak Michell. He has also remained an ADCC presence at -88 kg, qualifying through the 2024 ADCC South American Trials before a first-round upset loss to Ryan Aitken at ADCC 2024, and in 2025 he added the BJJ Stars 16 No-Gi Absolute Grand Prix with a late guillotine over Yatan Bueno.