Modern Sport BJJ Era (2008-2018)
THE MENDES BROTHERS AND THE MODERN COMPETITION GAME
Rafael and Guilherme Mendes — the brothers who co-founded Atos with Ramon Lemos in the late 2000s — substantially defined the modern lightweight competitive BJJ style through their IBJJF Mundial and ADCC dominance across the 2010s. The technical innovations they produced (the modern berimbolo system, the leg drag pass, the dual gi-and-no-gi competitive trajectory) reshaped the competitive landscape and established the pedagogical framework that the contemporary Atos generation now extends.
The Mendes brothers entered black-belt competition in the late 2000s with backgrounds in the Alliance pedagogical tradition (where they had trained under Ramon Lemos in their early careers) and quickly established themselves as the leading lightweight competitors of the early 2010s era. Rafael's competitive output at featherweight produced five IBJJF Mundial championships and two ADCC World Championships, while Guilherme's competitive output at light-featherweight produced three IBJJF Mundial championships and multiple Pan-American and European Open titles. The combined competitive record across the two adjacent weight classes was one of the most dominant brother-pair performances in modern BJJ history.
The technical innovations the Mendes brothers refined extended the De-La-Riva-and-berimbolo system that Cobrinha and the previous lightweight generation had established. The Mendes brothers' specific contribution was the systematic integration of the inverted-De-La-Riva berimbolo entries, the leg-drag pass that became one of the canonical modern open-guard passes, and the dual-competitive-format approach that demonstrated elite-level success was possible across both gi (IBJJF) and no-gi (ADCC) competitive structures. Their rivalry with Cobrinha across multiple IBJJF Mundial and ADCC encounters produced some of the most-watched competitive matches of the era.
The Mendes brothers' co-founding of Atos in 2007 (with Ramon Lemos as the team's primary coach) established the institutional framework that has subsequently produced multiple generations of elite competitors. The Atos pedagogical tradition — emphasis on positional sophistication, modern submission systems, integrated gi-and-no-gi training, and competitive output across multiple formats — has been one of the most influential frameworks in modern BJJ. Subsequent Atos competitors (Mica Galvao, Tainan Dalpra, the Ruotolo brothers in their youth-Atos period, and many others) have continued to refine the technical vocabulary that the Mendes brothers established.
The broader institutional impact of the Mendes brothers extends through Art of Jiu Jitsu, the academy they founded in Costa Mesa, California, which has become one of the most influential modern BJJ academies globally. Art of Jiu Jitsu has produced instructional content, hosted seminars, and coached generations of competitors who have substantially shaped modern competitive BJJ. The Mendes brothers' commercial visibility through their pedagogical work has also contributed to the broader commercialization of professional BJJ that the modern era has produced.
As of 2026 Rafael Mendes is largely retired from active competition and focuses on coaching at Art of Jiu Jitsu and Atos, while Guilherme continues a similar coaching focus. Their competitive legacy — the technical innovations, the Atos institutional structure, the dual-format competitive approach — remains one of the most influential frameworks in modern competitive BJJ. The current Atos roster's continued competitive output suggests that the Mendes brothers' institutional and pedagogical influence will continue to shape competitive BJJ for the foreseeable future.