Israel Sousa - Top BJJ Black Belt

Israel de Sousa Almeida is a highly competitive BJJ fighter and a black belt under Julio Cesar Pereira, who represents the GF Team in the international sports circuit. Cesar has also worked with Israel’s father, Elinor Batista. Israel Sousa gained fame in the BJJ’s belt rankings, after his marvelous performances in the IBJJF Pan Championships and the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World Championship. Israel excellently showed his grappling skills and successfully won the gold medals.

Israel de Sousa Almeida was born on April 25, 1998, in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. His father, Elinor Batista, and elder brother were strongly connected with jiu-jitsu. Israel started his jiu-jitsu training at the age of five. Initially, he learned various grappling techniques from his father.

During his first year, Israel simply considered jiu-jitsu as a physical activity. But after a year, his father immediately enrolled him in a jiu-jitsu competition that occurred in their own gym. Almedia excellently performed and won the match. At that time, he was super confident after winning that super fight, so he decided to participate in more jiu-jitsu competitions. Unfortunately, he faced losses in the first four rounds of the match. Then he again started his training and worked on himself for one year. His comeback after a year was so flawless that it led him towards the path of victory. 

Israel Sousa started judo training at the age of 13. His main concern was to improve his effectiveness and efficiency in BJJ competitions. He trained under the supervision of Sensei Alex Sampaio and learned a lot. He competed in four judo tournaments and won in three of them. He only lost one match due to an arm injury that he sustained during a takedown defense.   But for later judo competitions, he decided to compete by employing pre-defined strategies to prevent any future injuries.

In 2013, Israel’s brother and team member moved to Brazil to get training at the GF Team’s headquarters. During their training period, their bond was developed with this notable academy. This bond became strengthened when the academy's coach, Julio César, and the top BJJ fighters of the team came to Fortaleza for competitions.

 Israel Sousa first traveled to Cachanga, a GFT fighter house located in Rio de Janeiro. As a black belt, he started traveling to multiple places to compete and learn. After getting this first experience, he decided to travel more as he completely embraced the lifestyle of a BJJ competitor. Then he traveled to Ohio and Rio de Janeiro to compete for more.

When Israel was a purple belt, Julio Cesar invited him to California to get full-time training in Orange County. Israel agreed to the offer and went for the training. He eventually received the brown belt on American soil. In the 2019 IBJJF World and Pan championships, Israel Sousa earned winning titles with his commendable performances. Then in 2019, Julio César promoted him to black belt.

In May 2023, Israel Sousa Almeida announced his move to Atos Jiu-Jitsu Headquarters located in San Diego, California. This announcement was made before his participation in the 2023 IBJJF World Championships in the featherweight division. Previously, Israel was getting training under  Andre Galvao. However, according to the IBJJF documents, Israel Sousa has officially announced his switch to Atos. Israel will compete in the 2023 IBJJF World Championship. After getting the titles at the blue belt and brown belt levels, Israel will appear at the IBJJF Worlds for the third time. In this face-off, Israel will compete against his team member Daniel Sathler.

In the 2020 World Pro, Marcio André competed against Israel Sousa. Andre played amazingly well,  initially using the spider sweep technique to take control of Israel Sousa. Andre also attempted a foot attack and knee-on-belly position, which earned him points. But in the last 20 seconds, Israel Sousa surprisingly performed the guard pass and scored 3 points. Based on the results, Israel was declared the winner.

In the finals of the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Miami, Israel Sousa faced Meyram Maquine. Both showed their proficient grappling skills; however, based on the referee's decision, Israel Sousa secured the victory.

In the 2023 IBJJF European Open Championship quarter-final,  the featherweight battle was between Fabricio Andrey and Israel Sousa. Both tried to attempt submission techniques, but  Andrey scored two points and achieved success with the knee-on-belly position.

Marcio André vs. Israel Sousa ● World Pro 2020

Alex Sodre VS Israel Almeida / European Championship 2020

Israel Almeida VS Thiago Macedo / Houston Fall Open 2019

Photo Credit: @raelalmeidabjj