Joe (or Jose Carlos) Moreira was born on July 3, 1961, in Rio de Janeiro. He is a 9th-degree red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and a pioneer in bringing the art to the United States.
Royce Gracie's success in the early UFC events helped popularize BJJ in the United States.
Early Life and Training
Moreira started his training in martial arts at the age of 6 with Judo, influenced by his older brother. Three years later, he began Jiu-Jitsu at the famous Gracie academy, which at the time was shared by the brothers Carlson and Rolls Gracie. His coaching was mainly done by Reyson Gracie and Fernando Guimaraes “Pinduka”. He stayed at Reylson’s gym for well over a decade, competing in the scarce competitions available at the time, although he would receive his black belt from Francisco Mansure in 1984.
Move to the United States
Joe Moreira was one of the first ‘non Gracie’ Jiu Jitsu black belts to move to the United States, before Royce Gracie brought the martial art to the limelight of the combat sports world, with his win at UFC 1-4. In the early 90’s Joe Moreira decided to move to the United States after an invitation from his master Reylson Gracie. He would stay at his master's gym for 4 months, but things didn’t quite work out as planned and he decided to separate from Reylson. Luckily Moreira had established a friendship with one of the students at the academy, when the student (named Cab Garrett) heard that Joe was leaving he decided to help the Brazilian, taking the instructor and his wife in his own home.
Nickname Origin
“Joe” became Moreira’s first name when he moved to the USA. This was because of a hint given by Moreira’s English coach who believed Jose Carlos resembled a Mexican name and was comercially frowned upon.
Contributions to BJJ in the US
At the time when Joe arrived in America, there were no tournaments. Seeing a gap in a field that Moreira knew well, he decided to organize an event, thus emerged the very first Joe Moreira Cup.
He returned to Brazil after a few years in Japan, and started teaching Jiu Jitsu in a sports center in Barra da Tijuca. As the place had a very good infrastructure, Moreira was contacted by Ricielli Santos to make a Jiu Jitsu event there. Santos was famous in the Jiu Jitsu realm for organizing some of the biggest jiu jitsu tournaments in the 1980’s (Copa Cantao and Copa Lightning Bolt). The pair agreed on a partnership and organized the very first Copa Atlantico Sul (called Atlantico Sul because that was the name of the sports centre).
The Joe Moreira Cup was one of the first BJJ tournaments in the United States.
Mixed Martial Arts Career
Jiujitsu Elbow Snake application with Master Joe Moreira’s Principles & Rules from bottom position
Following his long string of Jiu-Jitsu and Judo victories, Moreira decided to test his skills in mixed martial arts competition via the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Then in 1996 came the opportunity to compete in the UFC. The famous UFC referee “Big” John McCarthy was a student of Joe and got him in contact with the UFC management, but before they signed him on, they asked him to make a test. The test was a closed doors no holds barred fight in an academy against Zane Frazier. Moreira agreed and fought Zane, sweeping him and mounting before the clock stopped the fight. The UFC was impressed and signed him on.
UFC 8 and UFC 14
On February 16, 1996, Moreira fought the six-foot-eight-inch, 360-pound Paul Varelans in the UFC 8 and lost by a narrow decision. He competed again the following year at UFC 14, winning his first match against Yuri Vaulin by unanimous decision, putting him in the finals of the Middleweight bracket.
Relationships and Influences
During his time with the UFC Moreira met Marco Ruas, a luta livre (a form of Brazilian Wrestling) fighter who had grown up in the same neighborhood as Joe (Leme in Rio de Janeiro). Marco Ruas also introduced another Luta Livre fighter to Joe Moreira, Eugenio Tadeu. Both Ruas and Tadeu had a long history of rivalry against Jiu Jitsu and it’s fighters in the battle for the dominance of Martial Arts in Brazil in the late 80’s and early 1990’s.
Moreira also attributed Kimo (a famous MMA fighter from the early UFC days) his black belt in Jiu Jitsu. The two met on the backstage of UFC 8, in a day when Allan Goes and “Tank” Abbot fell out with each exchanging harsh words. The next day in the lobby of the hotel, Moreira and Goes were checking out and coincidently so was Kimo and his manager. Suddenly Tank Abbot comes in with Tito Ortiz and a group of 8 more men wanting to cause a fight with the pair of Brazilians. Kimo thought this was unfair and took Allan Goes’s side together with his manager, making Abbot and his men back out. Kimo then asked Moreira if he could learn BJJ from him as he was very interested in the martial art, a request immediately accepted by Joe.
Rob "The Bear" Hinkson
Head Instructor, 4th Degree Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Rob has spent the majority of his life as a martial arts student. At the age of 8, his father would take him out in the back yard to teach him techniques from martial arts he had studied in Korea while serving with the US Air Force. Since this time, Rob's thirst for learning more and more about martial arts has not been quenched. When he found Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 1996, he knew that he had found an art to fully dedicate himself to. He has now studied Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for over 29 years with the likes of Joe Moreira, Aaron Blake, Trent Lewis, Luis Heredia, and Mauricio Costa. Rob was born and raised in Oxnard, CA but has lived on both coasts as he spent a considerable amount of time living back in the state of Maine, as well. He decided to run from the cold weather and has now been living in Los Osos since 2008. He was a videographer/photographer for GoWesty Camper Products here in Los Osos from 2008-2015 but now dedicates all his time to his family and teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Rob's instructor, Joe Moreira, always said that rolling with Rob was like rolling with a bear. That is why Joe nicknamed him the bear. This is why we use the Onikuma logo.