Fighter Profile: Antonio Carlos Jr.

Background

Brazilian light heavyweight known as “Cara de Sapato”, an IBJJF world champion black belt and one of the most decorated pure grapplers competing in MMA. His professional record is 19-6 and he won the 2025 PFL light heavyweight world tournament.

Career timeline

• Won The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 and spent several years in the UFC middleweight division.
• Moved to the PFL and won its light heavyweight season title, adding a second PFL championship belt in 2025.
• Won the 2025 PFL World Tournament light heavyweight final on 21 August 2025, submitting Sullivan Cauley by rear-naked choke at 3:44 of round two.
• That final was a wild fight in which both men scored knockdowns in the opening round before Carlos Jr. took it to the mat.

Fight craft

Carlos Jr. is a world-class jiu-jitsu player who has built an MMA game around getting the fight to the floor and hunting the back. His passing is patient and positionally sound, and once he takes the back the fight is usually over. The trade-off is that his striking exists mostly to close distance: he can be outstruck badly in the opening minutes, as the knockdown he took from Cauley showed, and opponents with credible takedown defence have consistently frustrated him.

In the modern MMA landscape

Our wider MMA analysis correctly identifies this as elite jiu-jitsu winning a tournament final. The specific detail worth recording is the method — a second-round rear-naked choke after a genuinely competitive striking exchange — which is a fair summary of how his fights tend to unfold.

Return to What the Modern MMA Game Demands.

Sources

• Cageside Press — Antonio Carlos Jr. submits Sullivan Cauley in the PFL tournament final
• Sherdog — Antonio Carlos Jr. reflects on his PFL light heavyweight tournament run
• ESPN — Antonio Carlos Junior profile

Record and competitive status checked 1 August 2026.