Vagner Rocha is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, former UFC fighter and ADCC medallist who teaches at his own academy, Vagner Rocha Martial Arts, in Pembroke Pines, Florida. His Instagram covers coaching, competition and training.
Background
Rocha was born on 6 June 1982 in Rio de Janeiro. Wikipedia lists him as a third-degree black belt.
Grappling results
- ADCC World Championship: silver at −77 kg in 2019 and 2024, bronze at −77 kg in 2017 and bronze at −88 kg in 2022.
- Combat Jiu-Jitsu World Championship: lightweight champion in 2017.
- IBJJF World No-Gi: silver at −91.5 kg in 2021.
- ADCC Atlantic City Open: gold under 91 kg in 2024.
- UFC Fight Pass Invitational: at Invitational 4 in June 2023 he beat Fellipe Andrew and lost the semi-final to Nick Rodriguez. At Invitational 5 he choked Victor Silveiro.
- Who's Number One: lost to Gordon Ryan in 2021 and Nicholas Meregali in 2024, and beat Kit Dale in 2025.
In 2022 USADA gave him a three-year IBJJF suspension for refusing to provide a drug-test sample.
MMA career
Rocha fought MMA from 2009 to 2017 and finished 14–4. In the UFC he went 1–3:
- UFC 131 (2011): lost to Donald Cerrone.
- UFC Fight Night 25 (2011): choked Cody McKenzie with a rear-naked choke.
- UFC on Fuel TV 1 (2012): knocked out by Jonathan Brookins.
- UFC Fight Night 55 (2014): lost to Jake Matthews.
He also beat Igor Gracie and Francisco Soares in Bellator and was a two-time Fight Time lightweight champion.
Related pages
His 2024 ADCC silver came after he lost the −77 kg final to Mica Galvão by submission. For no-gi study, start with our back control page. Follower counts are curated snapshots, not live data.