MAURICIO GOMES WAS A FAMOUS BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU COMPETITOR, ACTIVE DURING THE 1970'S AND 80'S, WHO BELONGS TO THE ELITE GROUP OF BLACK BELTS GIVEN THE RANK BY THE LATE ROLLS GRACIE, ONE OF THE LEGENDARY FIGURES OF BJJ. ON TOP OF HIS LONG LIST OF TROPHIES IN THE SPORT, MAURICIO WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE FIRST GRACIE BARRA SCHOOL IN THE UK, ONE OF THE VERY FIRST SCHOOLS TO BE ESTABLISHED ON BRITISH SOIL. HE IS ALSO THE FATHER OF ROGER GRACIE, THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED SUBMISSION GRAPPLER OF HIS GENERATION AND COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE G.O.A.T. (GREATEST OF ALL TIME)

​

MAURICIO STARTED TRAINING JIU JITSU WHEN HE WAS 4 YEARS OLD AT JOAO ALBERTO BARRETO'S ACADEMY. MAURICIO'S FATHER WAS A BROWN BELT UNDER BARRETO AND INSTILLED IN MAURICIO THE DRIVE TO TRAIN AND COMPETE. WHEN MASTER JOAO ALBERTO BARRETO STARTED PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO HIS PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSION, THE TEAM LOST IT'S MENTOR AND WITH A WEAK COMPETITION TEAM, AN EAGER MAURICIO IN HIS LATE TEENS FELT THE NEED TO JOIN ANOTHER GYM. AT THIS TIME ONE OF MAURICIO'S BEST FRIENDS, MARCIO STAMBOWSKY, WAS TRAINING WITH ROLLS GRACIE AND MENTIONED THE HIGH LEVEL OF HIS CLASSES, HIS FRIENDSHIP AND THE TOP QUALITY PROVIDED BY ROLLS WAS MORE ENOUGH FOR MAURICIO TO JOIN THE TEAM, IN THE YEAR OF 1975. HE WOULD KEEP TRAINING WITH ROLLS FROM THIS MOMENT UNTIL HE THE DAY HE PASSED AWAY IN 1982, RECEIVING HIS BLACK BELT FROM THE GRACIE LEGEND IN THE MEANTIME.

​

THE CLOSE PROXIMITY TO GARCIE FAMILY LED MAURICIO TO MEET REILA GRACIE (SISTER OF ROLLS AND DAUGHT OF GRANDMASTER CARLOS GRACIE SENIOR). MAURICIO AND REILA WOULD GROW FOND OF EACH OTHER, AND THOUGH THEIR RELATIONSHIP DIDN'T LAST, THEY DID HAVE A SON, ROGER GRACIE, WHO WOULD LATER IN HIS LIFE BECOME THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED JIU JITSU COMPETITOR OF ALL TIME.

​

AFTER HIS MASTER'S DEATH, MAURICIO ABANDONED JIU JITSU 9AS MANY OTHER OF ROLLS' STUDENTS DID), TO PURSUE OTHER CAREER OBJECTIVES, THOUGH NEVER LEAVING THE SPORT COMPLETELY AND TRAININGMAINLY TO KEEP IN SHAPE WITH ROLLS' BROTHER CARLINHOS GRACIE (WHO HAD BEEN AN ASSISTANT COACH AT THE OLD ACADEMY). JUST BEFORE THE TURN OF THE 21ST CENTURY, MAURICIO CAME TO BIRMINGHAM AND ESTABLISHED AN ACADEMY THERE. aFTER THIS HE MOVED SOUTH TO LONDON AND OPENED A SERIES OF GYMS, NAMELY AT THE SEYMOUR LEISURE CENTRE IN MARYLEBONE (WHICH WOULD BE HANDED TO ROGER BROOKING AT A LATER STAGE). HE OPENED A FEW OTHER GYMS AND BROUGHT HIS SON ROGER FROM BRAZIL TO HELP HIM WITH THE FAST GROWING ACADEMIES.

​

IN 2003 MAURICIO HEARD THAT THE PAN AMERICAN CHAMPION BRAULIO ESTIMA WAS TRYING HIS LUCK IN LONDON. MAURICIO SAW GREAT POTENTIAL IN BRINGING THIS UP AND COMING STAR TO TRAIN WITH HIS SON ROGER (WHO WAS FAST BECOMING A BJJ PHENOMENON), HE BROUGH ESTIMA TO HIS CAMP HANDING IN THE PROCESS HIS BIRMINGHAM FRANCHISE IN THE HANDS OF BRAULIO. TODAY GRACIE BARRA UK IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST ACADEMIES IN EUROPE.

​

MAURICIO IS AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS THE 'GODFATHER OF BRITISH JIU JITSU' BECAUSE OF HIS EFFORTS TO GROW THE SPORT IN THE COUNTRY. IN 2017 HE WAS AWARDED HIS 8TH DEGREE RED & WHITE CORAL BELT MAKING HIM THE HIGHEST RANKING JIU JISTSU TEACHER IN EUROPE. CENTRE LINE BJJ IS  EXCEEDINGLY PROUD TO BE AFFILIATED WITH MESTRE GOMES AND REPRESENT THE MAURICO GOMES LEGACY TEAM.