BJJ has attracted a lot of phonies who have posed as black belts. Eventually every fake BJJ black belt gets exposed and they get posted online for everyone to mock.
Here are some of the known fake BJJ black belt stories we’ve seen.
Jay Queiroz: Fake BJJ Black Belt & Muay Thai Instructor
Jay Queiroz, based in Marlboro, NY, claimed to be an IBJJF-recognized black belt under GFTeam. He was exposed by brown belt Mike Palladino, who documented Queiroz’s lack of technical proficiency.
Videos showed Queiroz demonstrating poor techniques, such as sloppy armbars and toeholds, suggesting he was closer to a blue belt level.
It was later revealed that Queiroz had started teaching as a purple belt and suddenly claimed black belt status, misleading students unfamiliar with BJJ standards.
On top of being a fake BJJ black belt, Queiroz was also a fake Muay Thai instructor. His Muay Thai demonstration videos were equally poor to his BJJ technique videos.
Mark McMahon
In 2015, McMahon was outed by the BJJ Hour podcast for falsely claiming to be a black belt. He was a Gracie University online blue belt but posted pictures on Instagram wearing a third-degree black belt shortly after, without any verifiable lineage or training to support the claim.
His rapid “promotion” from blue belt to black belt was a clear red flag. After the BJJ Hour collected their evidence, the presented it to the owner HighKix Martial Arts where McMahon was running his false program.
The school quickly removed him from the school, and this fake BJJ black belt was never heard from again.(Source from BJJEE.)
Jeremy Varney
Varney was exposed in 2015 by Justin Farwell for teaching at a UFC Gym in Flowermound, Texas, while claiming to be a BJJ black belt.
When asked to roll, he refused, citing a sudden injury, and vaguely claimed his black belt came from “a guy in Hawaii.” His lack of skill and evasive behavior led to his ousting from the gym.
Here’s the video of the incident that exoposed Varney, along with some other fake BJJ black belts being exposed.
David Lang
David Lang or David “Da Silva” Lang is another funny story of a fake BJJ black belt. Lang claimed that he was a BJJ black belt under Walid Ismail and was the coach at Lotus Club in Florida.
This guy even forged Ismail’s signature on a fake black belt certification. Word got back to Ismail and he immediately denounced Lang and said he’s never met this person.
Giva Santana, the real head trainer of Lotus Club, had also never met this person and denounced him. After word got around, Lang disappeared from the scene.
Martin Suarez
Martin Suárez was a Judo black belt who decided to enter a BJJ competition in California as a black belt. Unfortunately for Suárez, he was matched up with BJJ legend Andre Galvão in his first match.
The match was recorded and people immediately same that he was not a black belt level grappler. This video went viral and Martin quickly admitted that he was a fake BJJ black belt and lied to enter the tournament.
In his recording admitting to his lie, Suárez obviously seems a little off. He also has quite a foul mouth, as every other word he muttered was a profanity. Former teammates have also claimed that he isn’t all there mentally.
Unnamed Fake BJJ Black Belt(Miami Beach)
Around a decade ago, a video went viral of Cyborg Abreu black belt Ruben Álvarez exposing a fake BJJ black belt. This person visited Alvarez’s school claiming to be a black belt.
When they began training, Ruben quickly realized this person was a fraud. He immediately stopped class and had a student record the altercation.
Ruben dressed this person down disrespecting the martial arts and took his black belt from him. This video was seen by millions and Alvarez was praised for how he defended Jiu-Jitsu.
Rafiel Torre
Easily at the top of the fake BJJ black belt list has to be Rafiel Torre. In the 1990s, Torre(Ralph Bartel) claimed to be a BJJ black belt, a karate master, and an ex-Navy SEAL with a 14-0 MMA record.
He covered small MMA events as a journalist, leveraging his presence to bolster his claims. Eddie Bravo, founder of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, invited Torre to train and quickly realized his skills were below white belt level, with Torre tapping out to basic pressure. Confronted by Bravo, Torre gave conflicting stories, claiming a Japanese Jiu-Jitsu black belt instead.
His lies unraveled further when no records supported his military or fighting claims, and his fixed fights at a King of the Cage event. Torre’s case took a darker turn when he was convicted of murder, cementing his infamy.
Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.