Leonardo Castello Branco was born in 1967 in Brazil. He was graduated as a black belt by a true jiu-jitsu legend, Fernando Guimarães “Pinduka”, though he became a famous fighter competing for Romero Cavalcanti’s Alliance. He competed against some of the best fighters in the world such as Murilo Bustamante (in one of the most celebrated fights of the 1990s) and he handed Ricardo Liborio his first competitive loss in 1993 (at the brown belt division). His fight with Liborio was also very talked-about amongst the BJJ media circuit, mainly because of Carlson Gracie’s (Liborio’s coach) words before the fight: “He (Leonardo) will tap in less than a minute”.

Leonardo also tried his luck at MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) in the late 1990s. His debut was in 1997, straight away with an MMA Legend, Igor Vovchanchyn. The fight lasted a grueling 35 minutes with no breaks and was declared a draw.

Castello Branco was the first fighter to abandon ship when trouble hit the Alliance team at the turn of the century. He was not happy with the team’s direction at the time and decided to leave on his own. shortly after several other fighters followed him, figures such as: Demian Maia, Leo Vieira, Ricardo Vieira, Ratinho and many others. He would become one of the leading figures in the creation of the Brasa Team.