Saulo Ribeiro was born on July 2, 1974, in Manaus, Brazil. He started training Jiu-Jitsu when he was 15 years old as a way to complement his Judo game with submissions, his first instructor was Fabio Monteiro in the Academia Monteiro.

In December 1991 Saulo Ribeiro moved away from his home town to pursue his academic career in Rio de Janeiro, where he joined the Gracie Humaitá academy, being coached by Royler Gracie, the man who would award Saulo his black belt 4 years later (on the 27th of November 1995), shortly after Saulo won his first Brazilian national title in the lightweight brown belt division. Saulo also tried his luck in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in 1996, with two more sporadic occasions (in 2000 and 2002) obtaining a 2-1 record (2 wins by submission) fighting against seasoned veterans. These, however, were seen as ‘tests’ as his focus remained with grappling.

On the year of 2007 the Ribeiro brothers joined forces with their Master, Royler Gracie, and founded the University of Jiu-Jitsu a space where they shared their knowledge of jiu-jitsu and the “Bushido” way, a more traditional view of the martial arts way of life focussing not only on the technical aspect of the sport but also the values that are the foundation of most martial arts, such as attitude, discipline, honor, and respect.

Today, Saulo Ribeiro is considered one of the best coaches in the grappling scene with academies spread throughout the world and over 2000 students training under the Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu Association, plus over 100 students in the University of Jiu Jitsu camp. He has also formed and graduated over 30 Black Belts.

In August 2015, Saulo Ribeiro received the 5th degree on his black belt from the hands of Robson Gracie, president of Rio de Janeiro’s BJJ federation (FJJRio).