President of Nova União: Léo Santos's Role in the Lineage

Nova União is one of the most storied teams in the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Brazilian mixed martial arts — a lineage that has produced world champions across multiple weight classes and multiple decades. It is not a brand that hands out titles casually. So when Nova União named Léo Santos its President, it wasn't a marketing decision. It was a team recognizing that the person who grew up inside its walls was the right person to carry it forward.

Raised inside the team he now leads

Léo Santos didn't arrive at Nova União as an established champion looking for a flag to plant. He arrived as a four-year-old, stepping onto the mat under Wendell Alexander — one of the co-founders of Nova União himself. Everything Léo Santos became in the sport, he became inside this specific team, under this specific lineage. That distinction matters. A President who was cultivated by the team from early childhood understands its culture, its standards, and its identity in a way an outsider never could.

What the title actually represents

Being named President of a team like Nova União isn't an honorary gesture — it's a statement about trust. It means the founders and senior figures of the team looked at the full body of a person's career and decided: this is who protects what we built. For Léo Santos, that body of work includes seven world-level titles, a run as a four-time CBJJO World Cup Champion that went undefeated for over five years, IBJJF World Championship medals at black belt, and a competitive history that eventually carried him into ADCC and the UFC. But the title of President isn't just about accolades. It's about representing the values of the academy — details over ego, technique over shortcuts, respect for the people who came before you — in everything the team does next.

• Grew up inside Nova União from age four under co-founder Wendell Alexander
• Built a competitive resume across gi and no-gi that reflects the team's standards at the highest level
• Entrusted with the Nova União name as its President — a role built on decades of earned trust

Why this matters for students at Brabus

For students who walk onto the mats at Brabus Academy in Lake Mary, this isn't a piece of trivia — it's a direct line to one of the sport's deepest lineages. Léo Santos didn't just train under Nova União; he now stands as one of the people responsible for stewarding it. When he teaches a class, corrects a grip, or explains why a detail matters, that instruction is coming from someone the team itself trusted to carry its name forward. That's a different kind of credibility than a black belt hanging on a wall. It's a team, built over generations, saying: this is our guy.

A legacy carried forward, not just inherited

Titles like President can be inherited on paper. What can't be faked is what a team decides to hand someone raised inside it. For Nova União, that decision reflects everything Léo Santos represents — a competitor who reached the top of the sport without ever losing sight of where he came from, and a coach who now brings that same lineage directly to the students training in front of him every day.

Want the full picture of how a four-year-old at Nova União became a seven-time world champion and the President of one of the sport's great teams? Read Léo Santos's full founder story, or come feel that lineage firsthand — your first class at Brabus is free.