Roberto Cláudio das Neves Leitão (15 May 1937 – 28 November 2020) was a Brazilian martial artist in

Luta Livre Luta Livre (, lit. ''freestyle fighting'' or ''wrestling''), known in Brazil as Luta Livre Brasileira (lit. ''Brazilian freestyle fighting'') or Luta Livre Submission, and also Brazilian Submission Wrestling, is a Brazilian martial arts and comb ...

, or Brazilian

Catch Wrestling Catch wrestling (also known as catch-as-catch-can) is an English wrestling style where wrestlers aim to win by Pin (sport wrestling), pinning or Submission (combat sports), submitting their opponent using any legal holds or techniques. It emph ...

. Father of Roberto Neves Filho. He was a 4th degree blackbelt in

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

, while also having 60 years in

. He dedicated himself to flawless technique.

Biography

He held a degree in mechanical engineering. He was university professor who continuously wrote about martial arts and grappling. He would lead the way for Luta Livre during the 1970s. Roberto trained a number of grapplers including

Renato Sobral Renato Sobral da Cunha (; born 7 September 1975), also known as "Babalu", is a retired Brazilian Luta Livre submission grappler, mixed martial artist, and was the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion. Sobral previously fought in the U ...

Pedro Rizzo Pedro Augusto Rizzo (; born 3 May 1974) is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed for the UFC, PRIDE, M-1 Global, and Affliction. Although he never captured the UFC Heavyweight Championship, Rizzo competed for ...

and

Marco Ruas Marco Antônio de Lima Ruas (; born 23 January 1961) is a Brazilian former mixed martial arts fighter, submission wrestling, submission wrestler, kickboxer and instructor. Ruas was the List of UFC champions#Tournament winners, UFC 7 Tournament ...

. Additionally he is said to be an instructor of

José Aldo José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior (; born 9 September 1986), known as José Aldo, is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial artist and professional boxer who competed in the Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions of the Ultimate F ...

.sportv.globo.com
/ref> He would also train with 1984 Greco Roman Superheavyweight Gold medalist,

Jeff Blatnick Jeffrey Carl "Jeff" Blatnick (July 26, 1957 – October 24, 2012) was an American super heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler and sports commentator. He won NCAA Division II heavyweight wrestling championships in 1978 and 1979 and won the Olympic go ...

for Blatnick's run in MMA. Roberto was the coach of Renato Babalu, whom he coached to a submission over Ilioukhine Mikhail. His son would serve as the superintendent of the Brazilian Confederation of Associated Wrestling and was an athlete at the Olympic Games at Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992. He died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in Rio de Janeiro on 11 November 2020.

References

Brazilian martial artists 1937 births 2020 deaths Luta Livre practitioners Brazilian catch wrestlers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Rio de Janeiro (state) {{Brazil-martialart-bio-stub