Leandro Lo was unquestionably one of the greatest. John Danaher

Leandro Lo was unquestionably one of the greatest Jiu jitsu athletes of his generation and indeed in the history of the sport. Eight times he stood on top of the Jiu jitsu world, most recently at the 2022 IBJJF World Championships. As an athlete he excelled in all the major aspects of the game, as a man he was friendly and animated, one of the great social characters of the game and an unforgettable character. He was able to keep a rare balance in his life between athletic excellence at the highest levels but at the same time able to indulge his other passions in life. It’s easy on the path to greatness in sports to get so obsessive that you ignore every other facet of life. Leandro was able to remain at the top across multiple weight divisions for over a decade but still live a full and fun life outside of jiu jitsu that made him one of the great characters of the game. His death is a reminder of the delicate nature of life and how all our plans and dreams have to kept within the bounds of our mortality, for we never know the day or hour of our end and there is no denying the iron decrees of fate. Leandro made jiu jitsu better and he enriched the lives of all who knew him - there is no better life than that. Camus said it best “those whom the gods love most die young.” You can kill a man but you can’t kill the memories of him - the jiu jitsu world will always remember him as one of its very best and most loved in its pantheon.

John Danaher