Professor Jackson Matos
Jackson Matos started martial arts in December 2003 in the city of Fortaleza Brazil with Professor Ailton Barbosa. At the start of his training, Professor Jackson showed talent and potential as he obtained many regional titles within the first couple of years of his training. With the move of his teacher Ailton to the USA, Prof. Jackson continued his training with Prof. Ronaldo Cruz, but continued to receive mentorship from Prof. Ailton. Prof. Ailton granted Prof. Jackson his black belt in 2012 and his first degree in the black belt in 2015. In 2018, at Checkmat Head Quarters in California, Prof. Jackson received his second-degree black belt from Checkmat CEO Prof. Léo Vieira.
In 2016, Prof. Jackson started competitions at the IBJJF, the largest Jiu-Jitsu federation in the world. He climbed to the top of the podium, more specifically to the top of his category, as he was ranked for years among the top ten athletes in his division of approximately 200 athletes competing in the Black Belt Master 1 category. He holds titles in the most important Jiu-Jitsu events in the world, as being a medalist in IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu 2019, 2020, and 2021 and being the champion at the IBJJF No-Gi American National 2019. Prof. Jackson has accumulated 54 IBJJF titles placing him in the number 4 seat amongst approximately 1,500 athletes worldwide in 2021-2022. Prof. Jackson continues to advance his Jiu-Jitsu and pioneer his techniques to maintain current and at the top of his division!
Prof. Jackson worked at Pace, Fl with Checkmat Pace Gracie. He was the lead teacher in adult classes, child classes, and special child classes for 3 years. After his time at Pace, he continued his teaching career at Checkmat Gulf-Breeze, where he taught adult and child classes for 2 years. Prof. Jackson in both group and private classes has managed to lead his students to multiple championships within IBJJF including World Championship titles!
After 22 years of hard work and dedication he has finally fulfilled his dream and today Virtus Jiu Jitsu is a reality. He looks forward to making a positive impact on his community and the world of Jiu-Jitsu!