Head Instructor · Checkmat Murrieta
Professor Ricardo "Pantcho" Feliciano Pereira
4th-degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Leo Vieira · 3× IBJJF No-Gi World Champion (Masters)
4th Degree
Black belt under Leo Vieira since 2007
3× World Champion
IBJJF No-Gi Worlds, Masters
Since 2009
Coaching in Temecula and Murrieta
São Paulo
Where his jiu-jitsu began
Biography
From São Paulo to Southern California
Ricardo “Pantcho” Feliciano Pereira grew up in the Ipiranga district of São Paulo, Brazil, and came up through the city’s competition scene. At purple belt he won the open class at the Brazilian Nationals (2004) and the IBJJF Pan Championship (2005).
In 2007 he received his black belt from Leo Vieira. When Vieira and his partners founded Checkmat in 2008, Pantcho was part of the team from the start, and later that year he moved to the United States to lead classes at a new Checkmat affiliate in La Habra, California.
From there he joined Dan Henderson’s Team Quest, first coaching jiu-jitsu for Team Henderson on season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter, then as a full-time coach at Team Quest in Temecula, where he also fought professionally in MMA. He has coached in the Temecula and Murrieta area ever since, and today leads Checkmat Murrieta as head instructor.
Competition record
Two Decades on the Podium
Pantcho has medaled at IBJJF events from purple belt through black belt Masters, and he still competes today. Highlights from official IBJJF and CBJJ results:
Gi
- American National Champion, Adult black belt (2015)
- American National Champion, Master 3 black belt (2025)
- Brazilian National Champion, Master 3 black belt (2026)
- World Master Championship medalist: silver (2022, 2025), bronze (2015)
- IBJJF Open gold medals in Las Vegas, San Diego, Atlanta and Charleston
- Pan Champion (purple belt, 2005) and Brazilian National open-class champion (purple belt, 2004)
No-Gi
- 3× IBJJF No-Gi World Champion, Masters (2017, 2022, 2024)
- No-Gi World silver medalist, Adult black belt (2011)
- 4× IBJJF No-Gi Pan Champion, Masters (2020, 2021, 2024)
- 6× American National No-Gi Champion, Masters (2020, 2021, 2025)
- Fight 2 Win superfight winner, including Submission of the Night at F2W 97 (2019)
Sources: IBJJF and CBJJ official results, Fight 2 Win event reports.
Coach and mentor
Coach, Mentor, Community Builder
Pantcho’s teaching reflects his own game: sound fundamentals, heavy pressure passing and a competitor’s eye for detail. He has coached everyone from first-day beginners and young kids to professional fighters, including UFC veteran Sam Alvey, who brought him to Brazil as his jiu-jitsu coach for UFC Fight Night 61 in 2015.
At Checkmat Murrieta he has built a family-oriented academy where discipline and respect come first, and where kids, adults and competitors train side by side.
- Head instructor, Checkmat Murrieta
- Former jiu-jitsu coach at Dan Henderson's Team Quest, Temecula
- Coached jiu-jitsu for Team Henderson on The Ultimate Fighter, season 9
- Professional MMA record of 3–2 (2010–2012)
Lineage
Carlos Gracie → Helio Gracie → Rolls Gracie → Romero Cavalcanti → Leo Vieira → Ricardo "Pantcho" Feliciano Pereira
Through Checkmat founder Leo Vieira, Professor Pantcho’s black belt traces back to the Gracie family and the roots of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Train With Professor Pantcho
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