Alex Paz was born on February 8, 1975, in Juiz de Fora a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. When he was 3-month-old, Alex’s family moved to the state capital, Belo Horizonte, where he stayed most of his adolescence.During his teenage years, Alex picked up on volleyball where he had a promising career in the sport, reaching Brazil’s national junior squad. Paz also practiced capoeira and judo in his formative years.At 16 years of age, Alex Paz started traveling regularly to Rio de Janeiro. It was then that he started training jiu-jitsu at the Carlson Gracie Academy, with coach Ruy Menezes. As the passion for grappling grew, “Negão” started losing his interest in volleyball and it’s politics, eventually dropping the sport.His early career in jiu-jitsu was closely followed by Carlson Gracie, who awarded Alex his blue and purple belts. Once the famous head instructor moved to the United States, Alex Paz followed him, spending one year in California with his Master. Upon his return to Brazil, Paz’s tuition was picked up by both Murilo Bustamante and Ricardo Libório, who promoted him to (brown and) black belt, which he earned shortly after winning double gold at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship (2001).When the head figures of the Carlson Gracie Team split with their old instructor (2000), in a group led by both Liborio and Bustamante, Alex Paz followed the group and helped establish Brazilian Top Team. The academy quickly gained the reputation of being the best mixed martial arts (MMA) team of its era, with champions in the world’s main promotions, on several weight classes. Alex helped cement that reputation, being known as one of Rodrigo Minotauro‘s toughest training partners at the time, also briefly venturing into cage fighting himself.In 2009 Alex Paz moved to Abu Dhabi to help implement jiu-jitsu in the UAE’s school system. After a few months, Paz was placed in a military base where he continued his work, later being allocated once more, this time to help a local MMA fighter with his training, joining coach Maiky Reiter who was already leading the work-group.While in Abu Dhabi, Alex Paz was also assigned to the country’s National Jiu-Jitsu Squad (2010), where he helped develop the games of grapplers such as Taleb Saleh Al Kirbi, Faisal Al Kitbe, and numerous others. In 2014, with the creation of the United Arab Emirates Jiu Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF) Alex was nominated head of the refereeing board, a function he also fulfilled at the Jiu Jitsu Asian Union (JJAU) and the Jiu-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF).Alex Paz vs Lúcio Santos Alex Paz vs Rahsaan Bass