Mateus Rodrigues de Souza is a Jiu-Jitsu black belt formed by the world champion Guilherme Mendes. He graduated to black belt in December 2021 after excelling in the colored belts. Among his achievements are the IBJJF European, Pan-American and World Championships in the youth category, the Pan-American titles as a blue belt, the No Gi Worlds as a purple belt and the IBJJF Worlds as a brown belt.

Born in Curitiba, in southern Brazil, Rodrigues started practicing martial arts after being encouraged by his father Silvio Rodrigues, often called “Urutum.” His father is known as one of the exponents of the legendary Chute Boxe Academy. Even though Rodrigues grew up in a city known as the capital of Muay Thai, he decided to develop his Jiu-Jitsu skills. And from an early age, he stood out by winning the biggest competitions in the children's and youth categories. His performances caught the attention of Guilherme Mendes, who in 2016 invited Rodrigues to move to California and train at the Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Rodrigues, who was already an admirer of the Mendes brothers, decided to accept the invitation and moved to the United States. He arrived at AOJ at the age of 16, while still a blue belt, and since then has won major IBJJF titles under the Mendes brothers.