Giancarlo Bodoni was born on October 15, 1995, in Miami, Florida, US. Bodoni is Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under
Lucas Lepri.[3] In October 2021 Bodoni left
Boston and his teaching position at
Bernardo Faria Academy and moved to
Austin, Texas, to train with
Gordon Ryan and
John Danaher.[4]
Professional grappling career
2021-2022
On November 6, 2021, Bodoni won the ADCC North American East Coast trials in the 88kg division, earning his place at the
2022 ADCC World Championship.[5] On February 9, 2022, he competed in the main event of Fight 2 Win 193 against Igor Schneider and won the match by unanimous decision.[6]
In September 2022, he was not considered one of the pre-tournament favorites to win ADCC 2022 at 88kg. He defeated
Isaque Bahiense on points before submitting
Matheus Diniz, Eoghan O'Flanagan, and
Lucas 'Hulk' Barbosa to win the division.[7] He then competed in the absolute division as well, submitting
Haisam Rida before losing on points to his teammate
Nicholas Meregali.[8]
Bodoni was then invited to compete in EBI 20: The Absolutes on October 23, 2022.[9] At the same time, he was given the opportunity to compete against Pedro Marinho for the
Who's Number One Light-Heavyweight title on November 11, 2022.[10] When competing at EBI 20, Bodoni won his first match against Austin Baker but was injured in the process and withdrew from the rest of the tournament.[11] The same injury also forced him to withdraw from his title-fight against Marinho the following month.
2023
Bodoni's title-fight against Marinho was then rescheduled and the pair met in the co-main event of WNO: Rodriguez v Pena on February 25, 2023.[12] Bodoni lost the match by decision and Marinho retained his title.[13] He then competed at the IBJJF Houston International Open on May 14, 2023, and won gold medals in the super-heavyweight and absolute divisions.[14]
Bodoni competed in the under 100kg division at the ADCC Dallas Open on June 18, winning a gold medal.[15] Bodoni was scheduled to compete at
Quintet 4 on September 10, 2023 where he would represent Team New Wave.[16] However, the entire team withdrew from the event and was replaced by
B Team Jiu-Jitsu.[17][18]
Bodoni competed in an 8-man tournament at Blue Collar FC: American Dream Conference on September 1, 2023.[19] He defeated all three of his opponents and won the tournament.[20]
Bodoni competed in an 8-man absolute grand prix tournament at
Polaris 25 on September 30, 2023.[21] He won his first match by submission but lost in the semi-final to Fabricio Andrey.[22] This match with Andrey won 'Match of the Year' at the JitsMagazine BJJ Awards 2023.[23] He then stepped in on short notice to replace his teammate
Gordon Ryan in a match against
Lucas 'Hulk' Barbosa at Who's Number One 21 on November 30, 2023.[24] He won the match by judge's decision.[25]
Bodoni will represented Team Modolfo in the under 91kg division at AIGA Champions League Final 2023 on December 13 and 14.[26] He won his semi-final match on points[27] and his final match by submission in order to help Team Modolfo win the tournament.[28]
2024
Bodoni competed in the IBJJF No Gi Absolute Grand Prix on February 29, 2024.[29] He beat Patrick Gaudio on points and Pedro Rocha on advantages before losing to
Kaynan Duarte on points in the final.[30]
Bodoni is scheduled to compete against Gabriel Arges at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 7 on May 15, 2024.[31] He won the match by submission.[32]
Bodoni competed at EBI 21: The Absolutes on June 2, 2024.[33] He won two matches by submission and lost to Dan Manasoiu in the semi-final.[34]