# Dante Leon

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## Overview

**Name:** Dante Leon


## Bio

Dante Leon was born on May 6, 1995, in Harrow, a small town located in Essex County, Ontario, Canada.

Like many Canadians in the Ontario region Dante grew up enjoying the benefits of ice hockey, a sport Leon played until his early teens. Martial arts/contact sports were also a big part of Dante’s upbringing, thanks to his father who introduced him to the fighting game from the age of 6.

Dante’s first steps in combat-related activities came by way of boxing and other striking-based arts, being introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a 12-year-old. Dean Hersche (RIP) was Leon’s first instructor, who within one year had the young Canadian hooked on grappling.

Under the  Gracie Humaitá /Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu banner, Leon went from white to purple belt. As He got more serious about his ambitions in the sport Dante required a stronger training environment, a goal that was met through a close friend (Kelly Hymore) who introduced Dante to Abraham Marte and later to  Vitor Oliveira  of  GF Team .

The same Kelly Hymore would later bring Dante, along with his good friend Gutemberg Pereira to Toledo, Ohio in the United States to train at his own gym (GFT Toledo) on a full-time basis. Under this new schedule, the pair (Leon and Pereira) conquered numerous important results on the international IBJJF and UAEJJF circuits. The stream of positive results would lead to their black belts, obtained in June 2017 from the hands of Vitor Oliveira and Master  Júlio César Pereira .

Dante would later split with GFT and open his club, Adamas Jiu-Jitsu in Toledo, while also working extensively with Heath Pedigo and his Pedigo Submission Fighting team in Mount Vernon, Ilinois.

Cover photo by Romulo Barral.

[fighter_status id=744]

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**Last Updated:** March 21, 2026

**Data Source:** BJJ.Space (https://bjj.space/people/dante-leon-8941a1b7ce5a)