# Johnny Tama

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## Overview

**Name:** Johnny Tama


## Bio

Johnny Tama was born on October 20, 1992, in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Growing up Johnny was not a fan of martial arts, with a short time spent doing taekwondo at the age of 12 being his only contact with any form of combat. That lack of interest would change after a street altercation in 2009, which saw Tama at the wrong end of a beating.

Following his stepfather’s advice, Johnny started paying attention to Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He finally decided to start taking grappling classes after witnessing  Fernando Di Piero  (also known as Soluço) defeat an opponent with ease inside the cage, using solely grappling.

In June of 2009 Tama joined the class of  Juan Miguel Iturralde Aguirre , brother of Leonardo Iturralde,  Francisco “Sinistro” Iturralde  and a black belt under the aforementioned Di Piero. Juan Miguel would remain by Johnny’s side throughout his development as a grappler, though Tama was also assisted by other coaches throughout his many travels in search of high-level coaching and competition. One of his bigger influences was  Rubens Charles , a legend of the sport with whom Johnny trained on many occasions while climbing the belt ranks of jiu-jitsu.

The growth of BJJ in Chile was also heavily influenced by Johnny Tama who visited the South American country on several occasions, both coaching and competing.

After many years competing in the world’s top jiu-jitsu tournaments in the lower belt divisions, Tama received his black belt from the hands of Juan Miguel Iturralde. The ceremony taking place on December 15 of 2016.

Johnny Tama 2017 Highlight

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**Last Updated:** March 21, 2026

**Data Source:** BJJ.Space (https://bjj.space/people/johnny-tama-e8660848e1b8)