# Kaynan Duarte

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## Overview

**Name:** Kaynan Duarte


## Bio

Kaynan Duarte was born on January 24, 1998, in Pederneiras – a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil.

During his pre-teens, Duarte developed an interest in judo, which he joined. This sparked Kaynan’s curiosity for martial arts grew and as his cousin practiced jiu-jitsu, he added this to his activities.

Coach José Luis (also known as “Zé Cavalo”) was Kaynan’s first instructor, back in his hometown. José was unaffiliated with a major team, therefore, as Duarte’s grew as an athlete in the juvenile blue belt category he started making regular trips to São Paulo to train at  Cicero Costa ‘s academy – PSLPB in search of the highest level of sparring.

Duarte’s quest for the best places where to expand his grappling knowledge led him to Bauru, and coach Paulo Ledesma. Ledesma was part of the Atos Jiu-Jitsu franchise, and soon enough  Zé Cavalo  would also join the team, leading Kaynan Duarte to the AJJ headquarters in San Diego – California (2016) ahead of the UAEJJF Los Angeles Grand Slam. The experience was greatly enjoyed by both Kaynan and team leader  André Galvão , who invited the youngster to return for the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship.

With time, the relationship between Kaynan Duarte and André Galvão grew and the young player became one of the more respected members of the talent-dense San Diego headquarters. It was Galvão who promoted Duarte to brown and black belt, both achieved while standing on top of the podium at the IBJJF World Championship – 2017 and 2018, respectively.

On February 7, 2020, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced Kaynan Duarte had failed his doping test with “ a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents”.  As a consequence of the test, performed on June 2, 2019, after Duarte’s victorious performance at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, Kaynan was stripped of his world title and banned from IBJJF events for 1 year.  More details here .

Early in 2026, Kaynan opted to distance himself from the Atos association after rumors emerged regarding alleged unprofessional behaviour from some in the team’s management. He went on to join the Art of Jiu-Jitsu team.

Cover photo by Vitor Freitas.

Kaynan Duarte vs Gustavo Batista

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**Last Updated:** March 21, 2026

**Data Source:** BJJ.Space (https://bjj.space/people/kaynan-duarte-7e1cdff01a94)