​The eagerly awaited debut of Meyram Maquine Alves in ONE Championship’s submission grappling arena has sparked immense enthusiasm among martial arts fans across the globe. At 25 years old, this Brazilian phenom steps into the ONE Fight Night 46 event on Prime Video to face Ruan Alvarenga in a high-stakes featherweight submission grappling bout. The card is set to unfold live in U.S. primetime on Friday, August 14, from the storied Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. With a résumé that includes two IBJJF World Championships and an astonishing 135-16 professional record, Alves is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and dynamic grapplers of his generation. Yet his promotional debut carries significant personal weight. Alvarenga defeated him outside the ONE Championship circle in 2025, and the Guigo JJ standout is determined to exact his revenge on the global stage.
Before he seeks to even the score publicly, here are five essential insights into one of the promotion’s most compelling newcomers. Meyram Maquine Alves’ journey in martial arts began long before he ever envisioned himself as a grappling threat. His father, a devoted practitioner of capoeira and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, introduced him to Afro-Brazilian art at the tender age of five. Capoeira blends combat, acrobatics, dance, and music, and those early years immersed Alves in the rhythmic flow, footwork, and spatial awareness that would later become foundational to his grappling style. Even before the intricacies of submissions entered the picture, he developed exceptional body control, fluid footwork, and an uncanny ability to read and manipulate space—qualities that are difficult to teach on a single mat and that give a young athlete a substantial head start.
Those hard-to-teach traits are rarely learned in isolation; they are cultivated through years of rhythmic movement and multidimensional training. The capoeira influence left an indelible mark on Alves’ grappling, endowing him with a creative, unpredictable edge and a relentlessly aggressive approach that continues to define his style today. While raw talent can get an athlete noticed, the presence of an optimal mentor can elevate talent into elite performance. Alves’ roots trace back to Manaus, a city deep in the Amazon that has long been a hotbed for Brazilian martial arts. It was there that his first coach, Alcenor Alves, quickly recognized his limitless potential and urged him toward bigger stages.
That early push ultimately opened the door to a scholarship with the renowned Guigo JJ in São Paulo, where Alves trained under esteemed coach Luiz “Guigo” Guilherme. At fifteen, he embarked on his first international training camp in Maryland, participating with Team Lloyd Irvin and gaining crucial exposure during a formative period. Guigo promoted him to black belt in 2020, and by that time Alves had already established himself as one of Brazil’s most decorated up-and-coming grapplers. His list of accomplishments—from IBJJF World Championships and Pan American titles to South American Championships—accumulated across grappling’s most prestigious platforms, signaling the arrival of a star whose impact would extend beyond regional wins.