Mario Lopez arrived at the IBJJF Master North America Championship as a purple belt. He left with gold and something he had not seen coming: a brand new brown belt tied around his waist.
The actor, television host, and producer secured a submission victory in the lightweight division to claim the title, then received his promotion on the podium in a moment that clearly caught him off guard. Speaking in an interview shortly after, he was still taking it all in.
“This is an awesome day. I’m very grateful to be here. Everything went really well today. I’m a little speechless at the moment, but just thrilled. Thrilled that I won first and that I got promoted.”
For Lopez, jiu-jitsu has become far more than just another hobby. He described the sport as an escape from the pressures of daily life and credited the culture surrounding it as one of the reasons he fell in love with training.
“This sport has just given me so much. It’s just beautiful all the way around. The community, the culture, the people. The fact that you can escape from everything else that you’re doing in your life and focus and lock in on this. It gives you a bit of respite and peace. I can’t say enough great things about it.”
For Lopez, the journey into jiu-jitsu started with a lesson he was trying to teach his own children. Rather than talk about pushing through self-imposed limits, he decided to test that idea himself.
“That’s one of the things that I thought I was too old to get into it, but then I got three kids and I told them, you’re never too old. You’ve got to start pushing yourself and learning and setting new goals. I tried to practice what I preach and I ended up getting into it.”
“Once I fell into it, I fell in love with it. I love everything about it. The culture, the community, the people. The fact that you’re constantly learning and pushing yourself. It’s humbling. I have nothing but admiration and respect for the sport and the people that are involved in it.”
Now in his 50s, Lopez has become a vocal advocate for jiu-jitsu as a physically responsible discipline for people his age. He draws a direct comparison to his years in boxing, where he accumulated a string of serious injuries that he has simply never encountered on the mat.
“I tell my friends and I tell people that are around my age, around my 50s, ironically, knock on wood, as I do the sign of the cross, I’ve never gotten hurt in jiu-jitsu. I’ve gotten hurt. I boxed a lot. I tore both my biceps. I tore my rotator cuff. I tore my Achilles. I broke my hand. I’ve gotten hurt in boxing a lot more.”
He believes part of that comes from the ability to control the pace of training in jiu-jitsu.
“But jiu-jitsu, other than your sore and bumps and bruises, I’ve never really gotten hurt because you’ve got to sort of set your own pace. You can sort of control the tempo and speed, if you will. And if you’re hurting, you don’t want to step out. That’s the beautiful thing about it.”
Because of that experience, Lopez encourages more people his age to give the sport a chance.
“So I encourage all people. I think it’s great, especially as you’re getting older. Obviously, not just the physical fitness, but the mental aspect, the toughness, the self-defense, and the flexibility. I can’t say no good things about it.”
The promotion itself was a complete surprise. Lopez had walked into the day with his mind on competing, not ceremony.
“I had no idea I was going to get a Brown Belt today. But I’m excited. I’m happy about it. And I’m enjoying this journey. I don’t want to rush to get a black belt. I’m enjoying it every step of the way. I want to make sure I earn it. That’s why I love to come and compete.’
Part of that process, according to Lopez, involves visiting different gyms and testing himself against unfamiliar training partners.
“I love to train in different gyms. Everybody’s always very welcoming. And most of the time, they’re like, he’s just some Hollywood guy, this and that. But I go in there, I try to throw down and have fun. I go in there and spar with anybody.”
For Lopez, those experiences are a reminder of why he values the jiu-jitsu community so highly.
“And just in jiu-jitsu, I’m just trying to learn. I’m just trying to push myself. I’m trying to meet these fascinating people that are also in this world. And it’s just a community that’s very welcoming, I’ve found. And again, I just can’t say enough good things about it.”
A big part of what makes the sport work for him is how well it bends around a demanding career in entertainment. Unlike team sports, jiu-jitsu does not require a fixed schedule or coordination with others to make training happen.
“The great thing about jiu-jitsu is it can sort of adjust. There’s always classes where you can jump in a private and work with someone. There’s literally, some days a week, there’s something you can kind of jump into. So it’s very flexible to my schedule, which I like.”
He also noted that the individual nature of the sport suits his lifestyle better than team-based competition.
“It’s just you out there where you’re going to go compete and stuff. So I’ve always kind of been, leaned towards individual sports because I’ve always got so much other stuff going on with acting and hosting and producing and stuff like that. So it works well with my lifestyle.”
With the brown belt now secured, Lopez has made one thing clear: there is no hurry to reach black. He will keep competing, keep walking into unfamiliar gyms, and let the next promotion come when he has truly earned it.
