BJJ Community Mourns the Passing of Orlando Sanchez

Gracie Barra black belt Orlando Sanchez has died.

The passing of “Big O” Orlando Sanchez has stunned the Jiu-Jitsu community who is still reeling from the loss of Leandro Lo. Reports came in around midday California time that Sanchez had passed away.

Reports from other media outlets such as Flograppling have also posted tributes to Orlando Sanchez. “Hollywood” Mike Sears posted this tribute on his Instagram.

Heartbroken. @orlandogb72 was my friend before FloGrappling existed,” said Sears. 

“[He] would let me as a blue belt sleep on his mats for Cali tournaments and take me out to breakfast because I was broke. When I dealt with dependency and mental health issues it felt like nobody cared, he’d call me every day to check up on me. My day 1s since before I was media are Heath and PSF, Dante, Big O, Devhonte and Murilo and we just lost one of them. Prayers to his family, he loved those kids so much.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Michael Sears (@hollywoodmikeflo)

The cause of his death is still unknown and we will update this post as soon as we have more information.