Biography
Anabel Lopez Beard is a Spanish-British grappler and student of Marco Canha of the Fightzone gym in London who represents Team Checkmat in the sport's global circuit. Anabel first made waves in grappling as a colored belt by winning multiple consecutive world titles in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) as a blue, purple, and brown belt, before earning her black belt rank at 18. Anabel Lopez Beard was born in Galicia, Spain on June 6, 2005, to a Dominican mother and an English father. Anabel spent her early years between Monforte de Lemos (Spain) and the Dominican Republic. Lopez's first sport was volleyball, but watching Ronda Rousey dominate the UFC's bantamweight class with her judo skills sparked an interest in martial arts. Anabel was 8 when she asked her parents to enlist her in a judo club. After a year in judo, Anabel's coach suggested that she should pursue other martial arts as she was showing a natural talent for this type of activity. This coincided with Lopez's father finding a leaflet advertising jiu-jitsu classes at a local health club, which she ended up attending. The BJJ club was called Alpha Wolf Pack and it was led by instructor Luis Castaño. As there were no children she trained with the adults. With her grandparents living in London, England, Anabel often visited the UK during school vacations. In 2015 her BJJ instructor, Luis, mentioned the Fightzone Academy in London as he believed it had one of the best kids programs in Europe. Lopez spent that Summer training with coach Marco Canha at FZN and the other children there, making the young athlete fall deeper in love with the sport. In 2016, Anabel moved to London with her father and joined Fightzone. Lopez went on to develop into one of the stars of the kids program with many wins at an international level in the kids and adults divisions, a program that produced many other big names of the European circuit such as Nia Blackman, Junior Fernandes, Laura Sieradzan, Rodrigo Mariani to name a few. During this period, Anabel had 1-year hiatus from jiu-jitsu, (15-16) after Covid-19 and the company she kept drove her away from the training room. She made a comeback in late 2021, winning her first European a few weeks later after she returned to the FZN mats. Anabel Lopez's good form earned her, her black belt in June 2024 at the hands of her long-term instructor, Marco Canha, while on the podium steps of the IBJJF World Championships. Then becoming one of the youngest UK black belts ever promoted in BJJ. ANABEL LOPEZ'S BELT PROMOTIONS: Blue belt: October 2020 (15yo) Purple belt: January 2023 (17yo) Brown belt: January 2024 (18yo) Black belt: June 2024 (18yo) One of the next generation female black belts to watch out for. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );