Francisco Iturralde, commonly known as “Sinistro” is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Fernando “Soluço” Di Piero of the Alliance academy, being the first big name to come out of Ecuador in this sport. A 2x World Champion in the juvenile division, Sinistro was quick to make his mark in grappling, later cementing his status as the top talent in South America’s west coast with medals at the Pan American Championships, European Open and countless others.Francisco Iturralde was born on May 17, 1992 in Guayquil, Ecuador.During his early teens, 13 years old to be precise, Francisco started training jiu jitsu, influenced by his older brothers Leonardo and Juan Miguel who already practised the martial art. Sinistro’s tuition would later be taken over by Fernando “Soluço” Di Piero, a pioneering figure for jiu jitsu in Ecuador.As a brown belt Sinistro spent some time training at the Alliance Academy with Fabio Clemente and Babs Olusanmokun.Climbing the ranks of jiu jitsu, Sinistro became well known for his entertaining grappling style, often depicted as scrambly and submission driven. His incredible style ultimately led to his black belt, awarded on June 17, 2013 by Fernando Soluço (who had also awarded all of Francisco’s previous belts).2013 was also the year when Francisco decided to change his diet, first to vegetarianism and later to vegan, becoming one of the strongest ambassadors for this plant based lifestyle in the sport of jiu jitsu, an ethos followed my many important figures in combat sports such as Carlos and Helio Gracie, Walid Ismail, Nick and Nate Diaz, to name a few.After two years spent in New York Sinistro moved to Los Angeles, to train with Rubens Charles “Cobrinha” in one of Alliance’s top affiliates.Cover photo by William Burkhardt of BJJPix.