54 Matches, One Last Name: The Rivalries Written in the Data
Two brothers from the same gym have fought 54 times. A 0-15 record that keeps showing up. A dead-even series at 10-11 across different academies. Youth BJJ creates rivalries that last for years -- and the data captures every meeting.
Two brothers train at the same gym. They compete in the same weight class, the same age division, the same belt. And they have fought each other 54 times.
Donovan Cherry and Marciano Edward Cherry are both from Lever Jiujitsu USA. Donovan is 165-77 with a 6,464 Jits rating. Marciano is 208-50 at 5,810 Jits. Their head-to-head record sits at 24-30 in Marciano's favor. These are not casual competitors. Between them, they have 373 wins and 127 losses against everyone else. They just happen to keep drawing each other in brackets.
Youth BJJ creates this. Kids compete in the same weight, age, and belt divisions for years. The same names cycle through the same brackets at the same organizations. Some of these repeated matchups become the defining storyline of a young competitor's career. Jits.gg tracks every meeting across every organization — and the rivalry data tells stories that no single tournament bracket can.
The Cherry File
Fifty-four matches between two fighters from the same academy. That is more head-to-head meetings than most adult professionals accumulate in a career.
Donovan Cherry carries a 6,464 Jits rating built on 165 wins. Marciano Edward Cherry carries a 5,810 rating built on 208 wins — 43 more career victories than his brother. Marciano leads the head-to-head 30-24, but Donovan holds the higher rating because his wins outside the rivalry have come against stronger fields.
The math is unusual. Marciano wins more often overall and wins the head-to-head, but Donovan's quality of opposition outside the sibling matchup pushes his Jits rating higher. The rating system sees what the record alone cannot: strength of schedule matters.
Both Cherrys compete through Lever Jiujitsu USA. They share a coach, a training room, and a bracket. Fifty-four times they have stood across from each other with a referee between them. Neither has stopped competing. Neither has switched divisions to avoid it.
The Shutouts
Analeigh Reyes of Yukon Martial Arts has faced Sophie Maderazo of Triton Fight Center fifteen times. She has lost all fifteen.
Reyes is 17-31 overall with a 1,384 Jits rating. Maderazo is 68-12 at 5,594 Jits. The gap between them is 4,210 Jits — a rating distance that translates to a single-digit win probability for Reyes in any given match. The data says Reyes should lose. She does lose. And she enters the next tournament anyway.
There is no strategic reason for Reyes to keep competing against a fighter she has never beaten in fifteen tries. The bracket keeps drawing them together because the division is the division — same weight, same age, same belt. What the data shows is not a lack of skill. It is persistence. Reyes has 17 wins across her career. She earned them against other opponents. Against Maderazo, the ceiling has not broken.
On the opposite end: Cody Truong has faced Matson Jones fifteen times and won all fifteen. A perfect 15-0 head-to-head. Royce Francisco and Rawley Francisco — another sibling rivalry — sit at 7-8 across 15 meetings. The Francisco series is nearly even, the Truong-Jones series is total control, and the Reyes-Maderazo series is total persistence. Same sport, same structure, three completely different competitive narratives.
The Dead Heats
Logan Burke and Jeremiah Smith of TNT Martial Arts have met 21 times. The record: 10-11. One match separates them after 21 meetings.
Burke competes out of Nova Uniao. Smith trains at TNT Martial Arts. Different gyms, different coaches, different training environments — and after 21 matches, neither fighter has been able to separate from the other. Smith sits at 1,282 Jits with a 37-31 career record. Their rivalry is not between S-Tier fighters building highlight reels. It is between two grinders in the same bracket who keep trading wins.
Dead-even rivalries are rare in the data. Most repeated matchups tilt toward one side over time as one fighter develops faster or moves up in belt. A 10-11 series across 21 meetings means every technical improvement one fighter makes, the other answers. The margin never opens.
This is the rivalry that parents in the stands know by heart. They know the other kid's name. They know the record. They know which tournament they will see him at next. And after 21 meetings, neither family can predict the outcome with any confidence.
By The Numbers
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| MOST MEETINGS (ALL TIME) | 54 (Cherry vs Cherry) |
| RIVALRIES WITH 5+ MEETINGS | 47 |
| LONGEST SHUTOUT | 0-15 (Reyes vs Maderazo) |
| LONGEST PERFECT RUN | 15-0 (Truong vs Jones) |
| CLOSEST SERIES (10+ MEETINGS) | 10-11 (Burke vs Smith, 21 meetings) |
| SIBLING RIVALRIES IN TOP 5 | 2 (Cherry/Cherry, Francisco/Francisco) |
Youth BJJ rivalries are a product of structure. Divisions are narrow — weight, age, belt — and the same kids cycle through the same brackets for years. Geographic proximity puts the same academies at the same events. The result is a concentration of repeated matchups that adult competition rarely produces.
These rivalries are invisible to any single tournament. A bracket shows one result. The series — 54 meetings, 15 shutout losses, a 10-11 dead heat — only appears when you connect the data across every organization, every event, and every year. That is what Jits.gg does.
The next time you see a familiar name across the bracket from your fighter, check the head-to-head on their profile page. The rivalry might be deeper than you think.
More from Competition Intel
Get the weekly recap in your inbox
Biggest upsets, rating changes, and competition data every Monday.