Rosângela da Silva Conceição was born on 7 August 1973 in the town of São Leopoldo, Brazil. She started training judo at a young age following in the footsteps of her older brother, looking to improve her ne-waza she started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) with Ricardo Murgel. In 1996 she was selected to act as reserve for Edinanci Silva at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[1]
In 1998, while a purple belt, she competed in the very first women division of the CBJJ World Jiu Jitsu Championship. She became alongside Thaís Ramos, the first women BJJ world champion. In 1999 she won the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship in both her division (heavy) and in open class.[2]
Competing in freestyle wrestling she won bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games, securing a spot later at the 2008 Olympics.[1] She retired in 2013, moved to Dubai, teaching jiu-jitsu as part of the grappling program in the UAE funded by Mohamed bin Zayed.[5]
