Margarita "Meggie" P. Ochoa[1] (born May 6, 1990) is a Filipino jujutsu practitioner. She competes both in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the standard form of the discipline.
Education
Ochoa was born on May 6, 1990[2] to Jobert and Lee P. Ochoa[3] She studied at Saint Pedro Poveda College for her basic education, graduating from the school in 2008.[4] For college, she attended the Ateneo de Manila University, where she graduated in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in business management.[5] She was part of her university's track team.[6]
Career
Early years
After graduating from college, Ochoa took up mixed martial arts (MMA) but she was deterred by the lack of opponents in her weight class at the time.[6] She has a small build[7] and has tried judo before MMA.[1]
She would take up jujutsu in 2013,[7] after changing teams where the coach suggest her to try to martial art.[6] For the next three years she has relied on crowdfunding as she works to obtain a black belt in Brazilian jujutsu (BJJ).[1]
She would participate at the 2018 Ju-Jitsu World Championships in Sweden, where she would become the first Filipino jujutsu champion by bagging the gold medal in the women's BJJ -49kg.[9] She was promoted to brown belt for the feat.[10]
Ochoa would be promoted to BJJ black belt by August 2022.[11] She added another World Championships gold medal in the 2022 edition held in the United Arab Emirates, this time in the women's -48kg.[12][13]
She has competed in the Asian Games twice. At the 2018 edition in Jakarta, Indonesia she would clinch a bronze in the women's -49 kg event.[15] At the 2022 edition in Hangzhou, China in October 2023, Ochoa won a gold medal in the -48 kg event.[16] She endured a flu which she recovered from only a day after the final match, and a hip injury which she incurred in the semifinal.[17]
At the 2023 Asian Ju-Jitsu Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, Ochoa would win the women's -48 kg title.[18][19]
Ochoa has also competed in the Southeast Asian Games from 2019 to the 2023 edition across multiple weight class.[20] She has won two golds (-45kg in 2019[21] and -48kg in 2021[22]) and a silver medal (-52kg in 2023).[20]
Personal life
Ochoa has worked in a non-profit organization before committing to her sporting career in 2014.[23] She has also been an advocate against child sexual abuse since 2015.[24][25] She founded Fight to Protect, a non-profit organization which teaches child survivors of abuse martial arts.[20]
^"Ju-jitsu - OCHOA Margarita". Asian Games 2022. Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
^Yalung, Brian (December 27, 2018). "Tagumpay ni Meggie, tagumpay ng pamilya" [Victory of Meggie, also the success of the family pamilya]. Balita. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
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