Antonio “Nino” Schembri

Antonio “Nino” Schembri fought in three Worlds finals as a black belt and took silver in all of them. In 1997 he lost the middleweight final to Saulo Ribeiro. In 1998, at medium-heavyweight, the gold went to his Gracie Barra teammate Rafael “Gordinho” Correa. In 2000, back at middleweight, he lost the final to Fernando Tererê 2-0.

The results tell only part of the story. Born in Rio on June 1, 1974, and a black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr., Nino became known for his open guard and for submissions set up with his legs, especially the omoplata and the gogoplata, positions he helped popularize. His love of Elvis Presley, which he still shows on social media, earned him the nickname “Elvis.”

In no-gi, he took bronze at 88 kg at the 2001 ADCC. He lost the semifinal to Saulo Ribeiro and beat Egan Inoue in the third-place match. That same year he made his MMA debut at Pride 14, submitting Johil de Oliveira with an armbar. His best-known win came at Pride 25, on March 16, 2003, in Yokohama, when he knocked out Kazushi Sakuraba with knees in the first round. He ended his MMA career with five wins and five losses.

Around 2001 he left Gracie Barra and became the grappling coach at Chute Boxe, in Curitiba, where he promoted Maurício “Shogun” Rua to black belt. He now lives in the United States and teaches at his own school, Nino Schembri Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, in Lawndale, California.