Fabio Gurgel

Fabio Gurgel was born in Rio de Janeiro on January 18, 1970, and took his first Jiu-Jitsu class at 13. He got his blue belt at 15 from Romero “Jacaré” Cavalcanti and his black belt on October 23, 1989, the first black belt Jacaré ever awarded.

In 1991 he took part in the Jiu-Jitsu vs. luta livre challenge in Rio and beat Denilson Maia. Two years later he founded Alliance with Jacaré, Alexandre Paiva and Fernando Gurgel, and in 1994 he moved to São Paulo to open the branch he still runs today. As a competitor he won the IBJJF World Championship in 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2001.

Known as the General, a nickname given by a student, he coached world champions such as Marcelo Garcia and Gabi Garcia, and brought names like Bruno Malfacine, Bernardo Faria and Lucas Lepri into the team. He has been in the IBJJF Hall of Fame since 2014.