Gutemberg Pereira

I was born on May 16, 1993, in Salvador, the capital of Brazil’s northeastern state of Bahia – growing up in a well-known impoverished borough of that town called Jardim Cajazeiras.

 

Throughout my childhood, I was always involved in plenty of sport-related extracurricular activities. This important facet of my day-to-day life lay in the belief my parents had; that keeping me occupied would keep me off the streets and away from gang-related crime. Among sports, prior to jiu-jitsu, I played and competed in football (soccer), swimming, karate, muay Thai and basketball.

 

As a teenager, there was a family incident that really shook me to the core. I was advised to look for jiu-jitsu to improve my self-worth, which at the time, led me to find a local academy by the name of Fight Club (FC). At FC I was under the instruction of coaches Marcio Bittencourt, Marcílio, and Marcelo Villas-Boas who induced in me the love for BJJ and competition.

 

As a blue belt, I traveled to Rio de Janeiro in order to compete at CBJJ’s Rio International Open. Being a massive fan of Rodolfo Vieira, I went with the intention of asking Master Júlio César Pereira if I could be accepted into his competitors’ program at Grappling Fight Team (GFT), a request accepted by Pereira who strongly believed in the 18-year-old potential that I had possessed.

 

In 2015 I traveled to the United States of America to take part in one of Roberto Abreu‘s Miami-based BJJ camps ahead of the competition. While in Florida, through Abraham Marte (a GFT partner), I received an invitation to train at another team affiliate in Ohio. After a very positive experience at Kelly Hymore’s academy (GF Team Toledo), I was then invited to stay training in the US as a full-time competitor, an offer that I accepted.

 

After two years in the US, having medaled in some of the sport’s top tournaments I was promoted to black belt by Master Júlio César Pereira.