André Pederneiras

Carlos André Pederneiras de Castro was born on March 22, 1967, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[2][13] When he was 17 years old he joined a gym, originally to train with weight for fitness. However the gym offered Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) classes as well so he decided to try it out. He trained with Rodrigo Vieira, a student of Rickson Gracie until he received his Brown Belt.[2][14] After Vieira left to join another gym, Carlson Gracie became Pederneiras' coach and also offered him a position of instructors of the juniors at the gym.[2][14] In 1989, Pederneiras received his Black Belt from Gracie when he was 22 years old.[2][14] In 2018, Pederneiras became owner of the gym he originally trained and renamed it to Academia Upper.[6]

During Pederneiras' BJJ career under the Carlson Gracie team, he was a six-time Brazilian National Champion.[2][13] In 2019, the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) promoted Pederneiras to 7th degree Coral (Red and Black) Belt.[13]

Pederneiras' nickname is Dedé which is a friendly way of saying André, in Portuguese.[2]

Pederneiras had a brief career in MMA that lasted from 1998 to 2000.[14][12]

In 1998, Pederneiras had his debut fight at Vale Tudo Japan where defeated Rumina Sato in the first round via knockout.[5][2][12]

In 1999, Pederneiras challenged Pat Miletich for UFC Welterweight Title at UFC 21 where he lost in the second round via technical knockout.[5][2][12]

In the same year, Pederneiras fought Caol Uno at Vale Tudo Japan where the match ended in a draw.[5][2][12]

In 2000, Pederneiras fought Genki Sudo at C2K: Colosseum 2000 where the match ended in a draw again.[5][2][12] This was Pederneiras' last fight in his MMA career and he retired from MMA to become a full time coach.[5][12]

After obtaining his Black Belt, Pederneiras established his own BJJ team called Dedé Pederneiras Jiu Jitsu.[2][15] Although is reached success quite fast, it was unable to compete with much larger team like Gracie Barra and the Carlson Gracie Team that won most of the tournaments due to the number of athletes they could field.[2] Pederneiras met Wendell Alexander at a BJJ tournament.[2] Alexander was also had his own BJJ team called Mello Tenis Clube and like Pederneiras, had trouble competing with much larger teams.[2][15]

In 1995, the two of them eventually joined forces to create the gym, Nova União which translates to New Union.[2][14][15][12] Nova União would become one of the leading teams in BJJ where it would win many medals in tournaments such as the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships.[2][14][15]

In the late 1990s, Pederneiras became one of the first Brazilians to open the doors of his gym to foreigners with the most famous initial ones being B.J. Penn and John Lewis.[2][14] This attracted controversy and his old master, Carlson called him a Creonte (meaning traitor) although anti foreign sentiment eventually faded away as time passed.[2] Penn earned his Black Belt under Pederneiras in 2000 in just three years and then a few months later he became champion at the Black Belt level in the featherweight division of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships.[14][16] He was the first American to achieve this feat.[14][16]

In 2002, Pederneiras decided to pull Nova União out of all tournaments organized by the IBJJF.[2] This was due to opposition of IBJJF's policy of not paying their competitors.[2] Pederneiras created the Olympic Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (CBJJO) which would create its own tournaments such as the Copa Del Mundo.[2] Eventually after several years of disputes, Pederneiras allowed Nova União to return to IBJJF tournaments and CBJJO was dissolved.[2] CBJJO would be re-instituted later under new management[2] and IBJJF tournaments are now offering cash rewards.[17]

Later on, Pederneiras decided make Nova União branch out more into MMA because he saw it as a viable way for many of its gym members who had poor backgrounds to earn a living.[15] Pederneiras himself was previously an MMA fighter from 1998 to 2000.[14][12] Pederneiras through his connections became President of Shooto Brasil, the Brazilian branch of Shooto, a Japanese MMA promotion.[6][11][12] Pederneiras has organized many MMA events in Brazil as a way of providing its gym members as well as many other fighters a way of earning a living. Since then Pederneiras had focused mostly on the MMA part of the team and has left the BJJ part to Alexander and other trainers.[2]

In 2017, Pederneiras attracted some attention when he urged Brazilian fighters to move to the United States as it offered better opportunities for training and development.[18]

In 2018, Pederneiras stepped down from his duties as leader and head trainer of Nova União to focus on building another gym called Academia Upper.[6] This was the gym he originally trained at.

Pederneiras has spent a lot of time helping the local community, many of whom at underprivileged.[2][14][15] Pederneiras has allowed the underprivileged to train and live at Nova União at no cost provided they help out at the gym.[2][14][15] The most notable example of these students is José Aldo.[14] Aldo grew up poor with little money but was allowed to train and live at Nova União provided he helped out at the gym. Eventually Aldo became the UFC Featherweight Champion with the highest number of title defenses at seven and is considered by Sherdog to be the greatest MMA featherweight fighter in history.[19] As of 2021, Pederneiras still remains as Aldo's coach.[11]

Kano Jigoro → Tomita Tsunejiro → Mitsuyo Maeda → Carlos Gracie → Carlson Gracie → André Pederneiras

• 7th degree Coral (Red and Black) Belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu[13]
• PVT Magazine (Portal do Vale Tudo) – MMA Coach of the Year 2010[2]
• 6x Brazilian National Champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu[2]
• Vale Tudo Japan Champion (1998)[2]