By Jiu Jitsu on May 16th, 2010

Bibiano Fernandes

Bibiano Fernandes is a 5x Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion, 3x Pan American Champion and a rising star in Japan’s MMA bantamweight division. Though he had a depraved childhood in his hometown of Manaus, Brazil, his perseverance and talent turned him into a success story.

Bibiano Fernandes in Detail

Nickname: “The Flash” was a name that came early in his Jiu Jitsu career, as he was famed for finishing fights early

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Osvaldo Alves > Faustino Neto “Pina” > Bibiano Fernandes

Main Achievements in BJJ:

5x World Champion (2003, 2005, 2006 Black Belt, 2002 Brown Belt, 2001 Purple Belt);
3x Pan American Champion (2004, 2005, 2006);
World Silver Medallist (2004);
Pan American Bronze Medallist (2007)

Weight Division: Peso Pluma (Super Fatherweight Division) 64kg/141lbs

Team/Association: In Jiu Jitsu – Gracie Barra, in MMA – Revolution Fight team

Important DVD Releases: Super Jiu-Jitsu Techniques

Bibiano Fernandes Biography

Bibiano Fernandes was born on the 30th of March 1980 in the city of Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon. Bibiano had a very tough childhood, his mother passed away when he was 8 years old, and his father did not have any means to support him and his family. The solution to feed the family was to move deep into the Amazon forest and hunt and fish to survive. After a couple of years in the forest, Bibiano returned to the big city in Manaus were he found himself without a home, basically begging for food.

He first heard of Jiu Jitsu around this time, as he washed the windows of cars on the streetlights he met some guys that trained BJJ. They invited him to watch their training and showed him a little of how Jiu Jitsu worked, but Bibiano could not pursue the training has he had no money to pay for it. It was a lady that saw his interest in the sport (he would always stay on the side of the mat and watch the classes) and decided to pay for his monthly fee. Bibiano excelled straight off the bat, and with two weeks of training he won his first competition.

He was an amazing competitor always pushing the pace and looking for the submission, in the whole of his Jiu Jitsu career he has only lost 5 times he said in an interview. His rise in BJJ was fast and he received his black belt in 2002, after his first win at the World Championships as a black belt, proposals started raining in for him to compete in MMA, he accepted his first fight in 2004 (which ended in a win in just 31 seconds) but stopped for another year and a half to focus on Jiu Jitsu again.

Another two years passed and 2 wins in the World Championships at the Black Belt Division. After this the invitations to compete in MMA grew again, and he accepted to fight for KOTC against the Champion Urijah Faber (who had a record of 16-1). Bibiano fought well but ended getting cut and losing due to doctor stoppage. His next fight was against another veteran and another King of the Bantaweight division in Kid Yamamoto. This time Bibiano lost in a decision. He admitted later that he should have been more prepared for these two fights, and that he didn’t even know who Urijah Faber was when he accepted the challenge. But he learned his lesson and became a student of MMA to improve and succeed in the sport.

In 2007 he moved to Canada, were he met Pele Landi, a Brazilian MMA legend who was residing in the Canada at the time. With the knowledge of Landi, he revamped his career in MMA and had 8 straight victories, winning two belts on his way up and defeating legends of MMA like Joachim Hansen and Masakuzu Imanari.

Bibiano Fernandes vs Wado Toshiyuki