Fábio Alano

Fábio Alano, also known as Fábio ‘Kamikase’ (Portuguese spelling for Kamikaze), is a martial artist and a black belt in hapkido, shotokan karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the latter under Mário Reis, representing the Alliance Academy – Porto Alegre in grappling’s international circuit. Prior to being recognized as one of the top jiu-jitsu competitors of his generation, Alano had a vast experience in a variety of combat sports and was a prominent figure in Brazil’s hapkido community, having won 3 world titles under the World Olympic Hapkido Federation (WOHF) as well as countless shotokan karate trophies.

Fábio Alano Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Fábio Angnes Alano

Nickname: Fábio is known as ‘Kamikase’ [kamikaze]. The Kamikaze was a special attack unit of the Japanese Air Force, and a nickname often associated with bravery in western culture, but in Alano’s case, the label is not related to the Japanese. Instead, the nickname derives from Fábio’s first sponsor, an events company called Kamikase. At the time, Alano worked for the business as a bartender and his BJJ training was sponsored by the owner of said company. In appreciation for the support, Fábio used the brand’s title on his Instagram profile name (@fkamikase). As he progressed in the sport and became a familiar face on the international circuit, the BJJ community started referencing Alano as ‘Fabio Kamikase’.

Among his close friends and training partners, Fábio is commonly called ‘Cambalhota’ which means Back-Flip in Portuguese.

Lineage: C. Gracie > H. Gracie > Álvaro Barreto > Sylvio Behring > Mario Reis > Fábio Alano

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF Floripa Open (2019)
• 1st Place UAEJJF South American Continental Pro (2020)
• 2nd Place IBJJF American Nationals (2023)

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2014 / 2016 blue, 2016 purple)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pans Championship (2015 blue, 2018 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2015 blue, 2018 brown)
• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2018 brown)
• 1st Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, RJ (2016 purple)
• 1st Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, LDN (2017 purple)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2016* / 2017 purple, 2019 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pans Championship (2015* blue)
• 2nd Place IBJJF European Open (2015* blue)
• 2nd Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, RJ (2017 brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pans Championship (2018* brown)
• 3rd Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2019 brown)
• 3rd Place Copa Podio Grand Prix (2018)

Favorite Position/Technique: Open Guard

Weight Division: Super Pesado (100,50 kg / 222.0 lbs)

Team/Association: Alliance – Mario Reis

Fábio Alano Biography

Fábio Alano was born on November 20, 1991, in Porto Alegre, the capital city of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil.

Martial arts entered Fábio’s life at the young age of 4, through kung-fu, a sport he practiced for many years, later adding karate to his curriculum. While growing up, Alano gained interest in other activities, going on to play basketball semi-professionally for a short period, and lastly joining hapkido – a Korean martial art with a sporting outlet that allows strikes, throws, and groundwork.

During his hapikido days, Fábio became invested in competition. His rise in this sport drove Alano to important wins which included 3 world titles with the World Olympic Hapkido Federation (WOHF).

With an extensive striking background, Fábio’s weakest area when competing in hapkido was his groundwork. For that reason, his coach incentivized Alano to seek a BJJ school with which he could work his ground game separately from his day-to-day hapkido training. At the time, Fábio was 21 years old and a student of physical education in college with very little money to spare. He sought the help of his friend, BJJ black belt Daniel Dier, reaching out to his academy a few times for advice and training.

While training at Dier’s gym, Fábio was spotted by one of Mario Reis‘ brown belts, Mr. Leandro Frois, who saw great potential in the young athlete. He invited him to come and train with him on a free scholarship, as Fábio could not afford the membership. It was while training with Frois that Kamikase fell in love with jiu-jitsu, choosing to quit hapkido altogether to focus on his grappling.

Alano’s potential continued to rise and soon coach Frois decided to hand his talented student’s tuition to the team’s head-coach, Mário Reis, who opened the doors of his gym to Fábio. Due to his low-income family, Alano could not afford to live outside his parent’s home, closer to the academy. Instead, he made the gym (Alliance Porto Alegre) his home, moving to the premises where he lived from white to black belt.

With a wealth of talent and experience in a variety of sports, Kamikase quickly climbed the ranks of jiu-jitsu, conquering the international circuit in the lower belt divisions. A testament to his talent was his 2014 performance. That year Alano conquered the UAEJJ World Pro as a white belt, in his weight class and absolute and was promoted to blue belt. 20 odd days later he entered the toughest tournament on the BJJ calendar, the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in California, USA, and did the unthinkable by winning gold in his new division.

2018 was one of the best years of his brown belt career, and by the beginning of May, Fábio looked well on his way to a Grand Slam title (a combination of the Euro, Pan, Brazilian and World titles), having already won the European Open, Brazilian Nationals, and Pan tournaments. Unfortunately for Kamikase, the Grand Slam dream would not come to fruition as Alano lost in the quarter-finals of the ‘Worlds’. This was the first time Fábio came out of the tournament without a medal around his neck, and his shortcoming came drove to an emotional backlash that was followed by the decision to take some time off of competition to re-gather his thoughts.

During his time away from the tournament scene, Kamikase was selected to participate in the world-famous reality Tv show, Big Brother. One of the most popular programs in South America. The opportunity meant possible life-changing financial benefits for Alano, reasons that pressed him to accept the offer. The deal fell through right before the series started, on January 2019, due to a sponsorship issue, but the media frenzy continued for the following months and kept the talented athlete from competing during this period.

Fábio made his return to competition on time for the 2019 Brazilian Nationals (March), a competition in which Alano suffered a severe knee injury with damage to his patella, tendon and 3 ligaments. Nurturing the injury Alano opted to compete at the World Championship (20 odd days after the Nationals), where the possibility of worsening the damage did not stop him from reaching the final, which he lost by a split referee decision. The bravery shown on the mats led to his black belt promotion, a ceremony led by his longtime Master, Mario Reis on June 2019.

Cover photo by Talitha Cechet.

Fábio Alano Clip