Evandro Nunes

Evandro Nunes is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Márcio Barão, being regarded as one of the most talented grapplers of his generation, both with and without the gi, having earned important medals in tournaments such as the World No-Gi Championship, Pan American Championship, Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, American Nationals and numerous others. Nunes is also known for his unique style of jiu-jitsu never working for points and instead always committing to the submission against all his opponents.

Evandro Nunes Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Evandro Nunes

Nickname: n/a

Lineage: Carlos Gracie Sr > Carlos G. Jr > Ryan Gracie > Márcio Barão > Evandro Nunes

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place Gracie Nationals Gi Championship (2015**)
• 1st Place Gracie Nationals Championship NoGi (2015)
• 1st Place NAGA – Las Vegas (2015)
• 1st Place NAGA – Las Vegas NoGi (2015)
• 2nd Place IBJJF American Nationals NoGi (2015)
• 3rd Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, Los Angeles (2015)
• 3rd Place IBJJF American Nationals (2015*)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2015)

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF Worlds NoGi Championship (2013 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF Miami Open (2013 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals NoGi (2013** brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals (2013 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF Las Vegas Summer Open (2013 brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Las Vegas Summer Open (2013* brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Worlds Championship (2013 brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Brazil Nationals (2013 brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship NoGi (2013* brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Miami Open (2013* brown)

* Absolute
** Weight and absolute

Favorite Position/Technique: Triangle

Weight Division: Super Pesado (- 100kg/221lbs)

Team/Association: Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

Evandro Nunes Biography

Evandro Nunes was born on the 12th of June 1990, in São Bernardo do Campo – state of São Paulo, Brazil. Growing up he moved several times inside state lines, living in places such as Santo André, São Caetano, finally settling in Ribeirão Preto where his jiu-jitsu initiation began.

Growing up Evandro’s steps in life were closely guided by his father, a figure of tremendous influence in Nunes’ upbringing who instilled in him strong moral values. These same values led Evandro to have more physical confrontations than most teenagers, as he would often jump in a situation that he perceived to be unjust.

Shortly after his 14th birthday Evandro took part in a street altercation where an older and larger man headbutted Nunes in the nose, flattening the teenager. This moment changed the youngster as it pushed him to seek mixed martial arts (MMA) training to prepare himself for future problems that could be headed his way.

At the MMA academy, Evandro was introduced to no-gi jiu-jitsu, around 2005. After some time training all the martial arts involved in the MMA training program, Nunes started giving preference to grappling, feeling apter on the ground against his training partners. It was also around this time that he started researching Royce Gracie and the early Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Later discovering Gracie’s in Action and the famous Gracie Challenge matches becoming very curious about “pure” jiu-jitsu.

His quest for jiu-jitsu led Evandro to the doorstep of Márcio Barão’s academy, an affiliate gym of the Ryan Gracie Academy in Ribeirão Preto. it was under the guidance of coach Márcio Barão that Evandro Nunes developed the style that he is known for, always hunting for the submission, completely disregarding the point system even when competing in point-based grappling tournaments. He mentioned that this philosophy was implemented by his coach from the very first tournament. In Evandro’s own words:

“I competed for the first time when I was 15 years old. I was a very skinny kid back then. I remember vividly looking around in the warm-up area and asking my coach: “Where are all the kids my age?” He replied that he “What do you mean? I signed you up in the adults’ division, these guys here are who you are going against.”

Evandro accepted the challenge but did not have the slightest understanding of the rules, asking for a quick explanation, to which coach Márcio replied: “Forget about the points. You step on the mat to submit and not be submitted, anything else doesn’t matter to me”. Nunes finished the tournament in 1st place, all matches won by submission. Setting a trend that would define his sporting career. When interviewed by BJJ Heroes, Evandro mentioned that he didn’t bother learning the point system until he was a brown belt.

From when he was a white belt, Nunes always gave jiu-jitsu his full attention, starting to coach as a blue belt. Instructor Márcio Barão saw his dedication and introduced Evandro to a friend who owned a gym in California, where Nunes could live solely from this martial art. Evandro Nunes moved to the United States as a brown belt, though he kept in close contact with his coach, who awarded him his black belt in December 2013.

IG: @evandrograteful
FB: /evandrograteful

Cover picture by Daniel Briseno (IG: @dbrisenophoto)