Sergio Zimmermann, better known as ‘Canudo’, is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu formed under the lineage of the late Master Carlson Gracie having received his grade from Osiris Maia. Although Canudo made a career competing in Brazil, it was in Europe that Sergio received the international recognition, specially from Jiu Jitsu’s media, after a sequence of positive results in the European Jiu Jitsu Open, a competition Zimmermann won 10 times.
Sergio Canudo Jiu Jitsu
Full Name: Antonio Sergio Cardoso Zimmermann
Nickname: ‘Canudo’ (meaning drinking straw in Portuguese). When Sergio started practicing Jiu Jitsu he was 15 years of age, and although he had reached his adult height, he was still very thin, competing at 64kg/141lbs. It was for this reason that, at the Pan American Championship 1996, his senior teammate Suyan Queiroz, started calling him that nickname.
lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Carlson Gracie > Osiris Maia > Sergio Zimmermann
Main Achievements:
- European Champion (2007 adult, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2013 Master weight & absolute, 2014 Master)
- European No-Gi Champion (2016 Master 2)
- Master World Champion (2016 Master 2)
- Brazilian National Champion (1996 purple, 1997 brown 1997, 2001 black)
- 3rd Place at the World Championship (1998 brown, 2005 black)
- 3rd Place in the Brazilian Nationals (2003 weight & absolute)
Favorite Position/Technique: Closed Guard, Wristlock
Weight Division: Meio Pesado (88kg/194lbs)
Team/Association: Pound for Pound
Sergio ‘Canudo’ Zimmerman Biography
Sergio Zimmerman was born on March 16, 1977, being raised in Rio de Janeiro. Canudo began his life in martial arts at the age of 12, through thai boxing, three years later he found Jiu Jitsu. Regarding the reason for changing martial arts at 15 years old, Sergio said:
At school recess I had a friend with whom I would play fight. He did Jiu Jitsu and always took me down and roughed me up, for that reason I thought to myself: I have to learn this otherwise I will always be on the losing end … and so it all started.
Sergio chose train at the Carlson Gracie academy, one of the most prestigious grappling gyms in the world, being taught by several important Jiu Jitsu figures such as Mauricio “Saddam” Carneiro, Carlson Gracie Jr., Marcelo Alonso and Osiris Maia. It was Maia who attributed Canudo his black belt in 1999, moments before making a superfight fight with Vitor ‘Shaolin’. Later, after his instructors all moved to the United States, Sergio started training with GFTeam of Julio César Pereira.
In 2007 Sergio came to Lisbon, Portugal to further develop his academic studies in high performance in sports. He eventually settled in the southern European country where he remained for 5 years. In 2012 Sergio decided to move to Germany to start a Jiu Jitsu team, taking advantage of dual nationality.
Sergio Canudo, Rolls Gracie Cup Final
my coach <3