Royal Grappling Winner: Gutemberg Pereira – The Future of GF Team
The idea of Royal Grappling was to identify the future stars of jiu-jitsu. Brown belt winner and overall champion Gutenberg Pereira of GF Team fits that description perfectly.
The 22-year-old Brazilian is a product of the same team that produced the great Rodolfo Vieira. With the heavyweight black belt as his inspiration, Gutemberg relocated cross-country from his home in Bahia to Rio and moved into the gym. There, he slept in a small space above the mats and trained up to three or four times every day in order to follow in the champion’s footsteps.
Since getting his brown belt in 2015, Pereira has consistently been among the top brown belts in the world.
He moves between heavy and super heavyweight depending on the tournament (he fights Worlds as heavy). Pereira told gold at Pans and the Europeans earlier this year, beating out brown belt sensation Nicholas Meregali in the heavyweight final.
A series of injuries affected his performance in the subsequent months, and a disappointing exit in the quarter finals of the World Championships left Pereira feeling low.
Naturally a happy, smiling person, being upset doesn’t stuff Gutemberg. Winning Royal in decisive fashion against a hand-picked line-up of tough challengers helped lift his spirits.
This sensation is awesome, man. Right now I feel like… I’m a champion!
This year Pereira moved from Brazil to Toledo, Ohio. It’s tough being far from his family for so long, but the opportunity to take his career forward is too good to pass up.
“I left training in Rio de Janeiro at the GF Team HQ to be able to come here and try to build something,” says Pereira. “I’m thinking of my family and of a better life for me and for them.”
Related Posts:
• Gutemberg Pereira Leaves It All Behind For Shot At Greatness
• The Path to Double Gold at No-Gi Worlds
About Royal Invitational – The Future of Jiu-Jitsu
Conceived by jiu-jitsu black belt and pro surfer Joel Tudor and organized with the help of Shoyoroll, Studio 540, SubCon, WorldCon and FIVE Grappling, the Royal Invitiational is an exclusive tournament unlike any other.Two 16-man brackets showcase the best of blue/purple belts and brown belts. Winners of the tournament get $1000.
Special rules involved competitors being penalized for pulling guard in the match, and sudden death overtimes in case of a draw.
With commentary from black belts Kenny Florian and Shawn Williams and held in a closed-door setting with limited spectators, the Royal Invitational can now be seen in it's entirety exclusively on FloGrappling.
Links to all matches
The brown belt brackets for the tournament (with links to the full matches) can be found below:Match 1: Gutemberg Pereira (GF Team) vs Dom Hoskins (BJJ Revolution)
Match 2: Nick Schrock (Gracie Humaita) vs Nate Murphy (Excel Jiu-Jitsu)
Match 3: Johnny Souza (Alliance) vs Esdras Barbosa (Checkmat)
Match 4: Renan Vieira (Atos) vs Drew Sklov (Street Sports)
Match 5: Dante Leon (GF Team) vs Richard Alvarez (Conde Koma)
Match 6: Felipe Bezerra (CheckMat) vs Rafael Vasconcelos (NS Brotherhood)
Match 7: Johnny Tama (Alliance) vs Tristan Lesecq (4SBJJ)
Match 8: Elliot Hill (RDOJO NOLA BJJ) vs Dan Carlson (City Of Champions)
Quarter Final 1: Gutemberg Pereira (GF Team) vs Nick Schrock (Gracie Humaita)
Quarter Final 2: Renan Vieira (Atos) vs Esdras Barbosa ()
Quarter Final 3: Elliot Hill () vs Johnny Tama (Alliance)
Quarter Final 4: Felipe Bezerra(CheckMat) vs Dante Leon (GF Team)
Semi Final 1: Gutemberg Pereira (GF Team) vs Renan Vieira (Atos)
Semi Final 2: Felipe Bezerra (CheckMat) vs Johnny Tama (Alliance)
Final: Gutemberg Pereira (GF Team) vs Felipe Bezerra (CheckMat)
Finale Super Fight: Gutemberg Pereira (GF Team) vs Roberto Jimenez (Blue Belt Winner - Alliance)
New to FloGrappling? Watch our original documentaries on jiu-jitsu stars like Mackenzie Dern, Romulo Barral, Cyborg Abreu, Caio Terra, Andre Galvao, and more.
