Euclides Pereira (born 7 May 1941) is a former

Vale Tudo Vale Tudo or vale-tudo (; ), also known as No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few Regulation of sport, rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventua ...

fighter and current Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach.

Biography

Pereira was born in northeastern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. His family moved to the city of Natal when he was a child, and he attended Salesian College to become a priest. He ended leaving the college for working in a hotel, and he would start training in

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

, soon become a student under José Jurandir Moura, who was also a

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

and Brazilian jiu-jitsu certified teacher under George Gracie and Takeo Yano. He also trained in

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...

and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, and had his debut in the

circuit at 17. He joined the

luta livre Luta Livre (, lit. ''freestyle fighting'' or ''wrestling''), known in Brazil as Luta Livre Brasileira (lit. ''Brazilian freestyle fighting'') or Luta Livre Submission, and also Brazilian Submission Wrestling, is a Brazilian martial arts and comb ...

camp and became a legend in the vale tudo fights, getting the nickname of "O Diabo Louro" ("The Blond Devil") for his aggressiveness and charisma. He was the star of the Brazilian TV show ''Heroes do Ringue'', fighting weekly from 1960-1966 on TV. Lore had his record as 358-0, even although Euclides was known not to hand pick his opponents in order to pad his record. He fought fellow

legends like Ivan Gomes and

Valdemar Santana Valdemar Santana (born 28 October 1929 - died 29 August 1984), sometimes known as Adema Santa, was a Brazilian martial artist who trained in Capoeira under Mestre Bimba and in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Hélio Gracie. He was also trained in Luta ...

. He also was made famous when he defeated

Carlson Gracie Carlson Gracie (August 13, 1932 – February 1, 2006) was a practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. A member of the Gracie family, he was the eldest son of Carlos Gracie, and nephew to Hélio Gracie, founders of Gracie jiu-jitsu. Carlson ...

via a decision in 1968. The fight which took 5 years to be planned, until all the conditions imposed by the Gracies were finally accepted. Knowing Carlson's danger on the mat, Euclides took advantage of his own superiority in striking and wrestling and almost got Gracie knocked out at the fourth round, breaking his nose and damaging his eye region. After 50 minutes, Pereira won the decision over a heavily bloodied Carlson. The match had controversy when Carlson claimed he had been "robbed" by the judges, given that Euclides had exited the ring to avoid a

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compared to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while stan ...

, however a common tactic at the time. Carlson was granted a rematch, but he never took it. Euclides would fight for 25 years before retiring.

Career highlights

*1958: Won over Waldo Santana by submission (strikes) in Recife *1963: Won over King Kong by KO (strikes) *1963: Drew with Waldemar Santana *1964: Drew with Ivan Gomes in Recife *1967: Won over Waldemar Santana by decision *1967: Won over Waldemar Santana by decision *1967: Drew with Ivan Gomes in Campina Grande *1967: Drew with Ivan Gomes in Petrolina - The match was called out by officials when sun set over the open air ring and it was considered insufficient light. *1968: Won over Waldemar Santana by retirement - Santana refused to return to the ring. *1968: Won over Carlson Gracie by decision *1972: Drew with Ivan Gomes in Manaus *1974: Won over Waldemar Santana by decision *1974: Drew with Ivan Gomes in Brasilia *1979: Won over Rei Zulu by submission (guillotine choke)

References

Brazilian male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing capoeira Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing catch wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Luta Livre Mixed martial artists utilizing vale tudo Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian capoeira practitioners Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a red belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian catch wrestlers Living people 1941 births 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen {{Brazil-martialart-bio-stub