Home Categories Miscellaneous FLD's Grappling Spotlight: Fernando “Tererê” Augusto
FLD's Grappling Spotlight: Fernando “Tererê” Augusto
Written by Jamie Hughes   
Tuesday, 05 January 2010 18:30
Our newest addition to the FightLockdown repertoire of series arrives at the hands of Jamie Hughes. Jamie will be introducing you, our faithful readers, to legends of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling. His subject of interest today is none other than the legendary Fernando Augusto, better known to the grappling and martial arts world as “Tererê”. To learn more about Augusto’s latest struggles, as well as his impact on BJJ as we know it today, jump into the spotlight!

Fernando “Tererê” Augusto was once regarded as the best BJJ player in the world. A six-time world champion, and at one point in his career, he was thought to be unstoppable. Not only did he garner reputable accolades by defeating competitors such as Marcio Cruz and Marcelo Garcia (twice), but the gym he operated, TT (Team Tererê), has spawned some of the modern greats of BJJ including Ruben “Cobrinha” Charles, André Galvão, and many other accomplished black-belts and world champions.

Along with his great success has come his battle with the law, depression, and an eventual drug addiction, which seemingly came out of nowhere. Many people who know Fernando personally, and those that have met him, said that he was a fun loving guy and just didn't seem the type, but this fate is not a chosen one, often times bringing the strongest among us to our knees in desperation. There was hope in June 2008, when he stepped back onto the mats after an absence of nearly 4 years, especially after winning his match 4-0. However, this past December, Tatame reported that Fernando had suffered a relapse:

"One of the great icons of Jiu-Jitsu, Tererê gave one more important step to his recovery this dawn. With the help of his family, teachers and all the fight’s community, Tererê, who almost went back to the mats, was hospitalized in a clinic to treat the depression and drug addiction.

“He was bad, very weak, and the family even more. We hospitalized him in a private clinic in Sorocaba, with security”, explains Elan Santiago, Alliance teacher and one of the most engaged in the athlete’s recovery. “He’s traveling in an ambulance now, and he took it well. Most of the time he didn’t. Most of the time he didn’t accept that he was too weak now.”

Hopefully this intervention and institutionalization is exactly what Tererê needs to get back on the straight and narrow, and back to the greatness he represented as a teacher and competitor.


But the purpose of this article is not just to bring attention to the current personal struggles of Fernando Augusto, but to take a look at what made him such a fan favourite, illustrating why his style of grappling is still regarded, by many, as the best they have ever seen.

Tererê’s aggressively creative, risk-taking style, in combination with his stellar technical ability, captures the imagination of anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing him compete. Flying triangle-chokes, acrobatic guard passes, and a constant pursuit to finish the fight have made Fernando a treat to new and long-time fans of submission grappling and BJJ. If you’ve never seen Fernando compete before, here’s a highlight (courtesy of maxbjj on youtube) that wonderfully exhibits his particular brand of grappling:




While Fernando has been away from the sport for so long, he is still looked upon with great affection and admiration across the world, and his influence upon the BJJ community today is still felt through his students, who have met tremendous success. The martial arts community remains hopeful that the great Tererê finds himself on the path to recovery, but we should be grateful just to have even seen a player of his calibre competing at all. If this article has inspired you check out more of Tererê, be sure to watch the matches provided below -- matches that illustrate just how phenomenal Fernando was capable of being on the mat:

vs. Marcio “Pe de Pano” Cruz (2001)

vs. Marcelo Garcia (2003)

vs. Jose Roberto  (2004)

vs. Lulinha (2006)

vs. Paracuru (2006)

vs. Cássio (2006)

Patrick “Pitbull” (2006)