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Andre Pederneiras Steps Down From Nova Uniao To Run Academy Open To All Teams

Andre Pederneiras Steps Down From Nova Uniao To Run Academy Open To All Teams

Andre Pederneiras, leader of Brazilian BJJ and MMA team Nova Uniao, has announced that he is stepping down from his position.

The longtime coach, will be instead focusing on his recent project Upper Arena which opened two years ago.

Pederneiras said that he wants to open it to fighters from other teams in a neutral environment.

Friends,

Today, it was officially announced that I’m stepping down from Nova Uniao team, and I wanted to share a few words.

The decision to step down from the leadership of Nova Uniao began after we opened Upper Arena, which has been working as a training center for Nova Uniao for two years.

My idea is to make Upper Arena a neutral environment for high-level training for athletes from other teams, too, and not just Nova Uniao. I want to put together the biggest and best martial arts training center in the country, helping the sport evolve in Brazil, as well as work on the social side, passing on my knowledge of 30 yeas dedicated to the sport, both in the fighting department and in the administrative side, to those who want to learn.

It’s been 21 years of many accomplishments and conquests at Nova Uniao. Now I intend to invest in new dreams. I know it may seem crazy to some, but I think everything I did at the beginning seemed crazy. So I count on the support of all of you so that this is a victorious new phase. Not just for me, but for the sport and for this country that I love so much.

Last year, a long partnership between Nova Uniao and Kimura came to an end after 20 years. Kimura is a popular MMA and bjj team in Natal with talents like Renan Barao and Claudia Gadelha.

In a surprising twist Nova Uniao announced November 16th 2017 that it would no longer be affiliated with Kimura.

 “There’s a restructuring in Nova Uniao today that doesn’t involve only the competition part,” Pederneiras told reporters at Nova Uniao’s new training center. “Some rules were created and some teams, not only Kimura, couldn’t fit in those rules. It’s not that they are wrong and we’re right, but when you set a goal to grow and organize, my way of thinking won’t always be like yours, but that doesn’t mean we’re no longer friends.”

Athletes like Formiga and Barao always represented both Nova Uniao and Kimura. Gadelha also represented both teams before leaving in September 2016.

Pederneiras declined to detail exactly what led to the end of the Nova Uniao-Kimura partnership, but admits that the new rule that an athlete wouldn’t be able to represent both teams was one of the key factors.

“We won’t forget an history that was created for more than 20 years,” Pederneiras said. “I think both Nova Uniao and Kimura, and the other teams, brought us great athletes, and we brought them knowledge so we could walk side by side towards our final goal of building champions.

“I think it was a good trade. You have an athlete with a big potential and sent them to another team to develop more of his potential and reach the highest level. I think that trade was good for everyone for as long as it lasted. I continue to be friends with Jair and every other coach.”

Lourenco, who moved to the United States in 2016 to train current Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader at Power MMA, declined to comment when reached out by MMA Fighting, but released a statement on his social media.

“I fought until I could to stay on the team,” Lourenco wrote. “I never had Kimura as just a partner of Nova Uniao, it was always a Nova Uniao unit, like I had in ‘Dede’ a master, never only a partner. Everybody knows how I feel about Dede, and my plan was always to be by his side until the end, but unfortunately it’s not only up to Dede or myself.”

5x World BJJ champion Bernardo Faria has developed the No Gi Half Guard. His submissions and sweeps works just as easily for No Gi, if not easier.
1.In No Gi there are not as many grips you can play. For example, you can’t play spider guard and the whole array of guards that stem from it. His guard works perfectly.
2.There are not a lot of grips your opponent can use to stop your sweep while playing No Gi. They can’t grab your collar, sleeve or pants obviously. Again, his guard works perfectly.