Inside BJJ recently had the chance to interview Fernando Terere. There were a few obstacles in obtaining the interview and a few people we’d like to thank for helping us put the interview together.
Andre Galvao helped coordinate the interview. Thanks for putting us in contact with Terere and introducing us.
Big time thanks to the folks at BJJ Heroes for helping construct and translate the interview. It’s a huge task to find a willing and capable translator. Andre Borges did a great job and we really appreciate it.
Fernando Terere, thank you for sharing your story. We support you %100 and want to see you healthy and happy. Regardless if you ever step back on the competition mat again, you’re an inspiration to all and a true champion.
This interview is a join effort between Inside BJJ and BJJ Heroes. Please, take some time and visit BJJ Heroes. There’s a wealth of information for BJJ fighter’s biographies, fighter rankings and competition news.
______________
Inside BJJ / BJJ Heroes
The entire jiu-jitsu community wants to know how you are doing. How is your physical and mental health? How is your training?
Fernando Terere
My strength and conditioning is shaping up in accordance to the training I have been doing so I can start competing as soon as possible. That is my goal.
Inside BJJ / BJJ Heroes
You grew up in the favelas of Cantagalo, Rio De Janeiro. Can you tell us how you started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
Fernando Terere
I was invited to train by one of the coaches to get me off the streets, I accepted and enjoyed it very much. Then I started winning tournaments like the Brazilian Nationals and State Championships and that was that.
Inside BJJ / BJJ Heroes
This is a difficult question but everyone wants to know what happened to you. You were an extremely successful champion. There was the 2004 airline incident, the split from Alliance, the split from TT and tales of your bouts with depression and drug dependence. Tell us your story in your words.
Fernando Terere
All this was extremely difficult for me. Having gone though all this, I feel like I have sinned by letting myself get involved with these things. But now new paths are presented before me and people are accepting me back and believing in me again.
Inside BJJ / BJJ Heroes
You have stated that you’re coming back to jiu-jitsu. Do you plan on returning to the Pan Ams, Mundials, World Cup Pro tournaments? What team will you return to?
Fernando Terere
I believe that with my training and the preparation I have been doing, I will be ready, very possibly, for the next Mundial (World Championships) but I might compete in other events also.
Inside BJJ / BJJ Heroes
Who do you think is the biggest challenge in jiu-jitsu right now?
Fernando Terere
I think my greatest challenge is myself at this point. If I can overcome all that I have been through and dedicate myself more and more to this sport, I will be back at Middleweight competing against the best today.
Inside BJJ / BJJ Heroes
In your career you were not only a great athlete but also a gifted instructor having coached great champions like Andre Galvao, Cobrinha, Sergio Moraes, Finfou and many others. How
do you see yourself in the near future in the sport, as a fighter or as a coach?
Fernando Terere
At the moment I see myself competing, the work I have been putting on is with that intent, but after that I plan on doing seminars all over the World and to help all the athletes that come to me for help with their techniques.
Inside BJJ / BJJ Heroes
In 2004 you decided to fight the Mundial as a “Pesadissimo” 4 times above your weight class, reaching the final with Fabricio Werdum. Why did you make that decision?
Fernando Terere
I think at that moment in time I was very strong mentally and also physically. I wanted to test myself against bigger opponents. It’s just a shame that I just got silver (Laughs).
Inside BJJ / BJJ Heroes
De Cantagalo Project was a revolutionizing idea in Rio de Janeiro that had a tremendous impact in the empoverished comunity of the Cantagalo Slums. The idea came from yourself but today is led by Ricardinho. Do you have plans to go back to the project or of having part in a similair project?
Fernando Terere
I will always be connected with social projects. This was the time in which I found myself closer to myself. Taking time to encourage the kids of today to practice Jiu-Jitsu is very important, important for everybody.
