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Emyr Bussade

“Shark”

Emyr “Shark” Bussade carried a medal-winning jiu-jitsu career into MMA and coached Mikey and Tammi Musumeci in Florida.

Last updated: 8 September 2026

Biography

Emyr “Shark” Bussade is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and former professional mixed martial artist. Born in Niterói in 1980, he built a career that moved from the Brazilian competition circuit to coaching in the United States. According to BJJ Heroes, Bussade began jiu-jitsu at eight, later joined Carlson Gracie Team, and trained chiefly under Ricardo Libório. The same source credits Libório with awarding him his black belt in December 2002. It also reports that Libório invited Bussade to Florida that May to help establish the newly formed American Top Team. Official IBJJF results show Bussade progressing through the colored belts. He placed second at the 1999 Pan Championship as a blue belt, took another silver at the 2000 World Championship as a purple belt, then won his purple-belt division at the 2001 Worlds. That same year, he shared third place in the brown-belt heavy division at the Campeonato Brasileiro. Bussade also competed professionally in mixed martial arts. Sherdog records an 11–5 record between December 2002 and April 2008, including nine wins by submission. That record is a specialist database account rather than a promotion-by-promotion history, but it captures a second competitive strand in his career. His work as a coach became equally significant. Mikey Musumeci has described Bussade as his main instructor after moving to Florida and as the coach who helped him commit fully to jiu-jitsu. In a separate interview, Tammi Musumeci identified herself as a black belt under Bussade while also crediting several other teachers. Their accounts show his place in both athletes’ development without reducing either lineage to a single instructor. Even the nickname carries part of that journey. BJJ Heroes traces “Tubarão” to a shark emblem Bussade wore as a blue belt; after his move to the United States, the Portuguese name became “Shark.”

Sources for this profile

BJJ Heroes, “Emyr Bussade” (publication date not shown), accessed 8 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
- BJJ Heroes reports that Bussade was born in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, in 1980.
  Where in the source: Line 66: birth sentence. Exact anchor: “March 25, 1980”
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
- BJJ Heroes says Bussade began jiu-jitsu at age eight in Niterói, later joined Carlson Gracie Team, trained chiefly under Ricardo Libório and received his black belt from Libório in December 2002.
  Where in the source: Lines 67-69: early academies and belt progression. Exact anchors: “age of 8” · “black belt”
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
- BJJ Heroes says Libório invited Bussade to Florida in May 2002 to help build the newly formed American Top Team, after which Bussade developed athletes in the state.
  Where in the source: Lines 69-70: 2002 move and ATT formation. Exact anchor: “May”
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
- BJJ Heroes says the Portuguese nickname Tubarão began after Bussade put a shark symbol on his gi as a blue belt and that the name became Shark after his move to the United States.
  Where in the source: Lines 43-44: nickname note. Exact anchors: “Tubarão” · “Shark”
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, “Pan Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 1999,” official results, accessed 8 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
- The official 1999 IBJJF Pan results place Emyr Bussade, representing Carlson/Conan, second in the adult men's blue-belt medium-heavy division.
  Where in the source: ADULT / BLUE / MALE / MEDIUM HEAVY — 2 Emyr Bussade Carlson/Conan
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, “World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 2000,” official results, accessed 8 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
- The official 2000 IBJJF World results place Emyr Bussade of Brazilian Top Team second in the adult men's purple-belt super-heavy division.
  Where in the source: ADULT / PURPLE / MALE / SUPER HEAVY — 2 Emyr Bussade Brazilian Top Team
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, “World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 2001,” official results, accessed 8 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
- The official 2001 IBJJF World results place Emyr Bussade of Brazilian Top Team first in the adult men's purple-belt heavy division.
  Where in the source: ADULT / PURPLE / MALE / HEAVY — 1 Emyr Bussade Braz. Top Team
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, “Campeonato Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu 2001,” official results, accessed 8 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
- The official 2001 Campeonato Brasileiro results place Emyr Bussade of Brazilian Top Team joint third in the adult men's brown-belt heavy division.
  Where in the source: ADULT / BROWN / MALE / HEAVY — 3 Emyr Bussade Brazilian Top Team
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
Sherdog, “Emyr ‘Shark’ Bussade” fighter record (publication date not shown), accessed 8 September 2026.(opens in a new tab)
- Sherdog records a professional mixed-martial-arts record of eleven wins and five losses for Bussade, with nine submission wins, across bouts dated from December 2002 to April 2008.
  Where in the source: Fighter record — “WINS 11” · “LOSSES 5” · “SUBMISSIONS 9”
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
Jay Furness, “Mikey Musumeci Sacrificed A ‘Normal’ Childhood To Become A BJJ World Champion,” ONE Championship, 5 July 2022.(opens in a new tab)
- Mikey Musumeci says that after moving to Florida he trained with Bussade, who became his main instructor and led him to commit fully to jiu-jitsu.
  Where in the source: Giving Up His Youth For Jiu-Jitsu — exact anchors: “Professor Shark” · “main instructor”
  Accessed: 2026-09-08
“In the Spotlight of the Mundials: Interview with Tammi Musumeci,” Through Jiu-Jitsu, 16 June 2014.(opens in a new tab)
- In a 2014 interview, Tammi Musumeci identifies herself as a black belt under Emyr “Shark” Bussade of American Top Team Wellington while also naming several other teachers who helped her.
  Where in the source: Interview question 1 — exact anchors: “black belt under Emyr” · “Many people have helped me”
  Accessed: 2026-09-08

Lineage

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Trained under

Ricardo Liborio Source: bjjheroes.com

Students1

Tammi Musumeci Source: bjjheroes.com