Fábio Gurgel was born on the 18th of January 1970 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His first Jiu Jitsu class was in 1983 when he was 13 years old, he graduated as a Yellow Belt (for under 16 year olds) when he was 14 and ran through the orange belt to achieve his blue belt at 15 years of age from the hands of Romero Cavalcanti.
