Renato Verissimo
Renato "Charuto" Verissimo gave up water polo and engineering for jiu-jitsu, coached BJ Penn in Hawaii and fought three times in the UFC.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Dayton Morinaga, 'Hawai'i's Verissimo climbs back in ring', The Honolulu Advertiser, 9 February 2007.(opens in a new tab)
Verissimo's nickname 'Charuto' means 'cigar' in Portuguese.
Where in the source: Paragraph explaining the nickname — 'means cigar in Portuguese'
Accessed:
In February 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser reported that Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo, then 33, had been raised in Brazil and had moved to Hawaii about ten years earlier to teach jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Article body, paragraph giving his age as 33 — 'to teach jiu-jitsu'
Accessed:
The Honolulu Advertiser named BJ Penn, the former UFC world champion, as one of Verissimo's prized jiu-jitsu pupils in Hawaii.
Where in the source: Same paragraph, last sentence — 'prized pupils'
Accessed:
After losing fights in January and April 2006, Verissimo announced his retirement from mixed martial arts, saying that if he could not compete at that level he did not want to compete at all.
Where in the source: Paragraphs after the line on the Blaisdell Center card, on the 2006 losses — 'retiring from the sport'
Accessed:
Verissimo returned after a retirement of about nine months to fight Kris Fleurestil on the Icon Sport: All In card at the Blaisdell Center Arena on 9 February 2007; during the break he had kept training in Hilo with BJ Penn.
Where in the source: Opening paragraphs — 'nine-month'; later paragraph on training with Penn in Hilo
Accessed:
The Honolulu Advertiser wrote that from 2003 to 2006 Verissimo was known for taking fights only against top-ranked opponents, and that his aim on returning in 2007 was to contend for the Icon Sport middleweight title, then held by Frank Trigg.
Where in the source: Paragraphs after the nickname explanation — 'top-ranked opponents only'
Accessed:
Kevin Jakahi, 'Hilo team to compete in Pan Am tourney', Hawaii Tribune-Herald, 22 March 2012.(opens in a new tab)
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald wrote in 2012 that Verissimo had fought three times in the UFC and had coached BJ Penn in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which it called his life's work.
Where in the source: Opening paragraph — 'life's work'
Accessed:
According to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Verissimo linked up with BJ Penn in Hilo in 1998 and had stayed in Hilo since; Penn also trained under Verissimo's own teacher, André Pederneiras, founder of the Nova União academies.
Where in the source: Third paragraph — 'in 1998'
Accessed:
In 2012 Verissimo was the Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor at Nova União Hawaii, which trained at BJ Penn's Fitness and Training Center in Hilo, and he also taught at other Nova União clubs, including on Oahu, in California and on Guam.
Where in the source: Fourth paragraph, on the Hilo club and other clubs — 'Fitness and Training Center'
Accessed:
Verissimo told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald that he got the nickname 'Charuto' (cigar) as a tall, skinny boy playing water polo in Brazil, where the team had another player named Renato.
Where in the source: Late paragraphs on the nickname — 'water polo'
Accessed:
In March 2012 Verissimo led the first Hilo team to enter the IBJJF Pan American Championship in Irvine, California, with six of his students, and planned to compete himself after what the paper called an 11-year absence.
Where in the source: Paragraphs on the Pan Ams, first a Hilo team entering, then his own entry — '11-year absence'
Accessed:
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported that Verissimo had earlier won silver at the Pan American Championship and silver and bronze medals at the World Championship.
Where in the source: Same paragraph as his own entry — 'silver and bronze'
Accessed:
Verissimo told the Tribune-Herald that he wanted his students to focus on technique, keep their minds focused and have fun; one student said their teacher told them not to focus so much on winning, and to train hard, visualise and have a good game plan.
Where in the source: Paragraph after the list of entrants — 'focus on technique'; later a student's quote about the teacher
Accessed:
'Nova Uniao wins medals', Hawaii Tribune-Herald, 7 April 2012.(opens in a new tab)
At the 2012 IBJJF Pan American Championship in Irvine, which the Tribune-Herald said had over 3,000 competitors, Verissimo's Nova União Hawaii club won two medals: gold for one student and bronze for Verissimo himself.
Where in the source: Two-paragraph brief — 'Verissimo captured a bronze medal'
Accessed:
Nevada State Athletic Commission, Mixed Martial Arts Show Results, 31 January 2004, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas (Internet Archive copy of 19 December 2024).(opens in a new tab)
The Nevada State Athletic Commission's official results for UFC 46 list the contestant as Renato Verissimo de Oliveira of Hilo, Hawaii, with the date of birth 3 August 1973.
Where in the source: Page 1, results table, contestant row 'RENATO VERISSIMO DeOLIVEIRA', 'Date of Birth' column — '08/03/73'
Accessed:
At UFC 46 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on 31 January 2004, Verissimo beat Carlos Newton by unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three judges' cards; BJ Penn won the UFC welterweight title from Matt Hughes on the same card.
Where in the source: Page 1, results table, Newton vs. DeOliveira row — '30-27; 30-27; 30-27'; Hughes vs. Penn row above — 'Penn wins UFC Welterweight title'
Accessed:
Sherdog Fight Finder, Renato Verissimo fighter record.(opens in a new tab)
Sherdog's fight record lists Verissimo's professional mixed martial arts career as seven wins (six by knockout or technical knockout, one by decision), five losses and one no contest, from a win over Roland Fabre at Warriors Quest 4 in March 2002 to a first-round TKO loss to Jake Shields at EliteXC: Uprising on 15 September 2007.
Where in the source: Fighter record header — 'WINS 7', 'LOSSES 5', 'N/C 1'; 'FIGHT HISTORY - PRO' table, first and last rows
Accessed:
Sherdog's record lists Verissimo's three UFC fights: a unanimous-decision win over Carlos Newton at UFC 46 (31 January 2004), a unanimous-decision loss to Matt Hughes at UFC 48 (19 June 2004), and a second-round TKO loss to Frank Trigg by elbows at UFC 50 (22 October 2004).
Where in the source: 'FIGHT HISTORY - PRO' table, rows for UFC 46 - Supernatural, UFC 48 - Payback and UFC 50 - The War of '04
Accessed:
Sherdog's record shows Verissimo's fights after the UFC: a win over Yuichi Nakanishi at Rumble on the Rock 7 (May 2005), TKO losses to Carlos Condit at Rumble on the Rock 8 (January 2006, 17 seconds into the first round) and Kuniyoshi Hironaka at Rumble on the Rock 9 (April 2006), and first-round TKO wins over Kris Fleurstil and Lars Haven on Icon Sport cards in February and March 2007.
Where in the source: 'FIGHT HISTORY - PRO' table, rows from ROTR 7 to Icon Sport - Epic
Accessed:
Sherdog lists Verissimo as fighting out of Hilo, Hawaii, for BJ Penn's MMA, as a welterweight with the nickname 'Charuto', born 3 August 1973.
Where in the source: Fighter header — 'HILO, HAWAII'; 'ASSOCIATION BJ PENN'S MMA'; 'AUG 3, 1973'
Accessed:
Sherdog.com, 'UFC 50 Preview: Renato Verissimo vs. Frank Trigg', 22 October 2004.(opens in a new tab)
Sherdog's UFC 50 preview described Verissimo as a black belt under André Pederneiras who trained with BJ Penn and members of Nova União, and said he began training Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1993.
Where in the source: Verissimo section, first paragraph — 'in 1993'
Accessed:
Sherdog's UFC 50 preview said that at Rumble on the Rock 4 Verissimo chose to stand and trade strikes with Gil Castillo, a UFC veteran from Cesar Gracie's team, cutting him over two rounds until Castillo could not come out for the third, and that the win earned Verissimo his UFC debut.
Where in the source: Paragraph on ROTR 4 — 'stand and trade'
Accessed:
Sherdog's UFC 50 preview said Verissimo worked for submissions from his back and struck from the top against former welterweight champion Carlos Newton in his UFC debut at UFC 46.
Where in the source: Paragraph on UFC 46 — 'from his back'
Accessed:
Sherdog's UFC 50 preview writer thought Verissimo had dominated the first two rounds of his UFC 48 fight with Matt Hughes, even though Hughes won the decision.
Where in the source: Closing pick paragraph — 'first two rounds'
Accessed:
Sherdog.com, 'Sherdog.com Preview: ROTR Hawaii vs. Japan, Renato Verissimo vs. Kuiyoshi Hironaka', 20 April 2006.(opens in a new tab)
Sherdog's 2006 preview said Verissimo trained under André Pederneiras at Nova União and was training with BJ Penn and members of Penn's MMA fight team, and that he had competed at the 1998 and 1999 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships in Abu Dhabi.
Where in the source: Verissimo section, first two paragraphs — 'Penn's MMA fight team'; '1998 and 1999'
Accessed:
According to Sherdog, at ADCC 1998 Verissimo beat Issam Farouk Saade in the opening round and Elvis Sinosic in the quarterfinals, lost to Mario Sperry in the semifinals, and had a draw with Beau Hershberger in the third-place match; at ADCC 1999 he had one match, a loss to Karimula Barkalaev.
Where in the source: Paragraph on the 1998 ADCC — 'Mario Sperry'
Accessed:
Sherdog wrote that in 1997 Verissimo lost a decision to Mike Van Arsdale in a submission-grappling event called IWF: The Contenders, then moved to teach in Hawaii, and that he began fighting MMA in 2002.
Where in the source: Paragraph on his MMA start — 'IWF: The Contenders'
Accessed:
Sherdog's 2006 preview wrote that Verissimo had been favoured to go far in the Rumble on the Rock 175-pound tournament in January 2006 but was stopped by a knee from Carlos Condit 17 seconds into their opening-round fight, and that the Hughes decision at UFC 48 could have gone either way.
Where in the source: Paragraphs on UFC 48 and the ROTR tournament — 'either way'; '17 seconds'
Accessed:
Sherdog's 2006 preview refers to Verissimo as 'the Brazilian'.
Where in the source: Nickname paragraph and the paragraph on the Nakanishi win — 'the Brazilian'
Accessed:
Dayton Morinaga, 'De Oliveira plans to light up foe', The Honolulu Advertiser, 17 January 2006.(opens in a new tab)
The Honolulu Advertiser reported in January 2006 that Renato Verissimo de Oliveira, then 32, was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, had lived and trained in Hawaii since 1998, and called both places home.
Where in the source: Paragraph on his origins — 'since 1998'
Accessed:
Verissimo's first sport was water polo, and the Honolulu Advertiser reported that he was good enough to earn a tryout with Brazil's Olympic team; his water polo coach gave him the nickname 'Charuto' because there were two players named Renato and he was tall, skinny and dark, like a cigar.
Where in the source: Paragraphs on his water polo background — 'Olympic team'; his quote on two players named Renato
Accessed:
Verissimo told the Honolulu Advertiser that he took up jiu-jitsu with friends during his second year of college in Brazil, at a time when the sport had become hugely popular, and eventually left both water polo and his college engineering programme to become a jiu-jitsu instructor and competitor.
Where in the source: Paragraphs near the end, on college — 'engineering program'
Accessed:
According to the Honolulu Advertiser, Jay Dee Penn of Hilo met Verissimo at a jiu-jitsu class in Las Vegas in 1997; the two later became roommates, and Penn persuaded him to teach jiu-jitsu in Hilo.
Where in the source: Paragraph on Jay Dee Penn — 'Las Vegas'
Accessed:
Jay Dee Penn told the Honolulu Advertiser that the Hilo school started with 10 students and grew to 50 or 60 within two months, because word spread that Charuto was one of the world's best jiu-jitsu black belts and everyone wanted to learn from him.
Where in the source: Jay Dee Penn's first quote — '10 guys'
Accessed:
In Verissimo's early years in Hilo, one of his main jobs was training with BJ Penn; Jay Dee Penn, BJ Penn's older brother and later president of the Rumble on the Rock promotion, said that because Charuto was working with BJ every day, they told him he should fight too, and his fighting career grew from there.
Where in the source: Paragraphs after that quote — 'primary duties'; Jay Dee Penn's second quote
Accessed:
Verissimo told the Honolulu Advertiser that jiu-jitsu would always come first for him, that he did not like brawling, and that as a martial arts teacher his background would always be about technique; he said his jiu-jitsu career was why he had been brought to America.
Where in the source: His quote after the line on being a draw at MMA events — 'always be first'
Accessed:
Before the Rumble on the Rock eight-man welterweight tournament in January 2006, whose quarterfinal field included Frank Trigg, Jake Shields, Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami, Verissimo called it very important because the winner would be in a good position for a big contract; he was drawn against Carlos Condit.
Where in the source: Paragraphs on the quarterfinals — 'very important'
Accessed:
Verissimo told the Honolulu Advertiser that he loved how the people of Hawaii cheered for him as if he were one of them.
Where in the source: His quote after the line on calling both places home — 'one of them'
Accessed:
Redação Graciemag, 'Nov 30-Dec 2 Nova União USA Expo with Robson, Charuto, Shaolin and Bastos', Graciemag, 14 November 2012.(opens in a new tab)
Graciemag announced in November 2012 that the Nova União USA Expo in Mesa, Arizona (30 November to 2 December 2012) would pay tribute to Nova União Hawaii by inducting two André Pederneiras black belts into the Nova União USA Hall of Fame: Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo, who had carried the team's flag in Hawaii for more than thirteen years, and BJ Penn.
Where in the source: Second paragraph — 'carrying the team flag in Hawaii for over thirteen years'
Accessed:
At the 2012 Nova União USA Expo, Verissimo was billed as a guest black belt alongside Robson Moura, Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro and Bruno Bastos, including as a guest teacher at a seminar led by Robson Moura and Gustavo Dantas.
Where in the source: Paragraphs on the Meet and Greet and the Super FUSION Seminar — 'special guest teachers'
Accessed:
BJJ Heroes, 'All About the ADCC: 99Kg Division' (article, undated).(opens in a new tab)
BJJ Heroes' record of ADCC under-99 kg champions shows that at ADCC 1998 the eventual division champion, Mario Sperry, beat Renato Verissimo by choke in the semifinal.
Where in the source: Section 'ADCC 99kg Division Champion Runs', 1998 entry — 'Semi: Renato Verissimo (choke)'
Accessed:
BJJ Heroes, 'All About the ADCC: 88Kg Division' (article, undated).(opens in a new tab)
BJJ Heroes' record of ADCC under-88 kg champions shows that at ADCC 1999 the eventual champion, Karimula Barkalaev, beat Renato Verissimo 2-0 on points in the opening round (round of 16).
Where in the source: Section 'ADCC 88kg Division Champion Runs', 1999 entry — '⅛ Final: Renato Verissimo (2×0)'
Accessed:
Redação Graciemag, 'Dossier: The history of the guard', Graciemag, republished 22 April 2020 (first published 2009).(opens in a new tab)
Graciemag's history of the guard (first published 2009) names Renato 'Charuto' Veríssimo's 'kidney guard' of the late 1990s as an example of a guard used as a finishing hold, squeezing the opponent's torso at the kidneys with the legs; it says the move later fell out of use as defenders grew more experienced and stronger, and quotes Carlos Gracie Jr. comparing it to being caught in a boa's coils.
Where in the source: Box 'Lethal Guard' — 'Renato "Charuto" Veríssimo's famous kidney guard'; Carlos Gracie Jr. quote on 'a boa's coils'
Accessed:
Redação Graciemag, 'Honolulu Open sign-ups open till Tuesday', Graciemag, 29 August 2010.(opens in a new tab)
Graciemag reported in August 2010 that the IBJJF Honolulu Open on 4 September 2010, which marked the return of major IBJJF competition to Hawaii, would include a tribute in which BJ Penn, Egan Inoue, Renato Charuto, Luis Limão, Kai Garcia and Bruno Longman would receive IBJJF black belt diplomas.
Where in the source: Closing paragraph — 'tribute to BJ Penn, Egan Inoue, Renato Charuto'
Accessed:
Redação Graciemag, 'Pan 2012: from Leopoldo to Cachorrão, a Masters & Seniors for the ages', Graciemag, 27 March 2012.(opens in a new tab)
Graciemag's preview of the older divisions at the 2012 Pan American Championship listed former UFC fighters Renato 'Charuto' Veríssimo and Ricardo 'Cachorrão' Almeida as entrants at medium heavyweight in the senior class.
Where in the source: Section 'EX-UFC FIGHTERS IN SENIOR CLASS' — 'will take to the mats as medium heavyweights'
Accessed:
IBJJF, results of the Pan Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 2012.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF's official results for the 2012 Pan Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship list Renato Verissimo de Oliveira of Nova União in third place in the male Master 2 black belt medium-heavy (188.6 lb) division.
Where in the source: Results page, division 'Male / Master 2 / Black / Medium Heavy (188.60lb)' — place 3, 'Renato Verissimo de Oliveira, Nova União'
Accessed:
TheTVDB, TapouT season 1 episode 5, 'Charuto' (listing).(opens in a new tab)
According to the TheTVDB listing, the fifth episode of the first season of the Versus series TapouT, titled 'Charuto' and first aired on 8 August 2007, followed the TapouT crew to Hawaii to sign BJ Penn's jiu-jitsu trainer Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo and to watch his Icon Sport: Epic fight against Lars Haven, which he ended with ground strikes.
Where in the source: Episode page 'Season 1 / Episode 5', synopsis and 'ORIGINALLY AIRED'
Accessed:
Redação Graciemag, 'Pan 20 years: 1997, '98 — Jiu-Jitsu in paradise', Graciemag, 28 February 2014.(opens in a new tab)
Looking back on the two Pan American Championships held in Honolulu in 1997 and 1998, IBJJF vice-president Marcelo Araujo told Graciemag that one of the great fights he remembered was Saulo Ribeiro's battle against Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo in 1998.
Where in the source: Marcelo Araujo's recollection — 'Saulo Ribeiro had a great battle against Renato "Charuto" Verissimo in 1998'
Accessed:
Competition results
| Year | Event | Result | Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | ADCC 1998Source: adcombat.com-99 kgNo-giVerified | 4th place | -99 kgNo-giVerified |
Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage