Antônio "Nino" Schembri (; born June 1, 1974 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

) is a Brazilian practitioner of

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

(BJJ) and former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

. He is a former member of the Chute Boxe Academy and currently trains with Black House. Schembri is highly accomplished in sport BJJ, having won the 1996 Brazilian National Championship in the absolute division world championships in his weight class back to back in 1997/1998. Schembri has a unique style of Jiu-Jitsu with focus on submission and creative attacks. At 1999 Pan-American he had phenomenal wins and became known as "El Nino", in analogy to the natural phenomenon El Niño. Schembri is sometimes nicknamed "Elvis" because he is an

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

fan and used to mimic some of Elvis's dance moves to celebrate his victories. Today, Schembri teaches at his own gym located in

Lawndale, California Lawndale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 32,769 at the 2010 census, up from 31,712 according to the 2000 census.United States Census Bureau. �” The city is in th ...

Biography

Antônio Schembri was born into an

Italian Brazilian Italian Brazilians ( it, italo-brasiliani, pt, ítalo-brasileiros) are Brazilians of full or partial Italian descent. Italian Brazilians are the largest number of people with full or partial Italian ancestry outside Italy, with São Paulo being ...

family in

. In his youth, Schembri worked in his family's street market, helping his Italian-born father selling duvets. He began training in

at age five under Marcelo and Silvio Behring in the New Ipanema neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, before coming under the tutelage of Jorge Pereira at thirteen. As an 18 year old blue belt, Schembri moved to the Gracie Barra Academy to study under

Carlos Gracie Jr. Carlos "Carlinhos" Gracie Jr. is a Brazilian 8th-degree coral belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and instructor. A member of the Gracie family, he is the son of Carlos Gracie, and first cousin to the Machado family brothers. Caree ...

and

Renzo Gracie Renzo Gracie (; born March 11, 1967) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family of Brazil, Renzo is a 7th Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Gracie Jr. He is the so ...

. After training at Gracie Barra for two years, he was promoted to black belt. Schembri began competing in

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

(MMA) in 2001 after joining the

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

in Japan. In his debut match, he defeated

Luta Livre Luta Livre (, lit. ''freestyle fighting''), known in Brazil as Luta Livre Brasileira (lit. ''Brazilian freestyle fighting'') or Luta Livre Submission, and also Brazilian Submission Wrestling, is a Brazilian martial arts and combat sport created ...

fighter

Johil de Oliveira Johil de Oliveira (born August 7, 1969) is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial arts veteran fighter, Luta Livre practitioner and referee who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and Brazilian-based organizations such ...

at Pride 14 on 27 May 2001. Around that time, Schembri left Gracie Barra and joined the Chute Boxe Academy, where he became the gym's grappling coach while learning striking from

Rafael Cordeiro Rafael Cordeiro (born June 1, 1973) is a Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) coach and founder of MMA Gym, Kings MMA. He is best known for training multiple MMA world champions. History Cordeiro was a fighter affiliated with the Chute Boxe Acad ...

. At

Pride 25 The year 2003 is the 7th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2003 had 6 events beginning with, ''Pride 25 - Body Blow''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The follow ...

on 16 March 2003, Schembri scored the most significant victory of his career by defeating

Kazushi Sakuraba is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and submission wrestler, currently signed to Rizin Fighting Federation and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Champions with Takashi Sugiura. ...

by technical knockout. Schembri's father committed suicide in 2004, leaving Nino devastated and affecting his ability to focus and train consistently. During this time period, his record suffered and he retired with a 5-5 MMA record in 2008. Schembri returned to competing in jiu-jitsu in 2010, stating in an interview to the Fightworks Podcast that he was finally recovered mentally from his father's death. He moved to the United States and opened a jiu-jitsu academy in

.Nino Schembri
bjjfanatics.com

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 5–5 , Mauro Chimento Jr. , TKO (punches) , Fury FC 7 - Final Combat , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:30 ,

Barueri Barueri ( or ) is a Brazilian municipality in the State of São Paulo located in the northwestern part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 276,982 (2020 est.) in an area of . Its boundaries are Santana de Parnaíba to th ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 5–4 , Daniel Grandmaison , Submission (armbar) , HCF: Crow's Nest , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:37 ,

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 4–4 , Amir Rahnavardi , Submission (triangle armbar) , MMAC: The Revolution , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:57 , Washington, D.C., United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–4 ,

Matt Lindland Matthew James Lindland (born May 17, 1970), also known as The Law, is an American retired mixed martial artist, Olympic wrestler, speaker, actor, coach, entrepreneur and politician. He won the Oregon Republican Party's nomination for t ...

, TKO , Cage Rage 14 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:33 , London, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–3 ,

Ryo Chonan is a retired Japanese professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001–2013, Chonan competed for the UFC, PRIDE, DEEP, DREAM, Pancrase, and World Victory Road. Chonan is the former DEEP Middleweight Champion and the forme ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Pride: Bushido 7 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 ,

Kazuhiro Hamanaka is a Japanese mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He fought for the Tokyo Sabres in the International Fight League. Career Hamanaka began his mixed martial arts career in 2003 with a victory over Nino Schembri, Antonio Schembri at PRIDE 2 ...

, Decision (unanimous) ,

PRIDE 26 The year 2003 is the 7th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2003 had 6 events beginning with, ''Pride 25 - Body Blow''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The follow ...

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 ,

, TKO (knees and soccer kicks) ,

PRIDE 25 The year 2003 is the 7th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2003 had 6 events beginning with, ''Pride 25 - Body Blow''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The follow ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 6:15 , Yokohama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 ,

Daiju Takase is a Japanese mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He has fought as a middleweight and welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and PRIDE Fighting Championship. He is noted for being the second to defeat, and first to finish, former U ...

, Decision (split) , PRIDE The Best Vol.2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 ,

, Submission (armbar) , Pride 14 - Clash of the Titans , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 7:17 , Yokohama, Japan ,

ADCC Submission Grappling Record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schembri, Nino Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian emigrants to the United States 1974 births Sportspeople from Manhattan Beach, California People from Redondo Beach, California Brazilian people of Italian descent