Bitetti and Nigue / Photo: publicity
The very first two-time absolute world champion of Jiu-Jitsu, Amaury Bitetti has served as trainer to a number of big names in world MMA in the past, among them the Nogueira brothers Rodrigo Minotauro and Rogério Minotouro. After a two-year stint working only in event promotion, the black belt has now returned to the coaching fray, alongside also-black belt Marcelo Nigue in the city of Santos, Brazil, together working with Bitetti Team Memorial Arena.
“I received this offer from Memorial and invited Nigue. We did seminars together in New York and he’s already doing a great job in Santos. I’m still promoting Bitetti Combat, though, and soon we’ll have some good news,” he comments.
Bitetti’s partner in Santos Marcelo Nigue addresses the subject of the new team:
“We’re going to compete in everything: Jiu-Jitsu, submission wrestling and MMA. We already have fifteen professional athletes and we’re going after new talent. I’ve represented Master Royler Gracie for some time, but Gracie Humaitá has been totally revamped and I wouldn’t be able to use the name “Memorial” anymore, which is who is backs me in Santos. I made the most of Amaury’s invitation and we’re going to put everything we have into this new MMA team,” he explains.