Euclides Pereira was a Luta Livre practitioner who hailed from the North East of Brazil. He was affectionately known by some people as O Diablo Louro or the Blond Devil. He is considered to be one of the greatest Vale Tudo fighters of his era. Some would argue that he was in fact the greatest MMA fighter of all time. Euclides was a student of Jurandir Moura, via the Pedro Hemeterio’s lineage. Euclides was a natural talent who was blessed with a lean, yet strong frame. He was recognized as a complete fighter with a versatile skill-set including quickness, a wide range of attacks, and technical skills.
He would begin fighting in 1958 and would never lose. There are claims that he holds a Vale Tudo record of 380 wins with zero losses. Amongst his victims was the famed Carlson Gracie in 1968. After much trash talk from the Gracie clan, including quotes of him being unable to last even 30 seconds with Carlson. Despite being the lighter opponent, Euclides would dominate Carlson with strikes and almost knocked Carlson out. He would also face Waldemar Santana, Ivan Gomez, Maneca Santana , Aurino Santana, Renato “Escorpião” Sebastião Geraldo, Hilario Silva, Djalma Fidelis, Cicero, and other contemporaries. Euclides was not known to handpick his opponents (as some of his contemporaries would) nor would he pad his stats with easy wins. It was said that no one could put him in a leg lock.
Euclides would fight weekly on Brazilian TV for six years. He would fight for 25 years before moving on to teaching. Today, he would work with many current MMA fighters in their rise to competitive success.
Many fights exist of him including
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