Issue 105
September 2013
Established as a successful Brazilian jiu-jitsu team, head coach Andre Pederneiras tells FO how he transformed Nova Uniao into one of the planet’s best striking teams – all with a little help from his friends
When fight fans worldwide hear the name Nova Uniao they immediately think of the striking prowess of UFC champions José Aldo, Renan Barao and Bellator bantamweight ruler Eduardo Dantas. All lighter weight striking machines with killer finishes, relentless cardio and the gold to show for it.
However, despite being one of the planet’s leading striking facilities in 2013, the team actually started off more traditionally than one might expect. In 1995, André Pederneiras and Wendell Alexander created Nova Uniao in Rio de Janeiro as a jiu-jitsu team, and would go on to nurture the talents of a series of high-profile BJJ stars, like Robson Moura, Vitor Shaolin and Joao Roque, to mention just a few.
However, 12 years later, Pederneiras recognized the global opportunity within mixed martial arts and restructured the club, and they’ve never looked back. Although, Andre insists, the art he first learned from Carlson Gracie is still very much trained every day at the gym’s MMA HQ in Bairro do Flamengo.
“Nova Uniao came from jiu-jitsu,” states Pederneiras. “Actually, I’ve been training mixed martial artists for 19 years. The team I really train is in Flamengo, because Nova Uniao has many teams spread across the whole world, but the headquarters are here in Flamengo. I migrated the training here 12 years ago, as the club’s principal base for top-level mixed martial arts.
“Wendell Alexander is charged with the jiu-jitsu coaching, but Flamengo’s base is dedicated to MMA, although it doesn’t mean we have quit training BJJ. On the contrary, we train jiu-jitsu every day, three times a day, but the team I took over turned its focus to MMA 12 years ago.”
However, despite his own vale tudo background, Pederneiras refuses to take full credit for the team’s emergence. He insists he’s had “many experts” who have helped him transform the BJJ competitors who already trained at Nova Uniao into lethal strikers. Inviting Muay Thai specialists, professional boxers and standout wrestlers into the camp has been essential in developing the Nova Uniao fighting style that’s proving so successful today.
“The strikers who helped Nova Uniao evolve were Pedro Rizzo, Giovanni Diniz, Rodrigo Ruas, and many other guys who have passed through here,” he says.
“Actually, Luiz Alves, who has now passed away, was fundamental. I practiced boxing and Muay Thai from 17 years of age, and I was in constant contact with Marco Ruas and people who came to visit my academy and ended up training jiu-jitsu with me. And it’s all built from there.
“I already had very good athletes in the gym who were strong on their feet, so, for me, it was easier because I put my guys to train directly with those guys who were at Nova Uniao simply as a visit. The evolution of the team is completely down to that. Being able to invite great strikers here to train is thanks to having strong relationships with other great academies and exceptional coaches.”
The striking focus of Nova Uniao is Muay Thai and boxing, headed up by Giovanni Diniz as head coach. Sometimes kickboxing is also part of the training, but Pederneiras insists karate has no place in MMA. And he insists that former UFC and Pride veteran Pedro Rizzo made a telling impact on the club’s striking prowess.
Pederneiras adds: “Pedro Rizzo will always be a part of this team. He’s been living abroad recently, but we’ve known each other for a long time, since I was 17 and trained with Marco Ruas. Actually, Ruas Vale Tudo and Nova Uniao also have always walked side by side, along with Boxe Thai. But Pedro will always be from our team, and we’re always a part of his team.
“Pedro was essential for our team mainly for his experience having fought everywhere, and lived in the Netherlands, from where he acquired a heavy baggage of striking knowledge. For us, he was a determining factor with his background and striking technique, the same thing displayed inside the Octagon by members of Nova Uniao today.”
NOVA UNIAO KICKING TIPS
Head coach Andre Pederneiras provides his top-four essential tips for devastating striking technique:
Correct positioning of hip and foot
“The hip is the leading point when kicking. When you turn the base of the foot the hip moves first before the kick is executed. You can lose 30–40% of power if you don’t move your hip accordingly. Many guys commit the mistake of kicking with only the leg and foot, and end up losing potency when they could gain even more power if they used their hips appropriately.”
Shift body-weight drills
“The athlete has to transfer the weight of the body to the leg that is executing the kick by moving the hip altogether. To develop the power of kicking we work a lot with elastic resistance bands, which makes a keen difference. Kicking with rubber bands secured to the leg, even working kicks to the bag, is something we do very often. All of it combined with technique make the difference in the preparation.”
Tools
“We work a lot on these things. In some cases you adapt some things to the training but resistance bands fastened to the leg whilst kicking the heavy bag is something we never stop doing.”
The best striker
“It’s hard to say, but I think the striker who gets to show his technique the most would be José Aldo, regardless of being the best or worst. Today the person who is able to put the best striking on show inside the Octagon is Aldo. Renan Barao is great too, he’s perfect and is as good as José, but Aldo has a greater number of knockouts in MMA, or at least in UFC. Aldo lets his game go and knock guys out with one kick. We have athletes who are getting better and better in striking but José Aldo lands his hits better than other guys.”
GIOVANNI DINIZ
How long did it take for the fighters at Nova Uniao to transition from jiu-jitsu to boxing for MMA?
“Actually, since the beginning, they felt it was a little difficult because they had the modern view of taking the opponent down and submitting them, but then they realized it wasn’t so easy to use that mentality from grappling in MMA.
“They learnt the importance of boxing to cut the distance, get closer to the opponent and knock him down. Some fighters developed it very well, José Aldo is a good example. So is Marlon Sandro, Ronys Torres, Hacran Dias. If you look at them today, you’ll see they are actually more strikers than jiu-jitsu players.”
How long did it take for them to get used to the boxing drills?
“These fighters I mentioned basically needed two years to be successful in boxing. We added some details to the training, accompanying the updates of preparation and other techniques we learnt during our travels.”
What type of exercises did you use to develop punching techniques?
“The main drill to develop your punching is hitting the punch bag. It helps fighters improve their blows, so they execute them until perfection. It demands focus to gain strength and a lot of will to repeat the punches.”
What is Nova Uniao’s recipe for success?
“The recipe for success is dedication, will to learn, and understanding that boxing is one of the pathways too. Before taking the bout to the ground, you gotta get through the opponent standing or finish the fight on the feet, that is why many of our athletes have been successful today. But it’s not easy and a constant battle that demands a lot of hard work until they become good at striking.”
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