Beginner’s Guide to Brazilian Fighter Nicknames

May 3, 2007

I read Mad-Squabbles’ post the other day titled What does “napao” mean anyway?, and realized there are a ton of Brazilian nick names that are probably a mystery to many. You know, the kind of thing that is decided upon when sitting around joking around with buddies one time, but never goes away. I decided it’s time to take a stab at a decent list of nicknames we often see and hear among Brazilian MMA fighters and jiu-jitsu names.After living in Spain a while I speak Spanish fluently, which is usually enough to get me by in Portuguese, even the Brazilian variety. But on this assignment I had to enlist the help of a specialist for some of these, so I called on good friend Andrew Correa. Andrew is a black belt in BJJ and often seen referreeing at tournaments all over the country like Grappler’s Quest and the Pan-Ams. He also runs Jiu-Jitsu Now in Northern Virginia. Here’s a list of nicknames you may have heard, their owners, and translations that we came up with:

  • Babalu (Renato Sobral): The name of a brand of gum in Brazil
  • Cacareco (Alexandre Ferreira): Junk, or garbage
  • Cachorrao (Ricardo Almeida): Big dog
  • Cachorrinho (Flavio Almeida): Little dog
  • Cachorro Locou (Renato Matos): Crazy dog
  • Charuto (Renato Verissimo): Cigar
  • Comprido (Rodrigo Medeiros): Tall
  • Franjinha (Ricardo Miller): Bangs, as in forehead hair cut horizontally
  • Jacare (Ronaldo Souza and Romero Cavalcanti): Alligator
  • Jucao (Roan Carneiro and others): “Juca” means “dude”, so a “Jucao” is a big juca
  • Lagarto (Lucio Rodrigues): Lizard
  • Limao (Luis Heredia): Big lemon
  • Louro (Marcos Galvao): parrot, someone who talks a lot
  • Macaco (Jorge Patino): Macaque, a type of monkey
  • Magrinho (Cole Miller): A good way to say skinny like “little skinny”, or “very skinny”
  • Margarida (Fernando Pontes): A Portuguese girl’s name derived from the name of the flower. Pontes claims he was given this for being a complainer or a crybaby.
  • Morango (Fabricio Camoes): Strawberry
  • Napao (Gabriel Gonzaga): Big nose
  • Pé de Chumbo (Delson Heleno): “Lead foot”, i.e., clumsy
  • Pé de Pano (Marcio Cruz): “Cloth (or towel) foot”
  • Pezao (Vinicius Magalhaes): Bigfoot
  • Roleta (Roberto Magalhaes): Roulette
  • Sapao (Carlos Alejandro Bán): Big frog
  • Soneca (Helio): Sleepy
  • Sururu (Edson Jorge): The name of a seafood dish made with a bunch of mixed left overs, mixed. In slang, it also refers to a commotion, as when a bunch of people arguing for something, they are “making sururu”
  • Toquinho (Rousimar Palhares): Treestump
  • Tussa (Roberto Camargo Alencar): short for “dentussa”, meaning Big Teeth
  • Urso (Mauricio Motta Gomes): Bear
  • Zé: An abbreviation for the name Jose

There are probably dozens more I’ve not addressed here but it’s a good start. Let me know if there are some you’d like to see added to this list!

    After BJJ practice in Gracie Humaita

Chatting after rolling in Gracie Humaita in Rio de Janeiro

Last updated: October 23, 2008

Written by Caleb · Filed Under BJJ, MMA | 6 Comments