Sergio Luiz da Penha (born August 20, 1959) is a world renowned Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and instructor. He is most known for an epic fight against Rickson Gracie in the 1980s.[1] Sergio currently is a coach for well known MMA fighters in Las Vegas such as Stephan Bonnar, Steve Cantwell, Anthony Njokuani among others. Sergio has just received one of the highest honors in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by obtaining his seventh degree red and black belt.
Penha is notable for being one of a very small number of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners skilled enough to have completely bypassed brown belt, moving straight from purple to black belt.[2]
Some sources claim that Penha may have been responsible for training Kazushi Sakuraba in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu during his course of victories over various members of the renown Gracie family. [3]