Pedro Fernandes-Farias was born in Rio de Janero, Brasil. In 2003, while staying with his aunt in Astoria, Queens, he took his first jiu-jitsu class at Combined Martial Arts, before continuing his training under Eduardo Cabral with the legendary TT Team, back in São Paulo. His professor saw his potential and encouraged him to take the sport seriously–by the time he received his blue belt in 2005, he was already training every day, with aspirations of becoming a professional in the sport. In 2011, he received a silver medal at the IBJJF Brazilian National Championships in both Gi and NoGi divisions at the brown belt level. He received his Black Belt from Antonio “Juninho” Crivelari, at the age of 25, and went on to win the IBJJF South American Championships and receive a bronze medal at the IBJJF Brazilian National Championships after only 6 months at the highest level of the sport. In 2015, Pedro moved to London to teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at London Fight Factory under Luiz Manxinha and continued with stellar performances in competition, including winning the IBJJF London Open in 2015 and 2016 and closing out with his teammate, Alan Finfou, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam. In 2017, he visited Studio X for the first time while on vacation in the United States, after receiving an invitation from his friend, Thiago Sa, who was teaching a seminar at the gym at the time. Shortly after, his affiliation with Studio X | Team Fabio Clemente began, as he started training with the team and leading the Gi Jiu-Jitsu program at Studio X. He took a brief break from competition to focus on his new role as an instructor before returning to competition in the Master’s I division in 2019, when he won his first major title, the Pan American Championship. After the pandemic, Pedro revitalized his success, having the best year of his career in 2022, when, in a remarkable feat of ability and consistency, he went undefeated for the whole year, winning major competitions across three separate continents. Pedro won gold at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Pro in Miami and London, continued his streak with a gold medal at the IBJJF Brazilian Nationals, his second major title, and eventually went on to achieve his lifelong dream of 1st place at the IBJJF World Championship in Las Vegas. Now, Pedro is focused on developing his own generation of athletes and competitors, as well as sharing the art he loves with the community of students at Studio X | Checkmat NYC.