André Soares (fighter)

André "Gigueto" Soares is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts fighter. He competes in the flyweight division, and is also an instructor.

History
Shares started training in martial arts at 9 years old practicing Judo. At the age of 15 he fell in love with Brazilian jiu-jitsu. When he was a purple belt he was invited to try out for the Carlson Gracie Competition Team. To make the team there was a tournament style training session in the middle of Carlson Gracie's gym. He won the tournament and became a Team A competitor. His skills grew quickly and he won the Brazilian Nationals in 1998. He trained with Carlson Gracie for five years until Carlson moved to the US and the team split up. Soares followed his teammates over to BTT (Brazilian Top Team) where he competed and received his black belt in 2001. He came in second in the 2002 World Championships.

In 2004, he moved to Florida to reunite with ATT (American Top Team) founder Ricardo Liborio and his master Marcus Aurelio. Soares competed in MMA and jiu-jitsu in America. He won Hawaii Shooto 2005, and took first in the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Gracie World Submission championships.