Alongside his jiu-jitsu career, Fernando Gurgel pursued and completed a degree in engineering, demonstrating a commitment to professional development that ran parallel to his work on the mats. He subsequently joined his family's human resources company, for a time balancing the demands of a coaching role at Alliance with those of a professional career.
As the obligations of both paths grew increasingly difficult to reconcile, Fernando made the deliberate decision to prioritize the family business. Rather than stepping away from jiu-jitsu entirely, he chose to transition from coach back to student — a move that speaks to a genuine personal connection with the art that extends beyond competitive or professional motivation. His departure from a full-time coaching role marked the close of a formative chapter in Alliance's early history, even as the team he helped build continued to grow into one of the most decorated organizations in the global BJJ community.