Leo Ferreira on the moment he knew he could compete with the best: “I felt I was fully in the game”
In an exclusive interview with VF Comunica, the Alliance black belt points to his black belt debut against Vinicius Liberati and Leo Lara and his submission of Anderson Munis; one of the three is in his bracket at the 2026 Crown
Leo Ferreira can point to the moment he started to see himself on the same level as the top names at black belt. In an exclusive interview with VF Comunica, the Alliance athlete from southern Brazil, the 2026 European and Brazilian champion and one of the heavyweights confirmed for The Crown, went back to his first months at the rank, in late 2024, and named three opponents: Vinicius Liberati, Leo Lara and Anderson Munis.
“In my black belt debut. I fought Liberati and Leo Lara on the same day. After that, I faced Anderson Munis and got the submission,” Ferreira said.
“That was when I felt I was fully in the game and started getting more visibility,” he added.
The debut at the Curitiba Open
The debut he is talking about came in October 2024 at the Curitiba Open, a tournament in southern Brazil, a few months after he received his black belt from Mario Reis on the podium at the World Championship, where he had just won the title as a brown belt. In the heavyweight bracket, Ferreira beat Lara in the semifinal and Vinicius Liberati in the final. Liberati had finished second at Worlds in the same division that season.
“I beat him on points and felt really good competing,” he told VF Comunica at the time about the semifinal. In the open class of the same tournament, the two met again, also in a semifinal, and Lara won by referee decision. Ferreira left the Curitiba Open with gold in his weight class and bronze in the open class.
His next tournament was the South American Championship, in November, and he won both his weight class and the open class with six submissions in seven matches. “At the Curitiba Open I left the matches to be decided too late, and at the South American I was determined to be more aggressive and go for the submission,” he explained after that run.
The kimura on Anderson Munis
The third name he mentioned came on December 15, 2024, in the final of BJJ Clubes, a team event in Rio de Janeiro. Invited by Sérvio Túlio, coach of the Cruzeiro team, Ferreira faced Anderson Munis, who months earlier had won the world title at super-heavyweight, one division above his. Ferreira took control of the match, worked from the top and finished with a kimura.
“I believe that is my trademark, pushing forward and looking for the submission,” he said after that win.
One of the three is in his way at the Crown
In 2025, Ferreira reached the finals of the European Championship, the Brazilian Nationals and the World Championship and lost all three to Adam Wardzinski. In 2026, at 25, he won the European and Brazilian titles and took bronze at Worlds.
Next up is The Crown, the IBJJF invitation-only tournament set for November 8 at the Pyramid in Long Beach, California. One of the names from that debut is in the same bracket: Vinicius Liberati, who won the Europeans, the Brazilian Nationals and the Worlds at super-heavyweight in 2026 and is moving down to heavyweight for the event. Fellipe Andrew, Windson Torres, Omar Nada and Davi Vetoraci are the other names announced so far in the division.
Ferreira has already told VF Comunica that, if he could choose, he would face Fellipe Andrew in the final.
Read also: Davi Vetoraci confirmed at heavyweight for the 2026 Crown; Gustavo Batista is out with an injury.
Is Leo Ferreira the favorite at heavyweight at the 2026 Crown? Leave your opinion in the comments.
