Luiz Victor Maxnuk

Luiz Victor Gregoriano Pinto Maxnuk was born in May 2003 in Bangu, a neighborhood on the west side of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He started jiu-jitsu in 2013, brought in by friends, under Fábio Andrade of Nova União, the same coach who trained Marcio André.

He trained in Bangu for about ten years. In 2023, as a purple belt, he took silver at the Brazilian Nationals and bronze at the Worlds, both at super-heavyweight. That year Marcio André invited him to train in the United States, and as a brown belt he began competing on the American circuit.

At brown belt he moved down to middleweight and medium-heavyweight. In 2024 he took bronze at the Pans, silver at the American Nationals in both his weight class and the open class, and gold at Jiu-Jitsu CON. In 2025, now registered under Marcio André Jiu-Jitsu, he took bronze at the Europeans at medium-heavyweight and in the open class, then won the Pans at middleweight, with a bronze in the open class.

Marcio André gave him his black belt in May 2025. He debuted that same month with gold at medium-heavyweight and silver in the open class at the Denver Open. By the end of the year he had also won the San Diego Open, the Phoenix Open and the New York Open, the last two at heavyweight, and Jiu-Jitsu CON at medium-heavyweight. That made five titles in his first six tournaments as a black belt. In November he competed at The Crown at middleweight and lost in the quarterfinal to Jackson Nagai by referee decision.

In 2026 he reached the final of the Europeans at medium-heavyweight and took silver after losing 4-2 to Eduardo Alves. He took bronze at the Pans and won the medium-heavyweight division at the Los Angeles, Orange County, Denver and San Diego Opens, adding the open class in Orange County and Denver. In June he won the American Nationals. At Jiu-Jitsu CON he competed at middleweight and took bronze, in a division won by his teammate Tarcisio Santos.