Vinicius Liberati

Vinicius Liberati was born on March 6, 1998, in Bariri, a small city in the interior of São Paulo state. He played soccer from age 8 to 15 and only walked into a Jiu-Jitsu academy after he quit, to get back in shape. His first coach was Rafael Ultramare, who, together with his brother Rodrigo, promoted him from white to purple belt.

In January 2017, after being accepted into Cícero Costha’s scholarship program, he moved to the city of São Paulo. Two years later, during a run of tournaments in Europe, he found out he had two herniated discs and spent a year off the mats. He came back in 2021, won Brazilian Nationals at brown belt that year and again in 2022, when Costha gave him his black belt on the podium, in Barueri.

At the new rank he took bronze at the Abu Dhabi World Pro in 2022. In May 2023 he left Costha’s team for Fratres. His first Worlds as a black belt only came in 2024, after his U.S. visa had been denied: at heavyweight, he reached the final and lost to Adam Wardzinski.

In 2025 he took bronze at Europeans and Brazilian Nationals, still at heavyweight, and moved up to super-heavyweight for Worlds, where he was stopped by Erich Munis in the semifinal. After that tournament he changed teams again and began training at Soldiers, in São Paulo, the same team as Erich.

The 2026 season is the best of his career. In January he won Europeans, beating Harryson Pereira 2-0 in the final. In March he was runner-up at Pans, edged by Nolan Stuart 6-4. In May he paid Stuart back in the semifinal of Brazilian Nationals and, in the final against Erich Munis, took the title on advantages after a 6-6 tie.

Worlds followed a similar script. He submitted Kalum Klausner in the quarterfinals, beat Windson Torres 2-0 in the semifinal and, in the final, again against Erich and again tied at 6-6, won by one advantage. “Three visa denials, and two previous attempts where I finished in 2nd and 3rd place. Since the last World Championship, a lot has changed in my life: I changed teams, my son was born, and I lost my mother-in-law, whom I lived with and cared for deeply,” he wrote on Instagram.

After the title he kept competing. In July he won his weight class and the open class at the São Paulo Open, with five submissions in six matches. In late September he repeated the double gold at the South Americans, beating Manoel “Toféu” Junior 23-2 in the open class final.

His game mixes open guard and top pressure. Of his 35 submissions as a black belt, 13 were chokes from the back and seven were arm-triangle chokes.

At The Crown on November 8 he returns to heavyweight, the division he competed in until the first half of 2025. In the bracket are Leo Ferreira, who beat him twice in 2024, both times by an advantage, and Windson Torres, whom he beat in the Worlds semifinal. The IBJJF introduced him as the reigning European, Brazilian National and world champion at super-heavyweight.