Max Gimenis has added another gold medal to his collection. The athlete performed flawlessly at the World Masters, held in Las Vegas, and won double gold in the competition alongside his friend Guilherme Cordiviola. Max and Guilherme closed out the finals of the heavyweight and absolute and dominated the master 1.
The GFTeam black belts won five fights in total on their way to the double. One of GFTeam’s main competitors in the last decade, Max didn’t even concede points and imposed his aggressive Jiu-Jitsu to overcome his opponents. In an interview with VF Comunica, Max Gimenez evaluates his performance at the World Masters and says that this title had a special flavor.
“My performance at the World Masters was very good, I put in some interesting fights against tough athletes. I kept my cool, had dominant performances and didn’t concede a single point during the competition. I did five fights in total and made it to the finals of my category and the absolute with Guilherme. Guilherme is a long-time friend, we’ve known each other since we were kids. I’ve had the privilege of training with him several times, we even trained together in Brazil over the last few weeks,” Max recalls.
Max describes the feeling of closing out the finals with Guilherme Cordiviola and emphasizes their friendly relationship, even though they currently live far away from each other.
“For me, it doesn’t make sense to fight a friend I’ve already exchanged so much experience and information with over the year. For a long time, we lived together in the United States and trained every day. Nowadays, we live in different places, he lives in Colorado, has a gym there, and I live in Maryland. Despite the distance, we have a very strong connection. It was wonderful to close the finals with him, I think there’s no better feeling than closing a final with a friend,” says the GFteam athlete.
In addition to being a relentless competitor, Max is a reference as a championship organizer. Along with fellow black belt João Paulo Ferreira, he heads the PBJJF, a federation that has revolutionized the sport’s events in Maryland. Max shares details of his experience at the head of the PBJJF and guarantees that the Federation is committed to professionalizing Jiu-Jitsu in the region.
“The goal of the PBJJF is to hold organized events and provide a unique experience for athletes, so that they feel like professionals. PBJJF was a project that started with João Paulo and me two years ago because we didn’t like the events that were going on around us. As I’ve worked in several championships in Brazil and the United States, I took this information and put together a plan with JP Ferreira. Soon after, we started working in Maryland. The growth of the Federation has been incredible, we’ve only been in business for two years and we’ve been doing a great job. Our goal is to grow even more, inspire people and make quality events for everyone,” says Max Gimenis.