Vinícius Ferreira
Address
Franca, São Paulo, Brazil
Phone
About Us
Vinícius Ferreira was born on June 21, 1997, in Franca, a municipality in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, where he grew up.
At the age of 12, Ferreira was struggling with weight-related issues, then deciding to join a boxing gym to help lower his body-mass, a sport he practiced for nearly 4 years.
2 years into his striking training and Vinícius was still fighting off some of his excess weight. To tackle the issue he decided to add jiu-jitsu to his weekly activities, his first class taking place on March 2010 with coach Paulo “Índio”.
4 months into his training and Vinícius had his first taste of competition, reaching an honorable 2nd place at a local tournament. Trator was immediately hooked on to competition, starting then a routine that saw him competing every single weekend, year round, for a few years.
In trying to improve his skills, after 6 months of training with Índio, Vinícius decided to join coach Edson Ferreira’s gym (Paulo Índio’s instructor) where there had a higher level of competitors to spar with. It was Edson who graded Trator with his orange, green, blue and purple belts.
At the age of 17 Vinícius had already conquered over 160 gold medals but was ready to quit the sport as he did not see a professional avenue doing what he loved, in the long-run. In a last effort to stay in the game, Trator and his coach sent a CV to Fábio Gurgel, leader of the Alliance team in São Paulo city, hoping to get a scholarship at the famous academy. By a stroke of luck, Gurgel was starting a small project aimed at helping rising BJJ talent and was receptive to the idea of having Trator over.
On December 2015, after a sparring audition, Vinícius was accepted by Gurgel and the team, becoming part of the first set of students under the Alliance project. Trator was given food, shelter, and high-level training under a scholarship.
After nearly 3 years training under the Alliance banner, with many important titles conquered, on September 4, 2018, Vinícius Ferreira was promoted to black belt by his coaches: Michael Langhi and Fábio Gurgel.
