Igor Veríssimo

Igor Veríssimo Chaves is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Leandro Lo, being also one of the brightest stars in the New School Brotherhood – São Paulo based camp. Igor Veríssimo broke out as one of the sport’s main figures during his colored belts career, a time when he won medals in important tournaments such as the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation’s (IBJJF) Brazilian Nationals, European Open, South American Championship and many more.

Igor Veríssimo Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Igor Veríssimo de Oliveira Chaves

Nickname: Igor is often referenced as “Minas” by his peers at the Ns Brotherhood team because of his place of birth, the state of Minas Gerais.

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rickson Gracie > Marcelo Behring > Waldomiro Perez> Roberto Godoi > Marco Barbosa > Cicero Costha > Leandro Lo > Igor Veríssimo

Main Achievements:

• IBJJF Curitiba Summer Open Champion (2019)
• CBJJ Brasileiro Championshp 3rd Place (2018)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• CBJJ Brasileiro Champion (2017 brown)
• CBJJ South Brazilian Champion (2014 purple)
• IBJJF São Paulo Int. Open 2nd Place (2013 blue)
• IBJJF Rio Winter Int. Open 2nd Place (2015 purple)
• IBJJF European Open 3rd Place (2016 brown)
• IBJJF South American 3rd Place (2014 purple)
• CBJJ South Brazilian 3rd Place (2014* purple)
• IBJJF Floripa Open 3rd Place (2014 purple)

* Absolute
** Weight and absolute

Favorite Position/Technique: Well rounded

Weight Division: Peso Médio (82,30 kg/181.5 lbs)

Team/Association: New School Brotherhood

Igor Veríssimo Biography

Igor Veríssimo was born on October 03, 1993 in Belo Horizonte – the capital city of southeastern Brazil’s Minas Gerais state.

As an 8 year old Igor signed on to swimming classes, a sport he practiced and competed in for a few years ending his pool days just before entering puberty. At 17 years of age Igor decided to join a jiu jitsu club, he was very skinny during his adolescence and wanted to gain muscle but believed lifting weights to be a boring endeavour. Since his uncle already practiced jiu jitsu and had very positive reviews BJJ was the chosen activity.

Gracie Barra’s Leonardo Oliveira, a black belt under Vinicius Draculino was Veríssimo’s first coach. Igor jumped almost immediately on to the competition scene, doing his debut with one month of training. As a blue belt he started competing every weekend, and changed his training to the GB Belo Horizonte Headquarters, there learning from the prestigious Marcelo “Uirapuru” Azevedo.

Igor earned his purple belt from Uirapuru, but as Minas Gerais offered very few high level tournaments, Veríssimo saw himself regularly travelling to meet the big events. The commute became a financially unsustainable effort, and for that reason the young athlete decided to move to São Paulo, Brazil’s toughest BJJ circuit where most of these events took place.

In São Paulo Veríssimo joined Cicero Costha‘s Projeto Social Lutando Pelo Bem (PSLPB) academy, where he slept – later moving to the team’s athlete house. Igor became friends with Leandro Lo who was PSLPB’s star pupil at the time. Lo invited Veríssimo to be part of the heavyweight’s training (being the lightest pick in the room) and when Leandro decided to leave Cicero’s academy, Igor followed him out.

Under Leandro Lo’s wing Igor earned his brown and black belts. The latter in a ceremony held on October 21, 2017.

Igor Veríssimo vs Fabricio Barbarotti