Pedro Veras

Pedro Veras is a jiu-jitsu black belt under Cicero Costha, being one of the top representatives of Costha’s PSLPB team (Projeto Social Lutando Pelo Bem). Pedro became a well-respected member of the team while competing in the colored belt divisions of the sport, particularly in the United Arab Emirates Jiu-Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF) and the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) circuits, where he conquered numerous Grand Slam events and earned medals in the Brazilian National Championships and the European Open.

Pedro Veras Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Pedro Henrique Segura Veras

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rickson Gracie > Marcelo Behring > Waldomiro Perez > Roberto Godoi > Marco Barbosa > Cicero Costha > Pedro Veras

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF NYC Fall Open (2019)
• 1st Place IBJJF NYC Fall Open No-Gi (2019)
• 1st Place IBJJF São Paulo Open (2019)
• 1st Place IBJJF Dublin Open (2019)
• 1st Place IBJJF Dublin Open No-Gi (2019)
• 1st Place Para Bellum Quintet GP (2020)
• 3rd Place IBJJF European Open (2020)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi (2017 purple)
• 1st Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, AD (2019 brown)
• 1st Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, TYO (2018 brown)
• 1st Place ACBJJ European Open (2018 purple)
• 2nd Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, LDN (2017 purple)
• 2nd Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, LA (2017 purple / 2018 brown)
• 2nd Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2015 blue)
• 3rd Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2018 brown)

Favorite Position/Technique: Pressure Passing

Weight Division: Peso Leve (76,00 kg / 168.0 lbs)

Team/Association: PSLPB

Pedro Veras Biography

Pedro Veras was born on May 09, 1996, in Florianópolis, the capital of Brazil’s Santa Catarina State, where Veras spent his formative years.

Influenced by his family, all big martial arts enthusiasts, Veras joined the martial arts world at the age of 5, through judo, a sport he trained and competed in for a number of years. Later Pedro would add capoeira, karate, taekwondo, kung fu, and Thai boxing to his weekly schedule as the years went by, bouncing from one to the other.

During his mid-teens (around 14 to 15), Pedro was convinced by a friend to try a jiu-jitsu class. Veras was an avid practitioner of muay Thai at the time but decided to give it a chance. Much to his surprise, he immediately fell in love with grappling, then joining Carlos Rocha’s gym and shortly after switching to Cláudio Arrais’s classroom.

As Pedro became a bigger fan of jiu-jitsu’s competitive scene, he admired the grappling style of Paulo and João Miyao — the Miyao Brothers. That sentiment grew even more after he saw the Cicero Costha students at the South American Championship of 2011, in Veras’ home town. This encounter remained in Pedro’s thoughts for 2 years, and finally, in 2013, 17-year-old Pedro contacted Master Cicero and asked to be part of the team. Pedro Veras was a blue belt at the time, but Costha agreed to have him at the gym and living in the PSLPB fighter house located in São Paulo.

Once in São Paulo, Pedro Veras had access to one of the most fruitful talent producing gyms in the history of the sport, and one of the world’s toughest competitive circuits — both important assets in Veras’ development as a jiu-jitsu player, his career started blossoming.

After years representing the PSLPB Academy, which also granted Veras access to Unity JJ in New York City with Murilo Santana, in July 2019 Pedro was promoted to black belt.

Another grappler who became part of Pedro Veras’ path in the sport was Fernando Zulick, a black belt with an academy in Canada – Action Reaction MMA, who joined the Cicero Costha Association in 2017. Zulick’s work in Toronto led him to bring a few athletes from Cicero’s São Paulo gym, to compete and represent his team in the North American circuit. One of those competitors was Pedro Veras, who started visiting Canada in 2018, a move that greatly enhanced Pedro’s name recognition in the continent and Zulick’s team in the country.