The world of jiu-jitsu dedicated media is still in its infancy; nevertheless, slowly but surely, a few pockets of outstanding work begin to arise for the craving grappling audience. In the field of social media, few can rival Vitor Freitas and his Instagram news hub as well as his YouTube channel “Vitor Freitas Comunica” (links to these at the end of the page), which he dedicates to the Portuguese-speaking audiences, a vast portion of our sport’s fan base.
This Rio de Janeiro native’s fascination for this martial art began at the age of 12. A short-lived experience on the mats at the time, but one he revisited a few years later to fight back the feelings of depression that were sinking in after the passing of his father. Being curious by nature, it didn’t take him long to submerge himself into the “who-is-who” of our sport through internet searches and magazine studies, a fascination that helped open a lot of doors over the years.
His first steps in grappling media were done at the age of 18 through an internship with GRACIEMAG, the news content pioneer of BJJ, and an institution that was fundamental in the growth of our sport. That experience confirmed Freitas’ love for content creation in this realm, as explained by Freitas in June 2023 interview with BJJ Heroes:
“I arrived at GRACIEMAG after I was the first one to get the scoop on Fernando Tererê’s return to competition in Mexico. That was an incredible moment for me; from there, I started enjoying journalism and used this to create content to help my sister [jiu-jitsu black belt Brenda Heller] get sponsorship deals.”
Unsurprisingly, Freitas decided to pursue a journalism degree, which he finished in 2015. Shortly after, he joined the Fight Talk Comunicação company as a Press Officer for several jiu-jitsu athletes, helping and educating several world-class athletes on the importance of branding. This brand awareness subject is one of his missions to this day, he says:
“The time when winning was enough is over. We are in a new era, a new market. The way consumers and events work is different now. If you are an athlete and you don’t understand this, if you can’t win and sell, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities with the biggest platforms. Big events need to sell, and you won’t do it solely with good performances on the mats.”
During his time with Fight Talk, Vitor also envisioned his own media endeavor, VF Comunica. “When I created my portal and the YouTube channel, I intended to create something that did not exist in our community. My objective is to help grow the sport, give more visibility to the athletes and the events to make jiu-jitsu a popular sport. Back in 2015-2016, no one talked about this style of work, so in a way, I feel like I am a pioneer. Today, VF Comunica is the main news portal in Brazil and a reference in our community, which I am very proud of.”
Already going on 11 years of jiu-jitsu coverage, the popularity of Vitor Freitas’ content is undeniable. If you are unfamiliar with his work, you can check him out on:
Instagram: @VitorFreitasComunica
YouTube: @VitorFreitasComunica
The Best!