Victor Honorio, GF Team’s Not-So-Secret Weapon, Is Back

When Victor Honorio exploded onto the scene as a brown belt he was immediately touted as the ‘next Rodolfo Vieira’.

Just like Rodolfo, Honorio bulldozed through his black belt opponents in true GF Team fashion, throwing his opponents to the mat and crushing them from top position.

Honorio fought his way through to the finals of the 2015 Copa Podio Heavyweight Grand Prix while still a brown belt, even beating eventual champion Felipe Pena in the early stages of the GP.

Getting his black belt shortly after the 2015 World Championships Honorio dropped off the radar, only coming back to competition in December of 2015 at the Rio Grand Slam.

“There weren’t many big competitions for me to enter,” says Victor. “We straightened out my conditioning and my training along with some medical exams to augment my performance.”

Honorio will return to competition this weekend at the Brazilian National Pro in Gramado, where he hopes to win a ticket to compete at the Abu Dhabi World Pro.

“Six years straight I’ve gone to Abu Dhabi, five times I was champion there. I’m in a good phase right now and I think I’ve got a good chance. The trials will be a good start to the season, I’m well-prepared and very confident, I think I’ll get it.”

In addition to the IBJJF Brazilian Nationals and the Worlds, Honorio has his eyes on another notable tournament set for later this year – the Copa Podio Heavyweight Grand Prix.

“I’ve not officially been invited, but Mestre Julio [GF Team head coach] gave me a heads up and I want to arrive there in top shape. We analyzed the holes in my game so we can fill them in ahead of time. We’ll go from there so I turn up in great shape, even stronger and with batter gas so I can give a good show.”