After graduating from college.

Won 3rd place in Blue Belt at the 1999 Teenage World Championship at the legendary TijucaTenis Club (all IBBJF / CBJJ Federations tournaments – the most challenging and prestigious platform in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu). After graduating college and realizing that Jiu Jitsu was the lifestyle he wanted to pursue for the rest of his life, he moved to California in 2010 to compete and train.