Vinicius de Jesus Adds Combat Jiu-Jitsu to His MMA Schedule

Vinicius de Jesus' journey in martial arts is not a solo endeavor. He's quick to talk about his family, who are fully invested and supportive of what he's doing in mixed martial arts. Where he finds the time to put in championship level training takes a special kind of focus, and de Jesus seems to have that in droves.

"I did five rounds of MMA sparring, then some jiu-jitsu rounds at Renzo Gracie Academy, then more at Marcelo Garcia’s," de Jesus told Sherdog.com. While jiu-jitsu is one of the many parts of MMA, de Jesus is doing this because he will be competing in the Combat Jiu-Jitsu World's on UFC Fight Pass Aug. 18. After that, he is set to face Chris Lozano in his first title defense at CES 58.

Keeping to a good training schedule can be difficult, but having the right people around helps a lot. “All of my family is involved and also, the people around me become part of my family too,” de Jesus says of his support system. “My wife is a black belt in jiu-jitsu.”

Doing month-to-month competition in two sports may seem like a bit much to the weekend warrior, martial arts hobbyist but de Jesus is far from that. When asked if there was any concern about injury going from combat jiu-jitsu to full on fighting in a month, de Jesus said, “No, I come from a savage place. We’re never concerned about getting hurt, or taking light days.”

De Jesus believes that combat jiu-jitsu compliments MMA well and helps blur the line between jiu-jitsu and MMA. “For combat jiu-jitsu, it’s been a great way to get my jiu-jitsu level way up high.” He might be right since Gilbert Burns did the same thing at Titan FC 53 and pulled off a win at the Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Uruguay last weekend as a late replacement.

Hard work and wins are what matters to de Jesus and while he does acknowledge the business side of MMA, he knows like in anything else, focusing on one’s craft should produce positive results.

Edward Carbajal serves as the lead MMA analyst for Frontproof Media and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a brown belt in Ishin Ryu karate. He has covered combat sports since 2014 and has been a fan of MMA since the first UFC. You can follow him on Twitter @Carbazel or at his website TheBlogBoardJungle.com.