The Rio de Janeiro native has called the UAE home since 2009, and lives about a minute from the venue, where he picked up a gold medal in the male adult black belt 110kg Gi category on the final day of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour Saturday.
The 31-year-old made light work of compatriot Jiddu Lemos, ending the contest with a kimura arm lock with the five-minute bout not even lasting the distance.
It was a fifth gold medal of the season for Junior, moving him onto 970 points and keeping him second in the world rankings behind compatriot Gabriel Arges De Sousa.
De Sousa, who competes in the 85kg weight division, is onto 1,070 after also winning gold in Abu Dhabi, and Junior hopes he can catch his fellow Brazilian by the time they return to the capital for the World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in April.
“It’s becoming really close,” said Junior, who came to the Emirates in 2009 to compete but also as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor.
“Maybe we won’t know who will be the world champion until the World Pros, which is the last tournament of the season. Hopefully I can get more points between now and then, but he hopes the same.
“It’s tough because we don’t fight in the same category but we’re competing against each other for the points.”
The UAE Jiu-Jitsu team member was delighted to win on home soil.
“It’s my home,” said Junior, who has lived in Abu Dhabi for eight years.
“I live one minute from the IPIC Arena so I feel like this place is my back yard. It feels like home and I love this country. I get a lot of support here, and I’ve become more professional since I moved here.”
With his belief that the World Pros will be the seminal moment of the 2016/17 campaign, Junior admitted it will be hard to remain focused over the next few months.
“It’s hard because you have to keep the whole year training and competing in eight or nine tournaments,” added Junior who, like De Sousa, heads to the Brazilian National Championship next week before the fifth and final Abu Dhabi Grand Slam event of the season in London in March.
“It’s a lot of work and recovery. It’s becoming now not about how hard you train or compete but how fast you recover.
“Mental toughness is also a factor. It’s easier to train your body because your mind is developing all the time, your mind knows you’re going to be tired, it knows you’re going to be stressed.
“On the day of tournaments you don’t eat anything but stress consumes you. But that’s how champions are made. If you know how to perform under stress you are going to do well.”
Elsewhere, UAE players once again rose to the occasion yesterday, claiming a total of 103 medals in the Gi divisions. There was disappointment, however, for prolific home favourite Faisal Al Ketbi, who surprisingly lost in the 85kg quarter-finals on points to Matheus Souza.
