Ivaniel on winners' podium in Manaus. Photo: Arthur Castro.
Another Manaus-produced stalwart black belt, but living in São Paulo teaching at CT Brazil academy, Ivaniel Oliveira capped off a great year winning the Amazon Meeting Black Belt and World Cup tournaments over a two-week span and sees a promising future on the horizon. Now he’s setting his sights higher, on the Worlds, where Bruno Malfacine reigns supreme as the three-time champion of his division.
“Thank God, I had good results this year. Now I want to become world champion in California,” he tells GRACIEMAG.com.
“I’m only going to rest this week and then I’ll back to hard training, since I want to be in all the major events. I’d like to thank everyone who’s helped me, like Gilbert Durinho, Ligeirinho, Dabi Ramos, and Master Cristiano Carioca. He’s in Japan right now training with Kid Yamamoto, but he’s important to me too,” he says in closing.