Victor Estima is not only known as the younger brother of the esteemed jiujitsu champion Braulio Estima. As a competitor, he also won his share of major titles in both gi and no gi. He is also known for having a move named after him. The Estima Lock is a toe hold variation that has caught a good number of competitors due to its subtle setup and unassuming look.
Victor Estima was born in the state of Pernambuco in Brazil. Born on January 8, 1985, the young Victor Estima wasn’t exactly the sporty child. But despite this, he started his judo classes at a very young age. He started doing Judo at age 8 along with his older brother Braulio Estima. Just like Braulio Estima, he also stopped training judo due to the unexpected death of their judo instructor.
At age 12, Victor Estima already started training under Charles Dos Anjos. During his early years, Victor Estima experienced having no other young partner that he can go with. Instead, he is partnered with an adult which made him lose interest in grappling. He stopped for a while because of this. During this time, he focused instead on supporting his brother Braulio Estima as a competitor.
Returning to Jiu-Jitsu
Since he still gets to see Braulio Estima doing jiujitsu, getting back on the mats wasn’t difficult for Victor Estima. But this time around, Charles De Anjos left and was replaced by Ze “Radiola”. By this time, Victor Estima is a bit older and has shown his potential as a competitor. He even mentioned in one interview that he never lost a match in Pernambuco during his lower belt years despite fighting several times as an adult and as a teen.
Move to England
When Braulio Estima moved to Europe, he joined his brother to strain with other high-level competitors. During this time, he was still a purple belt and is still maturing as a competitor. He was later given a black belt in 2006.
One of the main reasons why Braulio Estima went to Europe was because he was invited by Mauricio Gomes, Roger Gracie’s father. Apart from teaching, Braulio Estima was also invited to become a training partner for then-active competitor Roger Gracie. As for Victor Estima, he settled in the United Kingdom when Braulio Estima opened Gracie Barra Midlands.
Apart from working on his BJJ, Victor Estima partnered with some MMA fighters and developed their ground game. He worked with fighters from Team Rough House.
No GI Accomplishments
In 2011, Victor Estima was invited by ADCC, the most revered grappling tournament in the world. Victor proved that he truly belonged to the elite level of grappling competitors. Though he failed to capture a medal during his run in ADCC 2011, he was able to impress a lot of people with his performance.
He also tried his luck in Nogi Worlds. He proved once again that he is one of the best middleweights winning the division that year.
Gi Tournaments
Victor Estima is known not only for his nogi grappling. After winning the gold medal in the Nogi Worlds in 2011, he made a quick return to the competition circuit in 2012 when he joined the IBJJF European Championship. He won gold in the adult middleweight division.
During the finals of the 2012 European Championship, Victor Estima faced Alan “Finfou” Nascimento.
Starting from double pull guard, Victor Estima was insistent playing bottom as Finfou played on top. Victor Estima attacked the foot early doing X-guard-single leg x variations. Midway in the match, Victor Estima transitioned towards a 50/50 position holding and preventing Finfou to progress his top game. It was also during this sequence when Estima was able to score two points and play on top for a short period before getting swept back.
Finfou started imposing his pressure passing. At some point, Victor Estima was about to get passed from a leg drag attempt. But while Victor Estima was inverting to seemingly recover guard, he was able to catch Finfou off-guard with an inverted triangle setup. His brother Braulio Estima is known for a dangerous inverted triangle setup catching both Xande and Andre Galvao with this setup in ADCC.
There were also other shining moments during Victor Estima’s run as gi middleweight competitor. If you will take a closer look at his 2014 World Pro finals against Leandro Lo, many are still arguing whether or not Leandro Lo was the winner of the match or was it a robbery against Estima. It is also worth saying that during these years, Leandro Lo was a top contender and already an IBJJF world champion.
Brilliant leg attacks combined with galaxy guard and 50/50, Victor Estima brought a crafty bottom game during the start of this match. It was a closely contested match with Victor Estima ending up playing bottom. With the score even at 4 and 1 advantage each.
Friction with Kron
Kron Gracie and Victor Estima had some bad blood during their years competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It started when Victor Estima gestured rocking a baby after defeating Kron Gracie in one event. However, after their rematch, Kron Gracie was able to beat Victor Estima and Kron decided to return the favour by doing the same gesture.
This bad blood continued during UFC 158. Braulio Estima was working with George St. Pierre while Kron was in Nick Diaz’s corner. After St. Pierre won the fight, Braulio tried to congratulate Nick Diaz only to be shoved and threatened by Kron Gracie.
A few months earlier, Braulio Estima supposedly had a scheduled BJJ super fight against Nick Diaz. Unfortunately, Nick Diaz didn’t show up during the expo.
The Estima Footlock
The Estima Lock was popularized by Victor Estima. This move is oftentimes confused as a straight footlock. However, with the manner how the move torques the foot, this move is a toe hold.
Victor Estima is known to set this move from the top. It’s a great way to deal with people who use a tricky open guard. The Estima lock is similar to a rear-naked choke. However, the foot is trapped on the top guy’s belly, putting pressure on the foot sideways similar to how you finish a toe hold.