Vinicius Moreira

Vinicius Moreira Castro (born February 28, 1989) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light heavyweight division. He is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Inspired by Minotauro Nogueira's fights in Pride FC, Moreira started training jiu-jitsu in 2006 as his first martial art. After growing unmotivated by jiu-jitsu, he started training mixed martial arts in 2015, making his professional debut in the following year.

Moreira began his MMA career by compiling an MMA record of 8–1 by competing mainly within the Brazilian regional MMA circuit as well as in India for Super Fight League.

Moreira faced John Allan on August 11, 2018, at Dana White's Contender Series Brazil 3. He won the fight via submission with a triangle choke and was awarded with a UFC contract.

Moreira made his UFC debut against Alonzo Menifield on January 19, 2019, at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw. He lost the fight via technical knockout due to punches in the first round.

Moreira then faced Eryk Anders on June 29, 2019, at UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. dos Santos. He lost the fight via knockout due to punches in the first round.

Moreira next faced Paul Craig on September 21, 2019, at UFC Fight Night: Rodríguez vs. Stephens. He lost the fight via submission with a rear-naked choke in the first round.

Moreira was scheduled to face Tyson Pedro on February 23, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. Hooker. However, Pedro withdrew from the bout in early January due to an undisclosed injury.

Moreira was expected to face Modestas Bukauskas on July 15, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 172. However, on July 3, Moreira tested positive for COVID-19 and was removed from the event.

On January 15, Moreira received a public warning by USADA due to an out-of-competition positive test for anastrozole in September 2020. He had provided a supplement that was proven to be tainted with the substance.

Moreira was scheduled to face Ike Villanueva on January 30, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 186. In late December 2020, the UFC opted against holding an event on a planned January 30 date and decided to reschedule several bouts to January 20, 2021, at UFC on ESPN: Magny vs. Chiesa. He lost the fight by knockout in the second round.

On February 4, 2021, it was announced that Moreira was released from his UFC contract.

Moreira made his first appearance after his UFC release against Rodrigo Duarte on August 8, 2021, at Brazilian Fighting Series 1. He won the bout after the bout was stopped by the doctor after the first round.

Moreira faced Aleksandr Maslov at Open Fight Championship 9 on August 27, 2021, for the OFC Heavyweight Championship. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Moreira faced Mikhail Mokhnatkin on December 19, 2021, at Open Fighting Championship 15. He lost via unanimous decision.

Moreira returned against Sergey Dyakonov at MMA Series 53 on June 24, 2022. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Moreira faced Maico Machado for the inaugural SC Light Heavyweight Championship at "Soldado Combat 3" on August 24, 2024 and won the championship by first round arm-triangle choke submission.

• Jungle Fight
  • Jungle Fight Light Heavyweight Championship (One time; current)
• Fam Fight MMA
  • FFMMA Heavyweight Championship (One time)
• Soldado Combat
  • SC Light Heavyweight Championship (First, inaugural, current)