Simões won his first ADCC medal in 2015, when he won the 2015 ADCC 88 kg gold medal. During the tournament, he managed to beat Keenan Cornelius, Romulo Barral, Zbigniew Tyszka and Ricardo Mesquita.[6] He took part in the 2017 edition of the ADCC as well, competing in the 99 kg weight category. Yuri beat Roman Dolidze by points in the opening round, Mike Perez by decision in the quarterfinals, Jackson Sousa by points in the semifinals and Felipe Pena by points in the finals, to once again win the gold medal.[7]
Simões competed against Nick Rodriguez at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 on December 10, 2023.[11] He lost the match on points.[12] After the match Simões revealed that he had suffered a shoulder injury in training and would need surgery to repair it, keeping him out of competition while he recovers.[13]
Mixed martial arts
Having begun training martial arts several years prior, he announced in August 2020 that he had signed with ONE Championship.[14] His first fight was announced for ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix 3, where was scheduled take on Fan Rong on November 13, 2020.[15] Yuri lost his promotional debut by unanimous decision.[16]
He was scheduled to face Daniyal Zainalov at ONE: Full Circle on February 25, 2022.[17] Simões lost by split decision.[18]
After suffering two straight losses to start his MMA career, he was released by ONE.[19]
