Born in São José dos Campos, in São Paulo state of Brazil, on 21 October 1988, Maurício learned his craft at SC Corinthians. Fluminense FC signed hin in 2006, at the age of 18, and his coaches directly threw him in at the deep end.

In his first professional season, he appeared in 20 games and served two assists – a promising start. In the following season, he scored his maiden goal and played 33 games. Everything seemed ideal. However, things changed. His time on the pitch was reduced and his development turned to stagnation. He couldn’t bear this situation anymore and, in the first days of 2009, he decided to make the big leap.

He left his country and moved to Russia. Both FC Spartak Moscow and FC Terek Grozny had expressed an interest to acquire him. He made the non-obvious choice. Instead of settling in cosmopolitan Moscow, he picked the Chechnian capital. His determination was vindicated.

He adjusted in no time and became the team’s leader. He remained in Grozny for five seasons, conjured up 33 goals in 197 games and became one of the favourite players of club’s faithful and of president Ramzan Kadyrov. His three-year contract was extended to five years.

In January 2016, he considered it was high time for another career change. He wanted a bigger club than FC FC Terek Grozny. FC Zenit Saint Petersburg was just the challenge he was craving for.

He first signed a six-month deal with Zenit. As soon as his contract expired, the club administration moved to secure his signature for three more years, as head coach Mircea Lucescu wanted to keep him on board. At his last season there he netted 2 goals and served 1 assist in 27 games.

In June 2017 he split from the Saint Petersburg club on mutual consent and, after evaluating the offers he received from several clubs, he decided to continue his career at PAOK. In his first season he scored 4 goals and served one assist, being deafeningly silent, creative and effective in his game. The misfortune struck him in March 2019 when his knee was injured, but he returned strong and determined to offer the maximum again.