At the 2013 World Judo Championships held in Brazil he was eliminated in the first round of his competition after losing to Islam Bozbayev of Kazakhstan. Following this tournament he sought asylum in Brazil and remained in the country. In Brazil he started training at the Instituto Reação, a judo school founded by Olympic bronze medallist Flávio Canto, and now trains under coach Geraldo Bernardes in Rio de Janeiro. Before being taken by Reação, Misenga had odd jobs at truck crews. He received support and funding from the IOC's Olympic Solidarity programme.