Bruno Bastos - Top Notch 5th Degree Black Belt

Bruno Bastos is a 5th-degree Brazilian black belt and chief head of the Bruno Bastos Association.

Bruno Bastos was born on 27th March 1980 in America. In 1990, Bastos first entered the BJJ world at the age of 10. He was first trained under Neury Gomes for about 1 and a half years and learned all basic grappling techniques. After some years, Bastos also learned advanced grappling techniques under Aílson Brites and Wendell Alexander. Bastos spent major time under the coaching of Alexander who followed him until his jiu-jitsu black belt. Bastos’s six family members were also part of BJJ which included Ricardo, Thiago, Fernanda, Andre, Bianca, and Felipe Bastos. His son Joao Bastos and daughter Maria Clara also competed in various jiu-jitsu tournaments. After securing a gold medal at the Pan American Championship, Maria said:

Bruno Bastos always motivated his daughter and encouraged her to work harder to achieve success goals. He said:

Bruno Bastos’s entire jiu-jitsu career is filled with his top titles and accomplishments. He was also a part of the top famous two-time world champion team which was referred to as Nova Uniao. But in 2014, Bastos left this team and developed his own Bruno Bastos Association. After some time, Bastos also became a member of another LEAD Team.

Bruno Bastos Association is renowned for its exceptional jiu-jitsu training facility in West Texas. Bruno Bastso, Yuri Santos, and Petya Bastos are the main instructors. Top-notch martial arts training is provided to both children and adults.

Bruno Bastos stepped onto the mats at the yellow belt rank and amazed the entire BJJ community with his innate fighting skills.

Bastos is undoubtedly a competitive jiu-jitsu fighter and showcased his remarkable grappling skills in numerous tournaments including World Championships, Brazilian Nationals, Grapplers Quest ADCC, etc.

For Bastos, age is just a number. At the age of 41, Bastos participated in the World Pro Championship of Master 3 division and secured victory. Bastos won the gold in the Ultra Heavyweight division. Bastos competed against Vladimiro Afonso, Marcelo Mendes, Rodrigo Silva, and Marcio Silva. Among four matches, Bastos was declared the winner in 3 battles by securing points. In one match, victory was announced based on the judges' opinion. Once Bastos said:

Bruno Bastos is renowned for having one of the finest half-guards that he amazingly applied as opposed to his competitors. Bastos competed in various tournaments with his amazing grips and applied strategies that he mastered over his entire BJJ career.

Bastos not only learned the jiu-jitsu from his coach Wendell Alexander but also learned moral values. In 2005, Bastos took the initiative to open a charity organization, Arte Suave. The main goal of this organization was to protect the children from drugs or any illegal activities by developing their interest in BJJ. Bastos and a few Nova Unuao students also developed a project which was referred to as “Projeto Atos”.

In January 2001, Bruno Bastos secured the black belt under Master Wendell Alexander.

Once Bruno Bastos was asked about his motivation, he shared the names of his children. Bastos was also concerned about the feasible mental preparation for any competition. He said:

Everything, there is no way that I would not believe in myself. You are going to win and lose, but you have to know that you did everything in that process. There are no shortcuts! I think that many people embrace the idea of being champions, but not a lot of people will embrace the idea of having to go through the process, go through hardships, and understand winning/losing. I say win and lose because a lot of people say:

“Oh! You have to know how to lose!”

But you have to know how to win as well. I think when you understand all of that, and you put it all together, you will always be confident in yourself.

In the 2020 Austin Open Championship, Bruno Bastos faced Luigi Fioravanti. Both fighters attempted the takedown numerous times but Bastos amazingly resisted the opponent’s techniques and secured the victory based on the points.

In the 2009 World Championship, Bastos competed against Roger Gracie. In the initial few minutes, Bastos tried to attempt the techniques multiple times but Gracie secured the victory by successfully attempting the choke submission.

Bruno Bastos VS Felipe Pacces / World Championship 2010

Marcio "Pe de Pano" Cruz v Bruno Bastos / Tampa Open 2023

Ricardo Feliciano VS Bruno Bastos / Pan NoGi Championship 2020

Tim Spriggs (Lloyd Irvin) x Bruno Bastos (Bastos BJJ) - Match 3

Thiago Reinaldo x Bruno Bastos - 2020 Oklahoma City Open

Photo Credit: @brunobastosbjj