Lucas Protasio - A Young IBJJF World Champion

Lucas Protasio is one of the top BJJ black belt grapplers. He started his BJJ journey inspired by his father, Clovis Protasio. His father trained him initially, and then he was trained under different top coaches and was finally promoted to black belt under coaches Thiago and Bruno Baretto in 2021. Protasio is a strong competitor; he has won multiple awards in national and international GI and NoGi tournaments during his colored and black belt ranks. His highest achievements to date are the IBJJF World, Pan, UAE Grand Slam, AJP Tour, and European Championships.

Lucas Protasio was born on May 07, 2000, in Rio Grande do Norte, a state on Brazil’s far northeastern tip. Since his childhood, Jiu-jitsu has been a significant part of his life because his father, Clovis Protasio, was also a BJJ black belt fighter. Protasio was inspired by his father and decided to pursue Jiu-Jitsu as his career. At this time, Protasio joined the judo club. He practiced judo for seven years. On his 14th birthday, Jiu-Jitsu training classes grabbed his attention as BJJ was quite a popular sport in his region. At first, he started his Jiu-Jitsu training under his father’s guidance. Soon after, he joined Gracie Barra Cohabinal Training Academy and trained under Bruno Ramos, the founder of this academy and a top BJJ black belt athlete.

While training under Bruno Romas, Protasio was promoted from white to blue belt. In his blue belt, he was awarded a silver medal in the European Open. This win motivated the young boy, and he started working harder. He then joined the ZR team, which has the most talented fighters. He was trained under Diego Ramalho, who graded Lucas from blue to purple belt. In his purple, his highest achievements were winning titles at the IBJJF Pan and World Championships. From there, he started training with Ricardo Oliveira. Finally, he joined the Checkmat Academy and continued his BJJ training from Thiago and Bruno Barreto. He got his brown belt, but due to Covid 19, he could not compete. Thiago and Bruno Baretto promoted him from brown to black belt in May 2021.

Protasio shared that BJJ has completely transformed his life. Because of this sport, he can travel worldwide and explore new places, which develops his culture and personal growth. He said that his passion for BJJ increases every day as it brings new challenges, making him more physically and mentally robust and focused. In one of his interviews, he tells how dedicated he has become towards BJJ and how he feels after he achieved success. He said:

Lucas Protasio has quickly succeeded in his BJJ career. He is one of the top young athletes in Jiu-Jitsu. During his colored belts, he won multiple national and international tournaments, including the IBJJF European Open, World Championship, Pan Championship, and Abu Dhabi Grand Slam. After getting promoted to black belt, he competed in Gi and NoGi tournaments, securing medals. He performed best during the AJP Tour 2022-2023, achieving numerous medals. After winning the tournament, he said:

Lucas Protasio has become a top-class BJJ black belt grappler. He has a professional record of 91 wins and 18 losses since the beginning of his career in BJJ as a black belt. He was a champion in the AJP Tour 2022, winning against elite athletes.

In the 2023 London Fall Open, a ten-minute thrilling match occurred between Lucas Protasio and Max Lindblad. Protasio contrasts jiu-jitsu techniques against his opponent by keeping him in a mounted position throughout the match and winning by points. Protasio was awarded a gold medal in this tournament.

In the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, Lucas Protasio and Michael Galvao held a five-minute grappling fight. Protasio first attacked his partner with a triangle, but Galvao opted for a kneebar, holding his opponent and winning the match.

In the 2022 Rio Summer Open, Lucas Protasio and Victor Nithael have a grappling fight in the finals. The fight started with a half-guard by Nathael. Protasio attacked his opponent with leg lock variations and won the grappling match with a rear naked choke.

In the 2022 Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Competition Semi-finals, a grappling fight occurred between two Brazilian fighters, Lucas Protasio, and Andre Luiz, under the 77KG division. Within three minutes of the fight, Protasio gained two points by mounting his opponent. He performed an overlook armlock. Luiz passed the guard, but Protasio won the fight.

In the 2023 IBJJF London Fall Open, an interesting match occurred between two great grapplers, Lucas Protasio and Nejc Hodnik. It was a tough competition as both were quite strong and tried hard for submission. Hoddnik mounted his opponent to take hold of him, but Protasio released himself using the double armlock. The fight lasted ten minutes, and Protasio won the match by points.

Photo credit: @lucasprotasiojj