Bruno Bastos after his win at Kasai. Personal Archive
Despite the year-end celebrations, black-belt Bruno Bastos continues to do high-level preparation this December. With the goal of winning his sixth world no-gi championship, the leader of Lead BJJ will be entering the arena in Anaheim, Calif. this weekend.
Bruno is set to compete in the master 2 ultra-heavy division, whose 14 athletes also include Thomas Anthony (Alliance), James Dillon (BJJ Conquest) and Pedro Henrique (GFTeam). Bruno, riding the momentum from his five titles from IBJJF tournaments, wants to extend this success into no-gi.
“This will be a luxury warmup,” he told Fight Talk. “I believe it’s the hardest No-Gi Worlds I’ve competed in as a master. The level is very high. It’s the perfect test for learning what I need to adjust for Kasai 7, regardless of what the result turns out to be.” He will be competing at Kasai Pro 7, scheduled for February 1st in Dallas, Texas.
Bruno went on to explain why he continues to challenge himself against adult-age fighters. “I want to know how competitive I can be at this level. No, I do not believe in a life without challenges. I will always encourage people to challenge themselves. I can’t do that if I don’t challenge myself. I speak and use my actions as examples for my students.”
He added: “I count on the help of my wife in all my actions. Given that she is the one who manages our gym, I am still able to focus on my competition career. For now, we are bringing another instructor from Brazil to help with the classes. I have Jarret Jones in physical preparation, Chloe Newton in yoga and Itallo Vilardo in mat periodization. And I’ll try bringing in some people to help with the camp for this competition. I’ll be as professional as ever.”
