On January 28th & 29th took place the San Jose International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship. It was a good occasion for San Diego based Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa to harvest some gold.
After 7 wins on 7 fights, Lucas gathered 4 gold medals on the same weekend in the following divisions:
-Middle heavy weight
-Open class weight
-No Gi middle heavy weight
-No Gi open class weight
The first of the 7 fights was the sharpest one as it was the fight that made Lucas realized “he was not in the zone mentally”. He was getting nervous. Nonetheless he won that first fight and that win allowed him to regain his confidence in order to become the true warrior searching for gold.
During the tournament, Lucas Barbosa had to face ex-UFC fighter Vinny Magalhaes who offered him his toughest clash in San Jose. Magalhaes was winning the fight until the last seconds, until Lucas scored for victory. Fighting Magalhaes made Lucas search for extra aggressiveness in order to surpass the ex-UFC light heavyweight fighter : “It was an incredible fight—he's a tough guy with good joint flexibility.” Lucas Hulk said.
Lucas's victory over Vinny Magalhaes
During this IBJJF Championship, The Hulk was wearing the BAD BOY Pro Series Champion Gi which was part of his success: “I felt and looked great in my Gi! It felt comfortable in all my fights, which is important because I can't have any discomforts distracting my game. And it didn't give too much grip for opponents to use against me.”
Lucas “Hulk" Barbosa is a black belt under Andre Galvao (since one year and a half) and trains at Atos in San Diego, CA. He is a very promising fighter and we should expect to see him earn a lot of titles in the coming months. The next step for him is the Fivegrappling internation in San Diego in March and then the Pan Ams championship (the larget Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament in North America).
Finally Lucas said “This is my year to make history!” and it already started with 4 gold medals in January.
Lucas's fight against Kim Terra
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