Gabriel Almada 
Bernardo Passos has scored another major grappling victory in Europe. The Brazilian became champion of the Guruma Grand Prix after an overwhelming performance at the French event. Bernardo won three fights in a row to take the Grand Prix throne.
After winning the first two fights in less than a minute, Bernardo went on to win a 40-minute battle. His triumph came after successfully finishing with the rear naked choke and defending the back take. Bernardo followed up his sublime moment and remains unstoppable on the European continent.
In an interview with VF Comunica, Bernardo Passos explained the rules of the grappling GP and commented on the experience of testing himself in yet another competition in France.
“Fighting at a high level against different styles is always rewarding because facing athletes with different styles helps me to make my game more complete. It was a submission-only GP with 40 minutes of combat, with no scoring system. If there was no finish, we would play heads or tails to decide who would start on their back. We had one minute to finish and the other to escape the back take. Whoever finished faster or escaped first would win the fight,” Bernardo described.
Bernardo remains dominant in grappling
Bernardo detailed his campaign for the title and praised the quality of his opponent.
“I had three fights at GP Guruma. In the quarterfinals, I finished my opponent in 19 seconds via Heel Hook. In the semi-final, I finished my opponent in 24 seconds. On the other hand, I fought for 40 minutes in the final against a very good opponent. Then we went to overtime. I finished the fight in ten seconds with a rear naked choke and then defended my back to become champion,” said the star.
Bené is one of the main Brazilian grappling representatives in Europe and is going through a great phase. Not only has he been winning, but he has also managed to impose his finishing style. Bernardo expressed the feeling of having won the GP after 40 intense minutes and cited his most recent titles.
“It was a 40-minute war. I had an inexplicable feeling when I won because I finished quickly in the first two fights, but the final was very tough. I managed to finish in overtime and then escaped from the back. It was a feeling of accomplishment. I’ve come from many grappling victories in a row, I won three events in three weeks: GP CKF, GP Guruma and Paris Open. I won 11 fights in total and finished them all,” said Bernardo.
Mental evolution
The black belt has a relentless game and is constantly evolving. However, Bernardo stressed that his growth in competitions is mainly due to his mental work.
“I’ve evolved my mental part a lot since I arrived in Europe. I’ve always trained hard and do everything I can to improve and learn new techniques, but I never managed to master the most important part of my body: my brain. I disbelieved in my work too much and let my fear of losing outweigh my desire to win. So when I arrived in Europe, with no family, no money, nothing, I had no choice but to believe in myself 100%. I put it into my head that I was the best in the world and that I could beat any opponent in my current condition. So that led me to win 20 titles and just one silver medal in a year and five months in Europe,” said the grappler.
Bernardo comments on MMA challenge
Bernardo is also an MMA athlete and has a record of three wins and no losses. He mentioned that his next challenge will be in mixed martial arts and said that after that he intends to set his sights on the ADCC.
“My focus is all on MMA right now, I’m going to fight at the Ares event in January 2024 and then I’m going to compete in the ADCC Brazil Trials,” said Bené.
