Bernardo Passos

Bernardo Passos was born on Ilha do Governador, on the north side of Rio de Janeiro, and presents himself as a representative of luta livre at the big grappling and MMA events. He is a black belt in luta livre and jiu-jitsu and has made leg locks his specialty, to the point of calling himself “the last leglocker” on Instagram.

He moved to Europe and began dominating IBJJF no-gi Opens on the continent. At brown belt in 2022 he won his division and the absolute in Lisbon, London, Madrid and Paris. As a black belt he won the 2023 Paris Fall Open No-Gi.

That 2023 season was the best of his career: by his count, 10 gold medals and 16 submissions, 15 of them leg locks, one of them four seconds into the match. He also won a superfight at an ADCC event in Scotland and the Guruma Grand Prix in France, a submission-only format, with three wins and a 40-minute final.

In February 2024 he returned to Rio to be honored by the Brazilian Sport Luta Livre Confederation at the Rio Grappling Championship and, invited to compete two days before, took the gold. That same year he made his debut at Ares, a French MMA promotion. “I trained 10 years for this moment, it is time to turn it into reality,” he told VF Comunica before the fight.