Redação VF Comunica 
By Mayara Munhos
Atos Jiu-Jitsu athlete, Lucas “Bad Boy” Pinheiro, recently signed with ONE Championship, the Singaporean combat sports promotion. Although Pinheiro has always been more focused on training and competing in the gi, he is one of the many athletes who has chosen to follow the rising popularity of no-gi as well.
“Being part of ONE Championship is awesome and it is the result of all my dedication in the sport,” said Pinheiro. “This is a great opportunity for me to display my work and to make up for my family. I hope to achieve much more with this first match, and then I will keep following my journey of doing what I love, helping people, and doing my best.”
Pinheiro signed the agreement with ONE Championship in June 2022 for the duration of either six fights or two years, with the possibility of an extension and migration to MMA. His debut will be this year, but ONE hasn’t assigned him an opponent yet. He is part of the flyweight division, the same as Mikey Musumeci, the current grappling flyweight champion. Both athletes know each other well, as they have fought in previous jiu-jitsu events.
An old goal
According to Pinheiro, he has been aiming to be part of ONE Championship for a long time. Born in Manaus, Brazil, he is inspired by his former training partner and fellow teammate, Bibiano Fernandes.
“Someone I always looked after, and watched his fights at ONE, was Bibiano Fernandes,” said Pinheiro. “I have trained with him frequently since I was a green belt. Bibiano and Master Pina graduated me to purple belt. People love Bibiano so much there [in Singapore] that he still fights these days. I have always wanted to have this opportunity and I knew that I was going to have to dedicate myself a lot to stand out,” said Pinheiro.
Fernandes is one of the greatest Brazilian MMA athletes at ONE Championship and an eleven-time bantamweight champion.
Living a great moment
Pinheiro is at a high point in his career. The three-time IBJJF No-Gi Pan American Champion won the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals and ADCC Open this year without the gi. In the gi, he placed second at both the IBJJF Pan American and Abu Dhabi Grand Slam competitions.
The athlete has additional competitions before his debut at ONE. Pinheiro will be competing at the IBJJF Rome Open on November 10 and the IBJJF European on November 11 to 13 both in Lazio, Italy. It is the first time that Pinheiro will compete in Europe.
Pinheiro sees his debut at ONE as a great opportunity to display his talent to the world.
“I just need one opportunity,” Pinheiro said. “I am the kind of person that when given the opportunity, I don’t waste the shot. We should learn from our mistakes. I have made a lot of mistakes, and today I avoid repeating them. I always try to do my best.”
Currently living in San Diego, California, Pinheiro trains at Atos Jiu-Jitsu headquarters under the guidance of Professor Andre Galvao. During the ADCC preparation, he had the opportunity to sharpen his grappling by doing the entire ADCC camp. Now he has the opportunity to show that his no-gi game has been improving and is on point.
“I am training hard,” he said. “I am so happy and excited about everything. Since the ADCC camp, I’ve been improving my no-gi game a lot. I’ve been working in different areas, and that is giving me more confidence in the positions. In the future, I want to fight MMA again, but now all my focus is on this grappling match. I am going to do more than my best to win.”
