Professor Bruno 'Bruninho' Barbosa 

Black Belt 3rd Degree under Adalberto “Buda” de Souza, founder Team Buda.

Head Instructor - Monarchy MMA (K.L. Malaysia)

 

Main Achievements:

• 2018 Tokyo Open IBJJF Champion
• 2018 IBJJF Masters International Asia 2nd Place
• 2018 IBJJF Asian Open 3rd Place
• 2017 IBJJF Manila International Open Champion GI 
• 2017 IBJJF Manila International Open Champion NOGI 
• 2017 NOGI PRO Invitational Open Weight Runner-up 
• 2016 Champion SEA Grappling Challenge 
• 2016 ONE Championship Grappling Challenge Runner-up 
• 2013 ADCC Kazakhstan Champion 
• 2013 PBJJ Pan Asian Runner-up 
• 2013 PBJJ Pan Asian No-Gi Runner-up (absolute)
• 2011/2013 CBJJ Brazilian National No-Gi Championship 3rd Place 

Favorite Position/Technique: Spider Guard

Weight Division: Peso Pena (70,00 kg / 154.5 lbs)

Team/Association: Team Buda / Monarchy MMA

“If my student only learn how to fight then I would have failed.” - Bruninho Barbosa

 

Where it all began:

Bruno Barbosa was born on October 22, 1983 in Petrópolis state of Rio de Janeiro – Brasil.

Growing up Bruno was a big fan of martial arts and sports in general, practising football (soccer) for many years as do many children in Brazil. Barbosa also trained Fung-Fu, Capoeira and Aikido. Bruninho decided to try jiu jitsu for the first time in 1999 after his football coach told him he had little chance of making it in that sport at a high level, due to his lack of raw talent for the game.

Bruninho’s first grappling instructor was Rivelino Nascimento from the RNM team in Petrópolis, who taught Barbosa up until his purple belt. Due to his job, Bruno was forced to leave coach Rivelino and join Adalberto “Buda” de Souza academy, himself a student of the famous Crézio de Souza. Buda would promote Bruno Barbosa to both the brown and black belts, the latter on the 21st of September 2007.

Bruninho’s world travels started by the end of 2012 when a friend approached him with an offer to come and teach jiu jitsu at a Malaysian academy. Barbosa arrived in 2013 being the only BJJ black belt in the country at the time. He stayed for 6 months, but due to his wife’s pregnancy he was forced to relocate back to his home country.

Back in Brazil Bruno received another offer. This time to move to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. Barbosa stayed for one year, building the team to 100 students while learning a bit of the Russian language. The Kyrgyzstan came to an end due to a few personal issues that forced Bruninho’s return to Brazil.

Luck knocked on Barbosa’s door once again in 2014 when he received yet another invitation to teach in Malaysia – this time the proposal allowed Bruno to bring his family with him. Bruninho’s 2nd stay was celebrated as a great success, with him expanding the team and raising awareness to grappling within the Malaysian community.

“Hyperfly came in a moment when I was just returning to competitions. They saw me and they saw something special on me.There’s always something special in everything they do.” - Bruninho Barbosa