By Michael Sears

You may not know his name yet, but Gustavo “Braguinha” Batista is poised to break onto the scene in a big way. 

A medium-heavyweight, Batista has been one of the most consistent competitors at the lower belts for the past three years and is looking to make an impact during his first year at black belt in 2018. 

Batista stepped up to the plate in a big way at the 2018 Pans in Irvine, California, earlier this month. In his first major test as a black belt, the 22-year-old fought his way through to the final, where he closed out with his new teammate Lucas Barbosa.

Batista recently made the switch from Leandro Lo’s Brotherhood team to Atos in San Diego. A strong addition to Andre Galvao's team, Batista has had success at all the major IBJJF tournaments from blue to brown belt—notably winning the IBJJF Europeans three years running in three different belt colors. 

“Atos is a great team, with a leader like Andre Galvao," he says. "It is excellent training and a new motivation.”

Batista grew up in Florianopolis in the south of Brazil, a city of about a half a million people and the capital of the state of Santa Catarina. In 2012, he took up jiu-jitsu as a 16-year-old, following in his older brother’s footsteps.

Once he tasted success in local tournaments and began to take training more seriously, Batista made a commitment to full-time jiu-jitsu, which would prove to be a life-changing decision. Like many other athletes who have reached the top of the sport, he would leave behind his hometown in search of an elite training environment. 

Batista puts on the pressure. Photo: Chase Smith 

Batista settled at the legendary Cicero Costha academy in Sao Paulo in 2014. The team has produced world champions such as Leandro Lo and the Miyao brothers, and Batista joined the many other young hopefuls living in the academy and sleeping on its mats. He later moved to a fighter house with some teammates.

“It was certainly hard to stay away from my family at the beginning," Batista recalls. "It made me evolve a lot. The training was really strong, and I trained with total focus on competitions.”

Batista first made a name for himself at blue belt while a part of the Cicero Costha team. In 2015, he achieved the double grand slam at blue, winning his weight and absolute at Worlds, Pans, Euros, and Brazilian Nationals. 

When Lo left the Cicero Costha academy to form NS Brotherhood, Batista opted to follow him. Batista received the rest of his promotions from Lo and racked up a number of accomplishments at purple and brown while at NS Brotherhood. These would include taking double gold at Euros and Brazilian Nationals at both belts, twice earning a silver medal at Worlds, and taking home the end of season award as the top brown belt in the UAEJJF for 2017. 

While still a brown belt, he defeated black belt world champion Xande Ribeiro 2-0 at a tournament in Argentina, fending off a nonstop stream of submissions attacks from the veteran in the process. 

When Batista decided to join the 2017 world champion Atos team, he also made the move to San Diego with his girlfriend, Luiza Monteiro.

Batista feels fortunate to be in a relationship with someone who is also living the jiu-jitsu lifestyle in Monteiro, a 2017 black belt world champion. The couple met while at Cicero Costha and then moved on to NS Brotherhood together. 

“It is really good for me to have her by my side—it helps me a lot," Batista says. "We think alike and that’s really cool. We help each other in daily life.”

After enjoying success in all the major tournaments during his lower belt career, Batista is a natural pick for one of the most promising new black belts in 2018. 

Batista closes out with Barbosa at 2018 Pans. Photo: Will Safford

The move to Atos should make it easier for Batista to compete at the major tournaments in the United States, and the team has an enormous wealth of talent around his weight. 

Galvao, Keenan Cornelius, Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa, and Josh Hinger are already established black belts in that room, and lower belts Kaynan Duarte, Dom Bell, Ronaldo Junior, and Conor Deangelis add to the depth of training partners around the medium-heavy to heavyweight range.

“I want to fight all the biggest competitions," Batista says. "I wish to compete the maximum I can in my first year at black belt. It definitely will be a different feeling. I’ll be fighting the best and I’m very motivated for that.”

WATCH: 

Gustavo Batista vs. Horlando Monteiro

Gustavo Batista vs. Rudson Mateus