Water dripping day by day wears the hardest rock away. This is a saying that fits perfectly with the recent achievement of the black belt Lucas Pinheiro. The Atos athlete competed for the Fight To Win’s featherweight title against the 5x World Champion João Miyao, who was once his training partner. They faced off in competitions with and without the gi since they were both blue belts, and Lucas had never beat him. But for everything in life, there is the first time. With a great showing, Lucas managed to impose his game and got the referees’ decision, winning the organization’s belt.
Many people told me it was the best fight of the night
“I attacked from the beginning to the end, and there were many feet attacks. And what I had trained to defend his game worked out. I’m very happy that everything went well this time. I always believed I could beat him because when I trained with him, it was always like this: one day he won, the other day I won. Now, I was able to prove to the world what I already knew. This victory means we are on the same level”, said the Atos athlete.
The last time they met was at the IBJJF No-Gi World finals in 2017. Two years later, a lot has changed in the lives of both fighters. João became IBJJF Gi World Champion and won the No-Gi World Championship. Lucas has changed teams and won dozens of medals in both Gi and NoGi tournaments, recently winning the American National and Pan American No-Gi titles.
“A lot of things have changed since the last time we fought. Now, I am part of a new team, where I have better training and I am guided by the Professors André and Angélica Galvão. I also became an Atos instructor, and I consider my current job much better. In addition to all the emotional support from my boss, which motivates me a lot, he also coordinates my work schedule in a way that does not hinder me in training, especially when I have a super fight scheduled or an approaching championship. Other than that, I have changed nutritionist, I have a super-competent professional who plans my nutrition in the best way possible. All this helps a lot and adds on to my faith and willingness to win,” concluded Lucas.
