Atos Northwest Home To The Barbosa Family Shaking Up The Oregon BJJ Scene

Nearly a year ago, back in September 2021, one of our sport’s top athletes – 2x IBJJF World Champion – Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa moved to Eugene, Oregon, to settle and bring world-class jiu-jitsu to the Pacific Northwest with his new grappling school, Atos Northwest, an affiliate of the Atos Headquarters in San Diego, California.

Being a 2x Mundial champion, 4x No-Gi Worlds champion, and an ADCC bronze medalist, Hulk could have easily settled in anywhere in the world and reaped success, so why Eugene? In a recent interview on Heather Woods’ YouTube channel (see below), Lucas explained that “there is a lot of talent here. I felt like, although you can find high-level schools in most states, here in Eugene I feel like there’s only maybe a couple of gyms and I want to improve that“.

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Indeed, there appears to be no shortage of talent in Oregon, a state with a strong wrestling tradition that could quickly be transitioning some of that raw material into jiu-jitsu. To help him complete that task, Barbosa has decided to bring one of his mentors to Atos Northwest as part of the instructors’ squad there. His older brother André Fabiano Barbosa, is one of the key elements in Hulk’s success on the mats.

Lesser known to the mainstream BJJ audience, André Fabiano’s own competitive career never truly transcended his state borders due to his duties with the Brazilian Air Force, a job he maintained for a few decades while also keeping busy with jiu-jitsu. What he could not accomplish on the tournament scene as a competitor, he did as an instructor, raising the games of many athletes in the region such as Amarildo Gomes, Julyandre Paes, Adail Aranha, Tacio Marcos, Hyago Derziwhile, and more from his Associação Extremo Norte de Lutas academy in the state of Roraima. This, while conquering black belts in two disciplines, judo, and BJJ.

In 2018, André Fabiano Barbosa finally got himself an international visa and started accompanying his brother to a few of his international competitions. The traveling opened Fabiano’s eyes to the world and more recently lit the fire under him to attempt an international coaching career, a desire that coincided with Lucas’s opening of his Eugene-based academy.

Ever since the gym opened its doors, students have been growing in numbers and new athletes have begun to test themselves in the competitive arena. Considering the level of coaching talent on the staff and the athletic talent in the region, we can only expect great things to come from this grappling hub in the foreseeable future. We will stay tuned for more news on Atos Northwest.