Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa has revealed that he is planning to make his MMA return in 2021, in a story on his official Instagram account. The multiple-time IBJJF World Champion and coach at ATOS headquarters seemed to have some time off from a hectic training schedule when he openly asked for fan questions to answer. This was just one of many eye-opening answers that Barbosa gave when he received a barrage of interesting questions.
One fan asked what his next competition might be after he recently dominated at the IBJJF no gi Pan-Ams Championships, to which he replied with a photo of him holding two hard-earned Fight 2 Win belts and included the response: “Dunno, maybe try to defend one of my belts next month.” He also gave an insight into his strength-training regime, explaining that he tries to do two to three weight-lifting sessions every week.
Then of course, there was also the more uninspiring but still curious questions to be answered. He explained that his favorite Judo throw was the Seio Nage and that he likes gi and no gi both in equal measure. For those more interested in his weight-lifting, he also explained that he’s working on releasing the program he follows with Electrum Performance, the same people who recently worked with Andre Galvao.
It was then that he dropped the real bombshell: he is planning to compete in MMA in 2021. A fan asked if he would ever entertain the idea and he responded with a simple statement “2021 is the year.” This came along with a clip of him working on head movement and striking skills where he actually looked pretty good for a dedicated grappler.