BRAD BARNES

Brad “Gordinho” Barnes has been an influential BJJ and MMA coach to many of the world’s best fighters including UFC title contender Paul Buentello, and Bellator veterans Ryan Quinn of American Top Team and “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal.   

Brad is currently investing a lot of time and energy into self defense/combatives.   He is a 9 year veteran of the Ft Bend Co Sheriffs office and Midland Police Department;  

•  PBLEA Lead DT Instructor 
•  Field Training Officer 
•  Medal Of Service Recipient  

As an adjunct instructor for Chad Lyman’s C4C PJJ, Brad focuses on realistic principals and concepts with a focus on Real World & Law Enforcement Objectives, rather than “sport” JiuJitsu.  

Background and Early Days of BJJ   

The amount of success Barnes has accumulated in the relatively short time he has been involved in BJJ is quite the accomplishment. “I got involved with it [BJJ] after I started ‘MMA’ which was called Vale Tudo or NHB back then in 2001,” Barnes told MMA Sucka.  

 “Unfortunately I didn’t put the Gi on until 2006. The focus on the Gi and being more technical was really influenced by the work I was doing then as a police officer, so learning to control and slow the pace of the encounter was the most important thing for safety.”   

Barnes accomplished the honorable distinction of earning his black belt at the 2015 Masters World Championships.   

After that, in 2018 Barnes earned his first stripe on his black belt. “There’s a lot of memes out there talking about how small of a percentage of people make it to black belt,” Barnes said. “I see it because it’s so easy to get burned out or accumulate injuries or let life push you away from the mats. I’m lucky that I was stubborn enough and loved it enough that I could turn it into a career, so longevity became a natural part.”  

Influences in the World of MMA :

If you have seen or heard of ANYONE in West Texas who is doing MMA, Brad played a role in that. From getting fighters involved in MMA or JiuJitsu, to influencing their coaches into actually getting started in the sport. Brads role as the first pro MMA fighter in the Permian Basin, training in cardio rooms and makeshift gyms, has caused ripples that have resulted in the creation of all of the area MMA training facilities in the area.   

Ryan Quinn of ATT stated, “Brad Barnes is one of the good people in MMA. Aside from his wealth of knowledge of all aspects of the sport, he genuinely cares and tends to his athletes. Brad has run my training sessions as well as my corner in competition at the highest level with a direction only few people truly have, and I trust in him to do so going forward. It’s no surprise his academy in on the rise, and expect to see his fighters on the big stage with him in the corner real soon.” 

Another of those greatly influenced by Barnes is former Bellator champion, King Mo who had the following to say :    

“Brad Barnes has been involved in MMA for years. From the underground as a fighter to the mainstream as a coach. He has seen and experienced it all. If you are looking for a teacher, look no further than this man. He has an extremely high fight IQ and is a great communicator. When it’s time to fight, you need both of these attributes in your corner.”     

BJJ can create memories that last a lifetime. Similarly, for Barnes this is absolutely true.   

“It’s in my top five BJJ competition memories for sure. 

1.  Masters World Championship in 2012;  
2. Bronze at Masters brown belt the next year where I beat a black belt that’s paid by a sheik to teach in Abu Dhabi;  
3. My silver medal at PanAms at brown belt;  
4. Medaling at NoGi Worlds ;  
5. Getting injured at Las Vegas Open at brown belt....it forced me to change some things about my game.”