Rebeca Lima had already made headlines in the Jiu-Jitsu media. An IBJJF gi world champion in the colored belts in 2021, at purple, she reached her peak at the Pyramid in California. She won her weight class and the open class and was promoted to brown belt right on the podium. Fast forward to February 12, now a black belt, Rebeca earned a high-profile spot on a global grappling stage. At UFC BJJ 5, the Brazilian, whose career is managed by Bruno Bastos, faced Taylor Hishaw in her promotional debut. The finish couldn’t have been more emphatic: an Estima lock submission, a finely tuned finish in the second round, to impress everyone watching.
Rebeca Lima is from Rio de Janeiro, but as a high-performance athlete she is now spending all her time in Midland, Texas, sharpening her skills at the LEAD BJJ training center. It is home to Cassia Moura, a two-time IBJJF No Gi world champion who will fight for the UFC BJJ bantamweight title at the next edition, scheduled for March 12. Interviewed by The Mat Nation after her recent success, Rebeca gave more details about her training routine alongside people who share the same goals, and said that making a living from Jiu-Jitsu, with professionalism and self-sufficiency, has gone from a dream to reality.
“I use 100% of my day to train and dedicate myself. The sessions go from morning until night. That makes me more confident, not just because of the training itself, but because of the people around me. There’s Cassia (Moura), Bruno (Bastos), everyone here. My aggressiveness has improved a lot, and this result means so much. I grew up doing Jiu-Jitsu, since I was nine years old. I always wanted to make a living from the sport and help my family; it was never just about titles. I started training No Gi not long ago and realized I can be just as good as I am in the gi. In the UFC I saw a chance to make money. Living off Jiu-Jitsu is expensive, and in Brazil everything is harder,” she admitted.
THE BEST SETUP IN THE WORLD: THE UFC BJJ EXPERIENCE MADE REBECA REALIZE JIU-JITSU HAS FINALLY REACHED A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL
The UFC, the world’s biggest combat sports organization, is the authority when it comes to top-level infrastructure. Rebeca felt it firsthand. Called up to compete in the promotion, the athlete, who has extensive experience on the competition circuit, said she had never come across anything on that scale before.
“I’ve always competed in everything, but I had never seen a setup like the UFC’s, with so much professionalism. I have years of experience, but I took it all in like a white belt. There were several athletes there I follow but had only ever seen online. I spent a few days in Las Vegas and got to train at the UFC Performance Institute, the training center every UFC athlete has access to. The atmosphere on fight day was surreal. Everyone watching you, cheering, the crowd wants to see you fight. Being valued like that motivated me a lot and pushed me to finish the match,” she said.
AFTER OVERCOMING SETBACKS ALONG THE WAY, REBECA LIMA NOW DESCRIBES HERSELF AS A COMPLETE ATHLETE
Over her recent years devoted to Jiu-Jitsu, through phases that swung between glory and uncertainty, Rebeca says she is now at her peak. With little time spent on no-gi Jiu-Jitsu, she reached the final of the IBJJF Worlds last December and won convincingly at the fifth edition of UFC BJJ. It’s a sign that body and mind are working together at the moment that matters most to an athlete, when the referee starts the match.
“Today’s Rebeca would definitely beat up the Rebeca from a year ago, from last year’s Worlds. I’ve grown a lot, and not just in Jiu-Jitsu. You can train for years and not perform well at a tournament; it’s much more about your daily attitude, what you believe in, what you’ve been working on. I’m in the best version of myself, happy, feeling complete,” she stressed.
The Jiu-Jitsu black belt went through an ordeal after the 2023 Worlds when, as a brown belt, she tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee in one of her tournament matches. The bigger pain came later, in the doubts and reflections brought on by her time away from the mats. It was time to reassess her priorities and learn to value things a hectic life tends to hide.
“When I got hurt, I was in a really bad place. It messed with my head and my self-esteem a lot; it was a very hard period in which I could see who was really by my side. In those moments, titles don’t matter. You have to be resilient and get your head straight. I learned to value the things I had but didn’t notice because of the rush. I was afraid I wouldn’t be the same again. Many people stopped believing, but I didn’t. I had to prove to myself that I could win again and get back to the top level in less time. Sure enough, I reached the final of the Brazilian Nationals five months after surgery. That desire to be more professional stuck with me. Make fewer mistakes, pay more attention to my health, train more, give my best every day to be the best in the world,” she emphasized.
WORLDS AT THE PYRAMID: 2026 COMPETITION PLANS INCLUDE THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT ON THE IBJJF GRAND SLAM
Having built her career in gi Jiu-Jitsu, Rebeca belongs to the group of competitors who keep a special place in their hearts for the sport played in the kimono but move to No Gi because of the range of opportunities. She has strong support in making career decisions, with concrete plans to grow in grappling. Still, the mission of winning IBJJF Worlds gold at black belt, at the Pyramid in California, is meant to be accomplished this season.
“The gi has always been and will always be my biggest passion. My biggest personal dream is to be a gi world champion, and I’m planning to compete this year. I just need to sort everything out with Bruno Bastos, my manager and coach. Several opportunities are coming up and I need to see what makes the most sense for me right now. I have plans with the UFC; I want to fight for the belt this year, but the Pyramid will always be a special place for me. Win or lose, that’s where we make it all count,” she revealed.
This article was originally published in Portuguese: read the original version.
