Adam Bradley is a BJJ athlete from Epsom, NH who currently teaches at the ATOS HQ under Andre Galvão. It is also Galvão who Bradley lists as his biggest influence in BJJ. He began training aged 14 years old, adding “I found a club in my high school run by two teachers who trained BJJ. I got to know one of them through detention”. Currently a brown belt, he achieved the rank aged 23.
When training he lists his favourite positions as closed guard, headlock and reverse scarfhold. His go-to sweeps include the tilt sweep from closed guard and overhead sweeps from open guard. On top, he likes to knee slice and uses armbars as his main submission. In reference to his use of the scarfhold position, we also asked him about his use of the Scorpion Lock submission which went viral when he used it in Sub Spectrum, he answered by saying “The Scorpion Lock is an old classic that got lost for a bit in the BJJ scene until I used it on the Sub Spectrum stage which allowed it to reach hundreds of thousands. It kind of reminded people that it’s a valuable submission to have in the bag. I believe for those who are not well practiced in that position it is low percentage, especially if your opponent knows what’s happening. I believe a lot of bjj players don’t utilize that position because they don’t recognize it as an effective position for control & submissions.”
Currently competing at 195lbs, he lists silver at 2020 Europeans as his biggest achievement but says “Silver, technically, but I’m not super proud of it”. He also claims the talented Ronaldo Jr as his toughest opponent before Ronaldo Jr joined ATOS. Like many competitors, he’s also had some bad injuries in his time and lists breaking his arm back in 2017 as his biggest ever injury.
He is also a Catch Wrestling champion and states “When it comes to Catch Wrestling, I do not have too much to say. I just find the variations of combat sports fun to compete in. Like Mario Party, you can choose a bunch of mini games to try out. I find Catch Wrestling for me is just another mini game of grappling that I enjoy. I feel that training for that ruleset helps me focus on maintaining dominant positions in order to take someone down & control them to win by Pin or Submission. I believe a lot of BJJ practitioners could benefit from training for & competing in local wrestling tournaments. It places urgency to remain on top using wrestling, scrambles & positions labeled unorthodox in BJJ practice”
However, Bradley is clearly not done yet with competing and claims he wants to “Win everything. Worlds, Pans and ADCC champion at black belt. Then a UFC title run. Followed by opening my own gym & starting a non profit organisation to help underprivileged kids train”. With this said, he’s also not in BJJ just for the medals and like Galvão has a humble side to his personality.
He goes on to speak highly of Galvão, mentioning “Professor Andre Galvão is just as good of a coach and instructor as he is a competitor. His experiences, accolades and his character have earned my trust as an athlete with ambitions to reach his level. He structures our training camps really well having us feeling primed and ready come the competition. He pushes us to be our best on and off the mat and has lead the way by being an example for us to use as a guideline in our own careers. I’ve learned that hard work works and you get what you earn.”
Lastly, Bradley would like to give thanks to Electrum Performance, he says “I also work extensively with @electrum_performance the greatest thing to happen to my athletic career” He also has an instructional video series with BJJFanatics based on escaping submissions.
