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Emily Elizabeth Fernandez

Emily Elizabeth Fernandez grew from an eleven-year-old student of Bruno Bastos into a black belt and instructor in the same Midland academy.

Biography

Emily Elizabeth Fernandez entered Bruno Bastos’s Midland academy at eleven and grew into an instructor in the same room. After a brief period in judo, she began Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Bastos in October 2013. He coached her from white belt through black belt, awarding the final promotion after her silver-medal performance in the women’s brown-belt division at the June 2022 World Championship. The teaching role developed alongside that belt journey. In 2015, Fernandez was already training five days a week and telling a local newspaper that she hoped to teach jiu-jitsu and run a studio one day. By eighteen, Bastos said, she was assisting with the academy’s children’s program. By May 2022, she was a Bastos Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Fitness instructor running classes. Bastos described her as a leader who had grown up inside the academy. Fernandez also developed a recognizable competition game. FloGrappling’s 2022 analysis described a body-triangle closed guard that restricted movement while she combined kimura and armbar threats with hip-bump variations. From top position, she added forceful attacks from mount and the back. Her results also trace a long progression through the age and belt divisions. She won juvenile gi World titles in 2018 and 2019, took weight and absolute at the 2018 juvenile World No-Gi Championship, and won her weight division there again in 2019. She also completed a weight-and-absolute double at the 2019 juvenile Pan No-Gi Championship. Her adult results carried the same progression forward. Fernandez won the 2021 Pan No-Gi title at purple belt, then earned lightweight bronze at the 2022 Pan and lightweight silver at the 2022 World Championship as a brown belt. After Bastos promoted her, she defeated Rosa Walsh in her November 2022 Who’s Number One debut. On the IBJJF podcast page for her Absolute Grand Prix super fight with Janaina Lebre, Fernandez was introduced as a Team LEAD BJJ black belt.

Sources for this profile

  • BJJ Heroes, “Emily Fernandez” (full structured profile and biography; accessed 12 September 2026).(opens in a new tab)

    • Emily Elizabeth Fernandez was born in Midland, Texas, on 7 February 2002 and grew up there.

      Where in the source: Jiu-Jitsu — Full Name

      Accessed:

    • After a brief period in judo, Fernandez began Brazilian jiu-jitsu at eleven in October 2013 under Bruno Bastos in Midland.

      Where in the source: Biography — October 2013

      Accessed:

    • Bastos coached Fernandez from white belt through black belt. He promoted her after her silver-medal performance in the women’s brown-belt division at the June 2022 IBJJF World Championship.

      Where in the source: Biography — black belt

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes records the complete lineage Luiz França → Oswaldo Fadda → Sebastião Ricardo → Wendell Alexander → Bruno Bastos → Emily Fernandez.

      Where in the source: Jiu-Jitsu — lineage

      Accessed:

    • In the juvenile divisions, Fernandez won the IBJJF World Championship in the gi in 2018 and 2019; at the World No-Gi Championship she won weight and absolute in 2018 and her weight division in 2019; at the 2019 Pan No-Gi she also won weight and absolute.

      Where in the source: Achievements — Juvenile

      Accessed:

  • Graciemag Newsroom, “Bruno Bastos bets on new breakout athlete,” 21 September 2020.(opens in a new tab)

    • Bastos recalled that Fernandez began training with him in 2013, won Pan Kids in 2014 and 2016, won the Brazilian Championship in 2017, and then won both gi and no-gi juvenile World titles in 2018 and 2019.

      Where in the source: Coach interview — Emily has been standing out

      Accessed:

    • In 2020 Bastos attributed Fernandez’s development to listening, discipline and year-round consistency rather than short tournament camps. He also said that, at eighteen, she already assisted with the academy’s children’s program.

      Where in the source: Bruno continued — discipline

      Accessed:

  • Erica Zendell, “From Midland, TX To Tezos WNO: Emily Fernandez Is On The Rise,” FloGrappling, 14 November 2022.(opens in a new tab)

    • Fernandez entered adult competition in 2020. FloGrappling records an American Nationals title in 2020 and Pan No-Gi title in 2021 at purple belt, followed by bronze at the 2022 Pan and silver at the 2022 World Championship at brown belt in the lightweight division.

      Where in the source: adult divisions — colored-belt results

      Accessed:

    • FloGrappling’s technical analysis describes Fernandez using body-triangle closed guard to restrict movement, pairing kimura and armbar threats with hip-bump variations, and complementing that guard with forceful mount and back attacks.

      Where in the source: Interview — closed guard

      Accessed:

    • After receiving her black belt from Bastos in June 2022, Fernandez defeated Rosa Walsh in her November 2022 Who’s Number One debut; the report treated it as her strongest black-belt win to that point.

      Where in the source: WNO debut — Rosa Walsh

      Accessed:

  • Jill Malcolm, “Local jiujitsu champion balances sports, school,” Midland Reporter-Telegram, 4 March 2015.(opens in a new tab)

    • A 2015 Midland Reporter-Telegram profile documents Fernandez training five days a week at Bastos BJJ, crediting coaches, parents and teammates for success, and already hoping to teach jiu-jitsu and run a studio one day.

      Where in the source: champion balances sports — future teaching

      Accessed:

  • Christopher Hadorn, “Bastos Jiu-Jitsu aims to instill self-confidence,” Midland Reporter-Telegram, 3 May 2022.(opens in a new tab)

    • By May 2022 Fernandez was an instructor at Bastos Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Fitness in Midland. Bastos said she ran classes and had developed into a leader after growing up in the academy.

      Where in the source: Emily Fernandez — running the class

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, “Podcast #66 - Emily Fernandez On Her GP Super Fight” (page accessed 12 September 2026).(opens in a new tab)

    • The IBJJF introduced Emily Fernandez as a black belt representing Team LEAD BJJ on its podcast page for her Absolute Grand Prix super fight with Janaina Lebre.

      Where in the source: Podcast #66 — Team LEAD BJJ

      Accessed:

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