Lucas Kanard

Lucas Kanard is an Australian no-gi competitor and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt based in Western Sydney. He is head no-gi coach at Sydney Wrestling Academy (SWA) in Auburn and built his reputation regionally before breaking onto the global stage in 2024. Earlier affiliations listed on federation records include ZR Team; some secondary profiles also reference a Gracie Barra connection. His name is consistently spelled Kanard on competition cards, Flo Grappling, BJJ Fanatics, and his Instagram (@lucas_kanard).

Long regarded in Australian circles as a high-level training partner and instructor—sometimes described as a “gym hero” rather than a household pro name—Kanard converted that reputation into major results in a short window. In May 2024 he won the ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials 2 in the under-88 kg division representing SWA, submitting his way through the bracket. His run included a kneebar over Kurtis Martin and an outside heel hook of William Dias in the final, earning a berth at the ADCC World Championships.

Rather than compete at ADCC 2024 Worlds, Kanard stepped down from the under-88 kg division to replace Mason Fowler in the over-80 kg field at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational. There he produced one of the biggest upsets of the weekend: an inside heel hook of top seed Victor Hugo in about a minute. That finish won Submission of the Tournament and a $50,000 bonus on top of his appearance fee. He was eliminated in the quarterfinals, but the Hugo win—and the open-guard sequences around it—made him a breakout name across pro grappling media.

He continued on the major circuit through 2025–2026. At Craig Jones Invitational 2 he represented Team Australia/Asia at −88 kg, recording double-elimination draws with PJ Barch (vs Team 10th Planet) and Chris Wojcik (vs B-Team). On Polaris he became a regular Squads performer for Team Australasia and the Polaris All-Stars: at Polaris 33 he took decision wins over Jorge Gabriel, Gabriel Sousa, and Samuel Nagai; at Polaris 37 he opened Team Polaris vs Team BJJ Stars with a standout Z-lock against Julio Martins. At the 2026 ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials he was heavily favored at −88 kg and submitted his way deep into the bracket before Roberto Frias upset him en route to the title.

Kanard’s competitive style centers on modern open guard—K-guard and supine systems, dynamic retention, berimbolo/bolo entries—and a high finish rate with lower-body attacks (inside and outside heel hooks, Z-locks, kneebars) mixed with upper-body threats. He has packaged that game into instructionals, including Attacking Outside Finishing Inside on BJJ Fanatics, bolo-focused material, and ongoing breakdowns on his Patreon (Grappling Propaganda). Sydney Wrestling Academy promoted him to black belt on August 10, 2025 (he had competed as a brown belt through his ADCC Trials and CJI breakthrough; UAEJJF records list his brown belt from 2018 and earlier purple-belt competition at the Abu Dhabi World Pro).