At the start of the 2026 Championship Tour season, nobody would have guessed that Miguel Pupo would be a mere 3,000 points off the world title race. Nobody but Miguel and his wingman, 2015 world champ Adriano De Souza.
The same Adriano De Souza, who moved to San Clemente at one point in his career just to get better at Lowers. The same Adriano De Souza who made it his life’s mission to be a thorn in the paw of Kelly Slater. Surfing’s a young man’s game, but that veteran experience goes a long way. Miguel and Adriano have made a formidable surfer-coach pairing.
“I was having a hard time with the wave, and I couldn’t find a rhythm. Adriano kept saying like, ‘No, you’re surfing good.,’” shared Miguel with the WSL’s Rosie Hodge after the final.
Qualifying for the CT in 2011, for all intents and purposes, Pupo should be in the twilight of his career. Instead he’s now ranked number four in the world. Him an Adriano should be on surf trips together laughing about the good old days. But that competitive fire burns white hot when you’ve come as far as Miguel as come. And Adriano is more than happy to throw gasoline on that inferno.
“It’s special. You know it’s been a long week. To be honest, like, I started off the week not thinking I was going to win it,” surmised Miguel. ” I don’t know where I start pulling airs, and uh, it’s such hard work… happy to come out with two wins.”
After an unlikely win in the first event of the year at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, Miguel just proved it wasn’t a fluke with his statement-making win at Lowers. Against a disciplined Kanoa Igarashi in the final, Miguel didn’t flinch. Against a powering Cole Houshmand in the semis, he outdueled the local on the left. And against countryman Mateus Herdy in the quarters, he got the job done in three waves.
Can Miguel keep it going and take the title home for Brazil this year? There are three events left. Next, they head to Portugal, where he made the quarters in 2016. Then it’s the Philippines, which is a bit of an unknown. After that, the Pipe Masters. Once again, Miguel made the quarters at the 2025 Lexus Pipe Pro. Perhaps the better question is who’s going to stop him?
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