The Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships return on Wednesday March 22nd in Kissimmee, Florida. At the Europeans, the first major event of 2023, the black belt divisions delivered exciting matches with tons of submissions. Of the seventeen champions from Europeans, fourteen will return in search of their second major title of the year. There are also several World Champions returning to competition for the first time in nearly a year as well as new black belts looking to take home their first major championship gold medals. 

Dates: Wednesday March 22nd - Sunday March 26th

Location: Osceola Heritage Park, Kissimmee, Florida

How to watch: FloGrappling.com

Tainan Dalpra & Gabrieli Pessanha Aim To Continue Dominance

Tainan Dalpra and Gabrieli Pessanha are two of the most dominant and consistent champions in jiu-jitsu. Tainan won his 6th major title and Gabrieli won her 6th straight double gold at the 2023 Europeans in Paris. Both athletes accomplished these feats with 100% submission rates. Their dominance is not just based on winning matches, they’re also finishing the majority of them by submission and are improving with each and every outing. We are truly witnessing history in the making every time Tainan and Gabrieli step on the competition mats, and we’re likely to see more moments destined for the history books at the 2023 Pans.

14 European Champions Look For Second Major Title In 2023

Thalison Soares, Jessica Caroline, Mayssa Bastos, Malachi Edmond, Anna Rodrigues, Fabricio Andrey, Luiza Monteiro, Tainan Dalpra, Thalyta Silva, Jansen Gomes, Maria Malyjasiak, Fellipe Andrew, Amanda Magda, and Gabrieli Pessanha all won 2023 European gold and will try for their second major title at the Pans. Of these fourteen athletes, half have won black belt Pan titles in prior years, so we could very well see multiple competitors with two major titles in 2023 following the event. 

2022 World Champions Return For First Major Of 2023

2022 Absolute World Champion Nicholas Meregali will return to the Pans in the ultra-heavyweight division. The multiple time World and Brazilian National Champion has yet to win a Pans title as a black belt, with his best performance at the event coming in 2017 where he took third in the absolute division. He’ll be joined by 2020 Pan Champion Guilherme Augusto, 2019 Pan Champion Ricardo Evangelista, and Roosevelt Sousa. Nicholas will be looking for weight and absolute gold, which will surely provide exciting matches throughout the event. 

2X World Champion Erich Munis competed at the Curitiba Summer Open on Saturday March 11th in the super heavy division. His return to IBJJF competition was a success, as he tested new passing and submission skills and finished both of his opponents. He’ll compete at super heavy for the Pans. Interesting matchups for Erich in the division include new black belt Steffen Banta and GF Team’s Davi Cabral. 

At the 2022 World Championships, Ffion Davies won her first World title in the lightweight division, becoming the first Welsh athlete to ever accomplish that feat. Ffion has since taken a break from IBJJF competition, but returns to the Pans at lightweight. 2023 European Champion Luiza Monteiro and IBJJF FloGrappling GP Champion Janaina Lebre are highly accomplished athletes also in at lightweight. Ffion has competed against both Luiza and Janaina. She lost to Luiza at the 2019 Europeans and defeated Janaina Lebre in the 2022 World Championship finals and we’ll likely see at least one of these rematches at the Pans.

Toughest Medium-Heavy Divisions In History

Not only is the male medium-heavy filled with major championship gold medalists, it also has the most black belt competitors of any division at 31. World Champion Gustavo Batista, who has won the Pans three times, returns to the division as the #1 seed. The next highest seeded athletes in the division are Matheus Spirandelli, Jansen Gomes, Sebastian Rodriguez, and Mauricio Oliveira. Other competitors that are not as highly seeded but have the skillset to win the division are Ronaldo Junior, Uanderson Ferreira, Elder Cruz, and Francisco Lo, to name just a few.

Medium-heavy is also arguably the most stacked female division as well. 5X World Champion Ana Vieira returns to the event that she won back in 2021. She most recently took second at the IBJJF FloGrapping Heavyweight GP, going up in weight and showing the effectiveness of her game against heavier opponents. Also at medium-heavy are 2022 Pan Champion Maria Malyjasiak, World and Pan Champion Melissa Stricker, and World No-Gi Champion Amy Campo.  

Rookie Black Belts Looking For Pans Gold

In addition to the countless World Champions competing at the Pans, there are also several athletes making their black belt major championship debuts. Uanderson Ferreira of Carlson Gracie Team, who won double gold as a brown belt at the 2023 Europeans, will make his major championship black belt debut. He competed for the first time at his new rank at the London Open, winning gold and defeating 2023 black belt European Champion Jansen Gomes in the final. 

Steffen Banta of Alliance will also make his major championship black belt debut at Pans in the super heavy division. As a brown belt, Steffen won Worlds, Pans, American Nationals, and several other important titles. He received his black belt from Joao Gabriel Rocha, whose mentoring has helped Steffen reach a high technical level. 

Other athletes making their black belt major championship debuts include Corey Walker (rooster), Hiryu Niwa (rooster), Reon Niwa (light-feather), Zach Kaina (light-feather), Mario Alvarado (light-feather), Elizabeth Liera (feather), Daniel Sathler (feather), and many others.

Returning Pan Champions

Mayssa Bastos - Rooster (2019, 2022), Light-Feather (2020)

Diego “Pato” Oliveira - Light-Feather (2021)

Anna Rodrigues - Light-Feather (2021), Feather (2022)

Jessa Khan - Light-Feather (2022)

Cleber Sousa - Light-Feather (2019)

Alex Sodre - Feather (2022)

Thiago Macedo - Feather (2020)

Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor - Feather (2021)

Luiza Monteiro - Medium-Heavy (2011, 2019), Feather (2013), Light (2020), Middle (2014, 2016, 2021), Open Class (2018)

Johnatha Alves - Light (2020, 2021, 2022)

Tainan Dalpra - Middle (2021, 2022)

Thamara Ferreira - Middle (2022)

Ronaldo Junior - Middle (2020)

Patrick Gaudio - Medium-Heavy (2017)

Ana Vieira - Medium-Heavy (2021)

Maria Malyjasiak - Medium-Heavy (2022)

Sebastian Rodriguez - Medium-Heavy (2022)

Andre Porfirio - Medium-Heavy (2021)

Gustavo Batista - Medium-Heavy (2019), Heavy (2020, 2021)

Dimitrius Souza - Heavy (2022)

Melissa Stricker - Heavy (2022)

Guilherme Augusto - Super Heavy (2020)

Fellipe Andrew - Super Heavy (2019, 2021), Open Class (2020, 2021)

Erich Munis - Open Class (2022)

Gabrieli Pessanha - Super Heavy (2021, 2022), Open Class (2022)