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The biggest and most prestigious event of the year, the 2023 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, took place from June 1st through June 4th in Long Beach, California. There were so many intriguing storylines heading into the event, many of which played out in completely unexpected ways. Just as we saw at the Europeans, Pans, and Brasileiros, there was an impressive style of jiu-jitsu put on display that was aggressive, forward-moving, and focused on the finish. Both open class finals were finished by submission, a first in IBJJF World Championship history.

Standout Submission Artists Of The 2023 Worlds

This year’s World Championships saw seven champions score at least a 50% submission rate. Five of these were repeat champions while two, Jessa Khan and Jansen Gomes, won their first World titles. Open class champions Gabrieli Pessanha and Victor Hugo had the most submissions with five a piece. Gabrieli had a 100% submissions rate while Victor Hugo submitted 62.5% of his Worlds opponents.

Gabrieli Pessanha - Super Heavy & Open Class Champion, 5 submissions, 100% submission rate

Victor Hugo - Ultra-Heavy & Open Class Champion, 5 submissions, 62.50% submission rate

Mayssa Bastos - Roosterweight Champion, 2 submissions, 66.67% submission rate

Jessa Khan - Light-Featherweight Champion, 2 submissions, 50% submission rate

Jansen Gomes - Middleweight Champion, 2 submissions, 50% submission rate

Ffion Davies - Lightweight Champion, 2 submissions, 50% submission rate

Erich Munis - Super Heavy Champion & Open Class silver medalist, 4 submissions, 50% submission rate

Quarters - Finals Submission Rate of 36.72%

The quarterfinals through finals of the World Championships represent the highest level of jiu-jitsu on the planet, where any athlete who has made it that far can be a World Champion. Though strategy is an important part of a jiu-jitsu match, we saw a great finish rate of 36.72%. Adult males had 22 submissions out of 70 matches for a 31.43% submission rate. The female black belts had 25 submissions out of 58 matches, eclipsing the male submission rate by 11.67% for a total submission rate of 43.10%.

Most Effective Submissions

As we saw with the 2023 Europeans, Pans, and Brasileiros, the choke from the back remains the king of submissions at the black belt level. There were 21 chokes from the back in the quarterfinals through the finals at the 2023 Worlds, making up 44.68% of the total submissions of these matches. Coming in second was the armbar, with 10 total armbar finishes accounting for 21.28% of the 47 submissions. Coming in third was the triangle, with 4 triangles executed successfully throughout these matches.

Other Findings

There were several interesting findings from the World Championships. As mentioned above, both open class finals were finished by submission for the first time in the history of the event. Victor Hugo submitted Erich Munis with a kneebar in the male open class final and Gabrieli Pessanha submitted Ana Vieira with a choke from the back in the female open class final. The last time the male open class final ended in submission was all the way back in 2009 when Roger Gracie submitted Romulo Barral with a cross choke from the mount. The last time the female open class final ended in submission at the Worlds was in 2017, when Tayane Porfirio defeated Nathiely De Jesus with an americana from mount.

The choke from the back has remained the king of submissions in major tournaments at the black belt level, as it accounted for about half of all submissions from the quarters through the finals at the Europeans, Pans, and Worlds, and 35% at the Brasileiros. Armbars were the second most common submission in each of the major tournaments, with the third highest percentage submission varying between events.

Conclusion

Throughout 2023, we’ve tracked submissions at all the major gi tournaments, giving us many insights into the most effective finishes and the the most effective finishers. Stay tuned for our next submission report, which will combine the numbers from all the major gi tournaments in 2023.