The brown belt divisions at the major IBJJF championships are often some of the most fun and competitive divisions to watch. By the time competitors reach the brown belt level, they often have nearly a decade of training and competition experience that will propel them into a successful black belt career. The 2023 Brasileiros will have plenty of exciting brown belt competitors that you will not want to miss. The following are a few of the many talented brown belts to watch at the 2023 Brasileiros.

Giovanna Jara - Heavyweight

#1 ranked Giovanna Jara is one the most highly accomplished brown belts in the world. She had success very early in her competition career, winning gold at the Brasileiros twice as a juvenile athlete. Her career took off as a blue belt, however. At the 2021 Worlds, Giovanna won gold in the blue belt medium-heavy division. Since her first World title at blue belt, Giovanna has gone on to win double gold at nearly every major tournament. Her most recent double gold performances at the Europeans and Pans were some of her most impressive, as she positionally dominated and submitted the majority of her opponents. She’ll compete at heavyweight at the Brasileiros and will likely enter the absolute division as well. 

Eduardo “Dudu” Granzotta - Featherweight

Featherweight Eduardo “Dudu” Granzotta has won many prestigious titles representing the CheckMat flag. Dudu won the 2021 Worlds as a purple belt and then won the Pan No-Gi, an IBJJF GP super fight, and the 2023 Europeans in the past six months as a brown belt. In his matches, you will often see him trying to attack the back, a position he’s able to achieve through both his passing and his guard work. The brown belt featherweight division at the 2023 Brasileiros will have plenty of challenges for Dudu. Highly ranked brown belts Mourece Ramirez (Nova Uniao), Guilherme Fernandes (Dream Art), and Cleison Gabriel (CheckMat) are all potential threats in the division.

Chayse Diekema - Lightweight

2023 has been a breakout year for Carlson Gracie Team’s Chayse Diekema. The Canadian lightweight competitor has already won gold medals at the Europeans and the Pans. From bottom position Chayse has excellent sweeps from the deep half guard that she uses to attain top position. Once on top, she favors a pressure based approach to passing the guard, a style that is common among Carlson Gracie Team athletes. 

Thiago Saboia - Lightweight

Training under the tutelage of 3X World Champion Michael Langhi at Alliance Sao Paulo, Thiago Saboia has developed a solid game that helped him win gold at the 2023 Europeans in Paris, France. Despite being a lightweight, Thiago also took third in the open class at the Europeans, losing a close match to eventual champion Uanderson Ferreira. Saboia will aim for his second major championship gold medal at the Brasileiros in a lightweight division that has 60 total athletes.

Kamilla Kelly - Middleweight

Fratres Jiu Jitsu middleweight Kamilla Kelly is the #2 ranked female brown belt in the world behind Giovanna Jara. Kamilla is a very active competitor, having won gold at the Sul-Americano, Curtiba Summer, and Rio BJJ Pro events, among many others. She took bronze at the Europeans and will look to improve on that performance at the Brasileiros.

You can catch all the brown belts competing at the 2023 Brasileiros live on FloGarppling. Male brown belts compete on Thursday May 4th and female brown belts compete on Friday May 5th.