Janaina Lebre will take on Nathalie Ribeiro in a super fight at the IBJJF FloGrappling GP on Friday March 3rd. We caught up with the Lightweight GP Champion to get her thoughts on the match and much more.

1. Last year you won the first ever female GP, defeating two World Champions along the way. How much did winning that title help your confidence as a competitor?

“I was very happy when I won the first Female GP. I always believed that I could win at the top of my category. Winning gave me a lot of confidence for the next competitions. Being able to see my mistakes in my fights, fixing those mistakes, and also being able to see how much I have been improving with each event I participate in makes me very happy and motivated.”

2. In 2022 you faced Nathalie Ribeiro twice, where you went 1-1. Can you talk about the Europeans final and the Worlds semifinal matches with Nathalie? 

“Nathalie is very technical. It’s always a good war when I fight with her. In the 2022 European final I ended up making some mistakes and she ended up winning. When we fought at the Worlds I couldn’t make mistakes because I really wanted to win. But it’s always a war when I  fight with her. I’m excited for our super fight.

3. What do you think makes Nathalie such a great competitor? 

“She is a complete athlete, she is always competing and staying at a great pace and she’s super technical and strong.”

4. Can you talk about your preparation for this match? Do you prepare differently for one match than you do for a tournament? 

“In fact I’m always ready, I’m always training. I always keep in shape so if you invite me I’ll be ready. I don’t do anything differently. I keep my training and diet and I study my opponents a lot.”

5. How do you see this match playing out?

“I think it will be a great fight, I believe we will pull guard together as we both like to play guard. I intend to use my guard game.”

6. What are your goals for the rest of 2023? Can we expect to see you competing at the major gi tournaments?

“I intend to fight all the big championships this year, and the open ones too.”

7. Do you have anything else you want to say? 

“Thank you IBJJF for the opportunity to participate once again in this great event. Thank you to my training partners and my coach Regis Lebre for all the support and for believing in me.”

Don’t miss the super fight between Janaina Lebre and Nathalie Ribeiro. You can catch this match and all the other great matches at the IBJJF FloGrappling GP this Friday March 3rd, exclusively on flograppling.com.