The IBJJF American Nationals return July 6th through the 8th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This two star event is sure to deliver exciting matches, as many athletes are currently at their peak after competing at the World Championships about a month ago. The American Nationals also mark the beginning of a season where athletes compete more frequently without the gi as evidenced by bigger and more competitive no-gi divisions. The Las Vegas Convention Center will also host a series of other events throughout the week as part of UFC International Fight Week, culminating in UFC 290. The following is a complete guide to the IBJJF American Nationals, including dates, location, divisions to watch, and important storylines.

Dates: Thursday July 6th - Saturday July 8th

Location: Las Vegas Convention Center - Hall S1-A /S1-B

How to watch: FloGrappling.com

Gi Divisions to Watch

Medium-Heavy

2X American National Champion (2020, 2022) Ronaldo Junior returns to the event to defend his medium-heavyweight title. Ronaldo started 2023 in excellent form, winning gold medals in Atlanta, Memphis, LA, and Santa Cruz. His lone loss this year came to 2023 World Champion Jansen Gomes in the Pan semifinal, one of the most action packed matches of the year. An injury kept Ronaldo out of the Worlds, but he’ll be back in full force in Vegas. 2018 European Champion Horlando Monteiro will join Ronaldo at medium-heavy following his return to competition at the Indianapolis Open. Horlando won double gold in Indianapolis with all submissions after nearly a year out of competition. Art of Jiu Jitsu’s Mateus Rodrigues will look for his first black belt American National title in the medium-heavy division. Mateus has been very active in 2023, competing in several open tournaments as well as the Pans and Worlds. He lost close, competitive matches to Ronaldo Junior and Gustavo Batista at the Pans and Worlds, respectively, showing he is right up there with the best medium-heavyweight athletes in the world.

Light-Feather

Art of Jiu-Jitsu will be represented by two athletes in the light-feather division in Jordan Vaisman and Zach Kaina. Jordan joined AOJ in August 2022 and has since competed at multiple tournaments in the rooster weight division. His rooster weight debut came at the 2023 Dallas Open where he won both of his matches via submission. He’ll return to light-feather in Vegas in a stacked division. Jordan’s teammate, Zach Kaina, has also had a great run in 2023 thus far. His best result came at the 2023 Pans, where he submitted European Champion Malachi Edmond on his way to a bronze medal. Pan and World No-Gi Champion Carlos Bebeto, who finished third at the 2023 Brasileiros and Worlds, will also be on the hunt for gold in Vegas. Bebeto won the light-feather division at American Nationals in 2022 both with and without the gi.

Heavyweight

2023 World Champion and current #1 ranked gi athlete Fellipe Andrew will compete at heavyweight just over a month after winning his second World title. This year has been the best of Fellipe’s career thus far as he’s amassed a 26-1 record with 13 submissions in IBJJF competition. Worlds and European silver medalist Pedro Machado is also in at heavyweight and will look to avenge his Worlds final loss to Fellipe, a close match decided via sweep points. Both Fellipe and Pedro have amazing lasso guards from bottom position and crushing pressure from the top, making their matchups very interesting clashes of style. Back-taking specialist Roberto Jimenez will join Fellipe and Pedro seeking his first black belt gold medal at American Nationals, an event where he won as a brown belt in 2019.

Potential Black Belt Matchups

Elisabeth Clay x Thamara Ferreira

Pan Champions Elisabeth Clay and Thamara Ferreira will both compete in the middleweight division at American Nationals. In their last meeting, Elisabeth defeated Thamara via referee’s decision in the semifinals of the 2023 Pans. Elisabeth is widely regarded as one of the best guard players in the division, using her flexibility and unique attacks to hit submissions from every angle. Thamara also has a great guard, but will often mix up her approach and play top position. At the Pans, Thamara scored her points with a takedown and Elisabeth scored with a sweep, so it’ll be interesting to see whether either athlete tries to change their strategy in the rematch.

Sam Nagai x Danilo Moreira

2023 World Champion Sam Nagai will return to competition at the American Nationals. Sam had an incredible run last month at the Worlds, getting two submission finishes on his way to capturing the biggest title of his career. 2022 American National Champion Danilo Moreira will look to win his second straight title at the event. Sam and Danilo have faced each other at black belt before, meeting in the first round of the 2020 Pans, where Sam won by an advantage. Since then, however, both Sam and Danilo have come into their own as black belts, so should this match come to fruition it’ll be a battle of two well-rounded and submission oriented athletes.

Josh Cisneros x Marco Mendes

Ares’ Josh Cisneros burst onto the black belt scene in 2020 when he won a Pan and American National title in the same year. Josh also added a silver medal at the 2021 Pan No-Gi to his collection shortly thereafter. His combination of great takedowns, guard play, and passing have led to success in gi and no-gi. New black belt Marco Mendes of Dream Art was promoted at the 2023 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, where he was the brown belt featherweight champion. Marco is well-rounded and is able to take the back from a variety of positions. Both competitors are highly skilled and very athletic, which makes it very difficult to predict an outcome. Cisneros and Marco have the potential to fight twice this weekend, as they’re both registered for featherweight in the gi and lightweight for no-gi.

Black Belt Debuts

After achieving great results during the 2023 major gi tournaments, many athletes were promoted to black belt and will be making their debuts at the rank in Vegas. In the rooster weight division, Everton Souza will make his black belt debut. Everton took gold at the 2023 Europeans and Pans and placed second at the World Championships. He’s part of a new generation of lighter weight competitors who play equally well from top and bottom position.

Dream Art won the World title this year as a team, thanks in large part to their incredible group of colored belt competitors. One of the those competitors who stood out in 2023 was Marco Mendes. Marco won the brown belt featherweight division at the Worlds and took silver at the Pans. Throughout his years in the colored belts, Marco showed an excellent guard, fast back takes, and amazing athleticism.

Another team that is always producing great athletes is Atos Jiu-Jitsu. Ultra-heavyweight Matheus “Teteu” Menezes, who represents Atos, will make his black belt debut at American Nationals. Teteu won the Pans twice as a brown belt, using a combination of sweeps, pressure, and submissions. He’ll have some interesting tests at American Nationals including 2022 champion Gabriel Oliveira and ZR Team’s Pedro Bisneto.

Double Five’s Vitoria Assis will also make her black belt debut in the featherweight division. Her colored belt resume includes gold medals at Worlds, Pans, and American Nationals. Vitoria has an unpredictable game, where it’s common to see her attack flying submissions. The featherweight division has continued to evolve throughout the years and Vitoria will certainly be a new contender going forward.

CheckMat Team Aims for Third Straight Title

2021 and 2022 American National Champions CheckMat will look for their third straight team title in 2023. They’re bringing plenty of great competitors to the event, including black belt athletes Rodnei Gabriel, Daniel Aquino, Sam Nagai, Jackson Nagai, Mathias Luna, Jackson Douglas, Renato Tagliari, Carlos dos Santos, Jazmin Hamuy, Thamires Monteiro, and Paulo Lanzillotti. Alliance, Atos, AOJ, Gracie Humaita, Six Blades, Carlson Gracie Team, Gracie Barra, and Zenith are among other teams aiming for a spot on the podium.

American Nationals No-Gi

American Nationals No-Gi are the first two star no-gi tournament of the year and mark a new season where athletes tend to compete more often without the gi. Josh Cisneros, Elisabeth Clay, Carlos Henrique, Jackson Nagai, Thamara Ferreira, Francisco Cuneo, Melissa Stricker, Jaime Canuto, Francisco Lo, Elder Cruz, and Roberto Jimenez will all compete no-gi in Vegas.

Don’t miss any of the action from the 2023 American National Jiu-Jitsu Championships! The matches start on Thursday July 6th and run through Saturday July 8th. You can watch all the action live, exclusively on FloGrappling.