The 2023 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships are here and the divisions are packed full of competitors that we cannot wait to see in action. Black belts will compete on Saturday June 3rd, with female finals and male semifinals and finals taking place on Sunday June 4th. In 2022 there were seven new World Champions crowned in Long Beach, and while there are many returning champions, there are a few divisions without a returning champion. The following is a preview of each black belt division, where history will once again be made at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.

Dates: Thursday June 1st - Sunday June 4th

Location: Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California

Brackets and schedule: bjjcompsystem.com

How to watch: FloGrappling.com

Black Belt Male Preview

Rooster weight

2022 Champion - Thalison Soares

Top Seeds - Thalison Soares, Bebeto Oliveira, Lucas Pinheiro, Zayed Alkatheeri

15 Competitors

Rooster weight is a division that has evolved tremendously over the past few years. From 2018 through 2022, there have been three different rooster weight champions. Thalison Soares, who won the division in 2022, is back and will look to capture his second straight title. Thalison joined AOJ in April of 2022 and has since taken his game to a new level, adding more layers to his guard passing game on top of his already dangerous guard. He won the 2023 Europeans, but did not compete at the Pans or Brasileiros. The 2023 Pan and Brasileiro rooster weight champions are also in at the Worlds. Zayed Alkatheeri of Alliance and Lucas Pinheiro of Atos, who won Pans and Brasileiros, respectively, had breakout performances at these events. 2022 Pan Champion Bebeto Oliveira is the #2 seed and is always a threat in the division.

Light-Feather

2022 Champion - Meyram Alves

Top Seeds - Meyram Alves, Diego Pato, Diogo Reis, Malachi Edmond

22 Competitors

For the first time in 2023, World Champion Meyram Alves will compete at a major tournament. Meyram, who recently joined team Fratres, is one of the most dynamic and explosive competitors in jiu-jitsu. His guard passing and back attacks are lightning fast and can easily be missed if you’re not paying close attention. Meyram had three submissions in four matches in winning his 2022 World title, defeating 2021 World Champion Diego Pato in the final. He’ll be the #1 seed in the bracket followed by Diego Pato. Pato is a 2021 World Champion and recently began training under Professor Gui Mendes at AOJ in Costa Mesa, adding new layers to his game. The light-feather athlete with the most 2023 major titles is Diogo Reis. He won the 2023 Pans with wins over Marcus Beddor, Keven Carrasco, Zach Kaina, and Diego Pato. Diogo won three more tough matches at the Brasileiro, winning his second major title of the year. He’ll look for his first black belt World title this year. 2023 European Champion Malachi Edmond of Team Lloyd Irvin will also be in the division. Like Diogo, Malachi will aim for his first black belt World Championship.

Feather

2022 Champion - Isaac Doederlein

Top Seeds - Isaac Doederlein, Fabricio Andrey, Diego Sodre, Alex Sodre

29 Competitors

Featherweight is a division that has had a different champion at the last four editions of the Worlds, something that was not common prior to 2018. Before Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor won his World title that year, IBJJF Hall of Famers Rafael Mendes and Cobrinha dominated the division. Since 2018 however, Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor, Matheus Gabriel, Fabricio Andrey, and Isaac Doederlein have all become featherweight World Champions. Three of those athletes will be competing at featherweight in 2023, making featherweight the division with the most World Champions. Isaac Doederlein is the returning champion, making him the #1 seed in the bracket. His first major tournament of 2023 was the Brasileiros, where he won gold for the second time, a feat only match by one other American in Rafael Lovato Jr. Sam Nagai, Gabriel Sousa, and Osvaldo “Queixinho” are also in at feather and could make waves in the division.

Light

2022 Champion - Tye Ruotolo

Top Seeds - Johnatha Alves, Lucas Valente, Matheus Gabriel, Pablo Lavaselli

31 Competitors

Returning lightweight World Champion Tye Ruotolo is up at middleweight this year, leaving lightweight up for grabs. Matheus Gabriel is the only World Champion in the division, as he won featherweight gold back in 2019. The #1 seed is 4X Pan Champion Johnatha Alves, an AOJ representative who has taken on new challenges in 2023, competing in open class divisions at the Pans, Austin Winter Open, and the LA Open. Lucas Valente won the most recent major title at lightweight at the Brasileiros, submitting three of his four opponents and looking more dominant than ever. Lucas has a guard that is virtually impassable, a skills that has earned him his gold at the Brasileiros and silver at the Pans (2021) and Worlds (2019). Another athlete signed up at lightweight who has not competed in a major championship since the 2019 Worlds is JT Torres of Atos. JT competed in his first World Championship all the way back in 2011. As a black belt JT has won titles at the Europeans, Pans, and Worlds No-Gi. His style is very unique for the division as well, as he often prefers an approach based around takedowns and tight guard passing. Matchups between JT and any of the top seeds could be some of the most exciting matches at lightweight. Opening round matches you won’t want to miss include Matheus Gabriel versus Levi Jone-Leary and JT Torres versus Natan Chueng.

Middle

2022 Champion - Tainan Dalpra

Top Seeds - Tainan Dalpra, Tye Ruotolo, Jansen Gomes, Mauricio Oliveira

22 Competitors

Middleweight king Tainan Dalpra returns to defend his 2022 title and undefeated IBJJF record. This time around he has some new opponents. #2 seed Tye Ruotolo won the 2022 Worlds as a lightweight and brings a completely unique style to the division. Tye has less experience competing in the gi than many of the other competitors but brings a pace and intensity mixed with takedowns, scrambles, and guard passes that has made him one of the best young black belts in the world. Another athlete competing at middleweight for the first time as a black belt is 2023 European medium-heavyweight champion Jansen Gomes. Jansen has had a great season following up his gold at Europeans with a silver at the Pans. He has a win over Tainan at purple belt, beating him in the final of the World Championships. Mauricio Oliveira of Fratres is another athlete who normally competes at medium-heavy who dropped down to middle. He was highly successful in the colored belts, winning multiple World titles. As a black belt, Mauricio is a 2021 Brasileiro Champion, but has had to overcome injuries more recently. Mauricio, along with Tye and Jansen, will be new challenges for Tainan as he pursues his third World title.

Medium-Heavy

2022 Champion - Leandro Lo

Top Seeds - Gustavo Batista, Matheus Spirandeli, Isaque Bahiense, Sebastian Rodriguez

31 Competitors

#1 seed Gustavo Batista has won two of the three major championships in 2023 in the medium-heavy division. The other champion, Jansen Gomes, won the Europeans but dropped down to middleweight for the Worlds. The other top seeds are Brasileiro Champion Matheus Spirandeli, World Champion Isaque Bahiense, and Pan Champion Sebastian Rodriguez. At he 2022 Worlds Isaque defeated Gustavo Batista in the semifinals via a knee cut guard pass that came with just over two minutes remaining in the match. While Gustavo and Isaque are the front runners as prior year World Champions, there are many other highly capable competitors in the division. Andy Murasaki, Elder Cruz, Francisco Lo, Manuel Ribamar, and Murilo Santana are among other contenders in the weight class.

Heavy

2022 Champion - Kaynan Duarte

Top Seeds - Fellipe Andrew, Adam Wardzinski, Dimitrius Souza, Rider Zuchi

28 Competitors

In 2021 and 2022, Kaynan Duarte of Atos Jiu-Jitsu dominated the heavyweight division, winning two World titles. He’s since moved up to super heavy, however, leaving space for a brand new champion. Another athlete who changed weight classes this year was Fellipe Andrew of Alliance. Since going down to heavyweight, he's compiled a 23-1 IBJJF record, finishing the majority of his fights via submission. Fellipe’s lone loss came to Adam Wardzinski in the final of the 2023 Pans, a comeback victory for Adam that was arguably the best match of the Pans. Adam will also return to the division seeking his second major title of 2023. European, Pan, and Brasileiro Champion Dimitrius Souza and Brasileiro Champion Rider Zuchi are the #3 and #4 seeds, respectively.

Super Heavy

2022 Champion - Erich Munis

Top Seeds - Erich Munis, Kaynan Duarte, Gutemberg Pereira, Felipe Costa

17 Competitors

With Kaynan Duarte of Atos Jiu-Jitsu going up a weight class this year, there is one match everyone is hoping to see; Kaynan vs. Erich Munis. Both athletes are 2X World Champions, with Kaynan winning heavyweight gold in 2021 and 2022 and Erich winning super heavy those same years. Kaynan kicked off the year at super heavy at the Europeans, winning all seven of his matches by submission. Erich competed at the 2023 Pans, winning the super heavy division and taking second in the open class. Despite all of their success in recent years, the two have yet to face off at black belt. GF Team’s Gutemberg Pereira is also in at super heavy. Last year Gutemberg competed at ultra-heavy, losing one of the best matches of the event to Victor Hugo.

Ultra-Heavy

2022 Champion Victor Hugo

Top Seeds - Victor Hugo, Yatan Bueno, Marcus Scooby, Guilherme Augusto

19 Competitors

2022 ultra-heavyweight World Champion Victor Hugo returns to the biggest event in jiu-jitsu in search of his third title. He put on a fantastic performance at the 2023 Brasileiros, winning double gold and submitting six of seven opponents. The two through four seeds at ultra-heavy are Yatan Bueno, Marcus Scooby, and Guilherme Augusto, respectively. Victor had a very close match with Guilherme at last year’s World Championships, defeating the Alliance ace by two points. He has not yet had matches at black belt against Pan Champion Marcus Scooby and European and Pan silver medalist Yatan Bueno.

Open Class

2022 Champion - Nicholas Meregali

With 2022 open class champion Nicholas Meregali not registered for the event, there will be a new open class champion in 2023. Kaynan Duarte and Victor Hugo were the other open class champions this year, with Kaynan taking the title at Europeans and Victor winning at Brasileiros. Both Kaynan and Victor had dominating performances to win open class gold. Kaynan submitted every opponent at Europeans and Victor submitted six of seven at Brasileiros. Erich Munis, Gutemberg Pereira, Marcus Scooby, and Fellipe Andrew are among some of the many potential athletes who could take home their first Worlds absolute gold.

Black Belt Female

Rooster weight

2022 Champion - Mayssa Bastos

Top Seeds - Mayssa Bastos, Brenda Larissa, Jhenifer Aquino, Mariana Rolszt

8 Competitors

The female rooster weight division has been dominated by one competitor for the last three years; Mayssa Bastos. Though she competed at light-feather for all of 2023, she’ll return to the rooster weight division for the Worlds. Mayssa recently joined AOJ, a team that continues to grow its roster of elite black belts. She already has wins in IBJJF competition over the next three highest seeded athletes. Brenda Larissa of Melqui Galvao Jiu-Jitsu, however, is coming off a 2023 Brasileiro title, her second at the prestigious event. She’ll bring momentum into the Worlds and look to put a stop to Mayssa’s reign.

Light-Feather

2022 Champion - Anna Rodrigues

Top Seeds - Jessica Caroline, Rose-Marie El Sharouni, Jessa Khan, Thamires Aquino

18 Competitors

The 2023 Worlds light-feather division is guaranteed to have a new World Champion. Anna Rodrigues won last year, but has since made a move up to featherweight. Jessica Caroline, who won gold at the Europeans and Pans as a rooster weight, moved up to light feather and is the #1 seed. She’ll be joined by 2022 Pan Champion Jessa Khan. Jessica defeated Jessa Khan in a close match at the Europeans, so a rematch will likely be very competitive and have implications for the rest of the division.

Feather

2022 Champion - Bianca Basilio

Top Seeds - Bianca Basilio, Anna Rodrigues, Nathalie Ribeiro, Gabriela Pereira

11 Competitors

Female featherweight includes two World Champions in Bianca Basilio and Anna Rodrigues and also Nathalie Ribeiro, who’s won major championship gold at Europeans, Pans, and Brasileiros as a lightweight. Bianca Basilio is the returning champion and is coming off a great performance at the 2023 Brasileiros, where she won gold. Anna has been the most dominant of these three competitors, going undefeated in IBJJF competition in weight class matches. She’s currently a 2X World Champion, winning both of her titles at light-featherweight. Nathalie, who we expected to see at lightweight, dropped to featherweight and won gold at the Houston and San Diego Opens. She’ll compete at featherweight at the Worlds for the first time since 2019 in search of her first black belt World title.

Light

2022 Champion - Ffion Davies

Top Seeds - Ffion Davies, Luiza Monteiro, Janaina Lebre, Luciane Silva

18 Competitors

After a tough run to the finals that included submission wins over Kristen Mikkelson of Brazil 021 and 2022 Brazilian National silver medalist Vitoria Vieira, Ffion Davies advanced to the 2022 Worlds final against Janaina Lebre. Ffion got the win in a very close match where she narrowly avoided an early kneebar attempt. With the victory Ffion became the first ever Welsh World Champion and earned the #1 seed for 2023. Right behind Ffion is Luiza Monteiro, who has had the best year of her career thus far. She's won titles at the Europeans, Pans, and Brasileiros, defeating #1 seed Ffion Davies and #3 seed Janaina Lebre already this year. Despite the loss to Luiza this year, Janaina has been on quite the roll since the 2022 Worlds. She won the inaugural female lightweight GP in October 2022, beating Luiza and Anna Rodrigues to take the title. This division will surely be one of the most competitive of the event.

Middle

2022 Champion - Andressa Cintra

Top Seeds - Andressa Cintra, Thalyta Silva, Elisabeth Clay, Thamara Ferreira

11 Competitors

3X World Champion Andressa Cintra of Gracie Barra has been the best middleweight in the world for four years running. After winning her first title in 2019, she went on to win two more, one in 2021 in Anaheim and the other in Long Beach in 2022. Last year she put on a great performance, getting submissions in her quarter and semifinals and defeating Thalyta Silva in the final via ref’s decision. Thalyta, who won the Europeans in January for the second year in a row is the #2 seed in the division. 2023 Pan Champion Elisabeth Clay and 2022 Pan Champion Thamara Ferreira are the next highest ranked athletes and have proven they have what it takes to win major championship gold.

Medium-Heavy

2022 Champion - Ana Vieira

Top Seeds - Ana Vieira, Maria Malyjasiak, Sabatha Lais, Amy Campo

11 Competitors

Ana Vieira of Aviv Jiu-Jitsu won her fifth IBJJF World title at the 2022 World Championships. Highlights of her fifth title included submission wins over Amy Campo in the quarterfinals and Luciana Mota in the final. She’s competed in one major tournament in 2023, winning gold at medium-heavy at the Pans and taking silver in the open class. #2 seed Maria Malyjasiak has also had a great year, winning the Europeans with a submission in the final. 2022 Worlds open class silver medalist Amy Campo is also in at medium-heavy. Amy has had three matches with Ana and although she’s lost two of them, she does hold a win over her from the 2022 Worlds open class.

Heavy

2022 Champion - Larissa Dias

Top Seeds - Larissa Dias, Melissa Stricker, Nathiely De Jesus, Tamiris Silva

11 Competitors

2X open class World Champion Nathiely De Jesus returns to the Worlds for the first time since 2019, when she took double gold. The 2X Worlds open class gold medalist took time away after having a baby but has not lost a step since returning to competition. Nathiely won the IBJJF Female Heavyweight GP, defeating World Champions Andressa Cintra and Ana Vieira to win the title. 2022 World and 2023 Pan Champion Larissa Dias is the #1 seed in the division and has shown a technical and strategic game that has propelled her to major championship gold.

Super Heavy

2022 Champion - Gabrieli Pessanha

Top Seeds - Gabrieli Pessanha, Clair-France Thevenon, Mayara Custodio, Amanda Magda

5 Competitors

For the second season in a row, Gabrieli Pessanha has won the 2022/2023 Grand Slam for the IBJJF’s official season. This has never before been accomplished and will certainly be a very difficult feat to match. Mayara Custodio, who had a great match with Gabrieli at the 2022 Worlds where she secured a guard pass, comes into the bracket as the #4 seed. 2023 European heavyweight champion Amanda Magda moved up to super heavy and like the rest of the division besides Gabrieli, will be looking for her first World title.

Open Class

2022 Champion - Gabrieli Pessanha

As mentioned above, Gabrieli Pessanha has been the queen of not only the super heavy division, but also the open class. Her last loss came all the way back at the 2021 Pans to Ana Vieira, who beat Gabrieli in the semifinal of that event. Gabrieli avenged that loss in the 2023 Pans open class final, outpointing Ana to win another major open class title. There is one highly accomplished opponent who Gabrieli has yet to face at black belt; Nathiely De Jesus. Nathiely is a 2X open class World Champion and took a break from competition after her daughter was born. Gabrieli versus Nathiely would be an epic clash of two of the best black belts in recent years. Ana Vieira and Amy Campo are also expected to compete in the open class and be top contenders for the absolute title.

Don’t miss any of the matches from the 2023 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships. Go to flograppling.com to make sure you catch all the action.