Mar. 4, 2022 by: Danny O'Donnell

The next 2022 IBJJF grand slam event, the Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship, will take place at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida from April 5^th through the 10^th.  This edition marks the third straight in the sunshine state, where the North American event first took place in 1996. Participation has grown tremendously throughout the years, with the 2021 Pans drawing 3,380 competitors. Juvenile, Adult, and Masters divisions have boosted the Pans to become the second largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in North America. Former Pan champions include IBJJF Hall of Fame members Xande Ribeiro, Bruno Malfacine, Marcelo Garcia, Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, Rodolfo Vieira, Roger Gracie, Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles, and Romulo Barral.

The 2021 Pan Championships, which took place in September of last year, saw Fellipe Andrew of Alliance capture the adult male open class gold medal. Fellipe recently won the open class at the 2022 IBJJF European Championships and will look to add another open class gold to his collection. Potential contenders for the adult male black belt open class include Gustavo Batista, Pedro Marinho, Victor Hugo, Eric Munis, Max Gimenis, and Guilherme Augusto. In the adult female open class division, Yara Soares of Dream Art took gold at the 2021 Pans. Yara will likely see some familiar faces in the 2022 Pans open class as top female jiu-jitsu athletes such as Gabrieli Pessanha, Ana Carolina Vieira, and Maria Malyjasiak could make for an exciting division.

The Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships have been a proving ground for the sport’s best athletes where we’ve seen both veteran black belts and newcomers shape their legacies. AOJ black belt Tainan Dalpra is doing just that, having won the 2021 Worlds and Pans and most recently winning the 2022 European Championships. Tainan has a near perfect record at black belt, winning over 70% of his matches by submission. He’ll look to capture his fourth major title and take another step towards a grand slam. Another dominant force in the female black belt division looking to win another major championship gold medal is Mayssa Bastos. The three-time rooster weight world champion went up to light feather for the 2022 Europeans, scoring two submissions in two matches. Highly regarded athletes Kennedy Maciel and Andy Murasaki are already signed up for the event in the feather and lightweight divisions, respectively. Other notable competitors to watch include Ana Rodrigues, Matheus Gabriel, Gabrielle McComb, Ronaldo Junior, Thalison Soares, Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor, Luiza Monteiro, Johnatha Alves, and Bianca Basillio, among many others.

To register for the 2022 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships please visit https://ibjjf.com/events/pan-ibjjf-jiu-jitsu-championship-2022. All matches can be watched live on FloGrappling.