The latest stop on the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam tour was Rome and the promotion put on an excellent event from February 13th to 15th, 2026. There were plenty of top competitors in each of the divisions but the most impressive performance was probably in the women’s heavyweight bracket, where Yara Soares had a clean-sweep of two submissions in two matches. She wasn’t the only woman to enjoy a dominant run in Rome though, as 19 year-old brown belt Nikolett Kis stormed to victory at lightweight with one submission and three clear points wins with a total tally of 19-0 on the scoreboards.
Sabatha Lais won gold between them in the middleweight division with three wins on points, while the two lightest champions were Gabriela Pereira and Grasielle Brandao with three wins each light-featherweight and roosterweight respectively. The lightest men’s champion was Bruno Borges, who racked up three wins on points at light-featherweight. Jonathan Santos also stood on top of the podium with three wins at featherweight, and Lucas Silva achieved the same feat at lightweight. The most stacked men’s divisions were at welterweight and middleweight though, as both of the champions there had to get through some of the best competitors in the world.
Jefferson Goteu earned three wins to leave with the welterweight title, while Mikael Rhaillander really managed to put himself on the map at middleweight. Rhaillander submitted both Matheus Luna and Uanderson Ferreira to book his place in the final, before outscoring Pablo Custodia for the gold medal. The final two men’s champions were in the heaviest weight classes at light-heavyweight and super-heavyweight; and the brackets there were far from easy too. Telmo Castro won the light-heavyweight division with a pair of submission finishes and a win on points, while Felipe Bezerra went the distance in all three of his wins at super-heavyweight.
Abu Dhabi Grand Slam – Rome 2026 Full Results
Men’s Black Belt Divisions
Light-Featherweight
1 – Bruno Borges
2 – Josue Braga
3 – Raimundo Almeida
Featherweight
1 – Jonathan Santos
2 – Felipe Fernandes
3 – Yuri Hendrex
Lightweight
1 – Lucas Silva
2 – Giuliano Spera
3 – Victor Nithael
Welterweight
1 – Jefferson Goteu
2 – Lucas Protasio
3 – Eduardo Roque
Middleweight
1 – Mikael Rhaillander
2 – Pablo Custodia
3 – Uanderson Ferreira
Light-Heavyweight
1 – Telmo Castro
2 – Saar Shemesh
3 – Robson Gomes
Super-Heavyweight
1 – Felipe Bezerra
2 – Hygor Brito
3 – Guilherme Gomes
Women’s Brown And Black Belt Divisions
Roosterweight
1 – Grasielle Brandao
2 – Diana Teixeira
3 – Sana Ndiaye
Light-Featherweight
1 – Gabriela Pereira
2 – Giovanna Maximiano
3 – Elisa Cruz
Lightweight
1 – Nikolett Kis
2 – Kamilla Souza
3 – Tamara Toros
Middleweight
1 – Sabatha Lais
2 – Giovanna Carneiro
3 – Gabriella Barroso
Heavyweight
1 – Yara Soares
2 – Livia Barasine
3 – Denise Krahn
The full results for every other belt level division at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam – Rome 2026 can be found here.
