The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour is stopping in Rome on April 13th, 2024 and we’ve put together a full preview of the fantastic divisions that will take place at the event. This will actually be the first time that Rome has ever been used as a stop on the global circuit that the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam travels every year, and several top European grapplers are taking advantage of the opportunity. As always, there will be top young prospects and elite masters competitors taking to the mats before the adult black belt divisions take place, with plenty of action there too. Once those are done, it’ll be time for the main attraction of the tournament as some of the best competitors in the world battle it out against one another.
Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour – Rome 2024 Full Preview
Men’s Black Belt Divisions
Light-Featherweight
Favorites – This is the smallest men’s weight class at the event and as such, there’s not much room for surprises here. Kalel Santos should be considered the top contender after winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Miami 2023, and he’s coming into this tournament with a lot of momentum behind him. The man he beat in the final at that tournament was Welison Fernandes and he stands out as the most likely man to stop him given how close their last match was on points.
Dark Horse – Frederico Guimaraes certainly has his work cut out for him if he wants to make an impact in this division and anyone looking to get higher than bronze is likely going to have beat either Santos or Fernandes. Still, he’s lost to both of them by small points-margins recently and it’ll be interesting to see if he’s made any changes that might tip the balance in his favor.
Featherweight
Favorites – Jefferson Fagundes had a great performance at the IBJJF European Championship 2024 and he should reach the podium at least, but he still has tough opposition at featherweight if he wants to take the top spot. Yuri Hendrex is probably the biggest challenge he’ll have to get through and the other favorite to take home the gold medal here.
Dark Horse – Leonardo Mario has already proven that he’s capable of beating Fagundes after winning their most recent match by submission, and if anyone can beat both the two favorites then it’s him.
Lightweight
Favorites – Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira has been on absolute fire since joining Art of Jiu-Jitsu last year and even before then, he was still one of the top competitors in his weight class. Oliveira is the obvious favorite to win the lightweight division but with Isaac Doederlein competing as well, this is far from a done deal. Doederlein holds a 2-0 record against Oliveira and might be able to extend that streak, but their last match was around 3 years ago and a lot has changed since then.
Dark Horse – Thiago Macedo has had several matches against both Oliveira and Doederlein and has gone 0-4 and 0-2 respectively. The bronze medal should be his at least barring any major upsets, but it’s going to take something special for him to stop either of these men from getting to the final.
Welterweight
Favorites – Luiz Paulo has been on a great run lately but a lot of his success in the last year has come in no gi competition instead and he actually has a pair of losses to Lucas Protasio, who also happens to be competing at welterweight here. Both of those matches were in 2022 though and they were both very close, so Paulo could easily end up being the one to win this time around.
Dark Horse – Vinicius Paoli hasn’t even been a black belt for a year yet, so he’s very much flying under the radar at the moment. He’s very talented though and he’s definitely going to be one to watch as the welterweight division progresses.
Middleweight
Favorites – This is the biggest division in this preview of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour – Rome 2024, and there’s several top contenders in the bracket. Uanderson Ferreira is one of the best competitors around right now and he has a great chance of coming out on top, but he also has some unfinished business with Lucas Giraud. It was just two months ago that Giraud submitted him at the AJP UAE National Championship and got vengeance for two previous losses. They aren’t alone though and there’s another name that stands out as a potential winner in the division, Pedro Silva.
Dark Horse – Sebastian Rodriguez has had mixed results throughout last year, but he’s still always in contention at any major tournament he enters. It’s tough to imagine him getting through the gauntlet that is the middleweight division completely unscathed but depending on how well he does, he might make it onto the podium.
Light-Heavyweight
Favorites – Marcos Carrozzino and Henrique Betta met in the final of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour – Tokyo earlier this year but unfortunately they were both disqualified and there was no winner then. The most likely outcome in this division is that they end up meeting one another in the final again, but hopefully this time the fans get to see someone win the title.
Dark Horse – Roberto Frias a veteran competitor who has plenty of experience competing at the highest levels of the sport, but he’s also a lot older than the top contenders in this division. He might be able to use that to his advantage in order to work his way to the podium, but it’s always going to be tough to overcome the age difference.
Super-Heavyweight
Favorites – Yatan Bueno is always going to be one of the favorites in any tournament he enters, but this division is going to be far from easy for him and one of his biggest rivals is in it. Felipe Bezerra has had 4 matches with Bueno so far and he has won 3 of them, with his most recent win coming at the end of last year at the Abu Dhabi World Pro 2023. Bueno has proven he can beat Bezerra and he gets even better as the years go on, so the time might be ripe for him to get one back.
Dark Horse – Helder Junior is a top young grappler representing Fratres Jiu-Jitsu and he was promoted to black belt less than a year ago, so he’s still very new to this level of competition. It would be one of the biggest upsets of the tournament for him to beat either Bueno and Bezerra, but he should be able to make it past everyone else at least.
Women’s Brown and Black Belt Divisions
Roosterweight
Favorites – Brenda Larissa is easily the favorite in this preview of the roosterweight division at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour – Rome 2024. Her main opposition will probably come from Diana Teixeira but Larissa has won all 3 of their previous matches so the expectation is that she should be able to beat her once again.
Dark Horse – There’s not much in the way of surprises that should really happen at roosterweight and while anything is possible, Larissa and Teixeira really are that tough to beat. Giulia Angiolini is a talented Italian brown belt who’s largely untested at this level though, and it’ll be interesting to see if she can offer a challenge that either of these women haven’t seen before.
Light-Featherweight
Favorites – Anna Rodrigues is a really dominant competitor in this division on the AJP Tour circuit and she’s even won an incredible three editions of the Abu Dhabi World Pro in a row up to now. Only a handful of women have beaten Rodrigues at black belt and it just so happens that one of them is competing here. She has a 2-1 record against Gabriela Pereira but each match has been close enough that Pereira might be able to level the score and win gold.
Dark Horse – Alexa Yanes has had a tough time in competition against both Rodrigues and Pereira, going 0-4 and 0-3 respectively. She is likely the best of the rest of the field at light-featherweight though and she might be the only one who can stop them from meeting in the final.
Lightweight
Favorites – Julia Alves and Vitoria Vieira are both truly elite grapplers and they’ve actually met in the final rounds of different tournaments twice now already. They were both very close matches and they actually won one each, so anything could happen when they meet on the mats again. Either one could win the division so unless they meet early on in the bracket, they should share another final or semi-final with one another.
Dark Horse – Maria Delahaye has beaten a number of top competitors in the last year or so, including Alves in fact. She’s still going to be the underdog going up against either her or Vieira, but she definitely has what it takes to cause an upset.
Middleweight
Favorites – Ingridd Alves and Izadora Silva have a rivalry that’s been going on for years now and it’s hard to determine who might get the upper hand this time around. Silva leads the series 3-2 but Alves is the only to get the submission finish in any of their matches and she won their most recent meeting last year at the Abu Dhabi World Pro 2023. One of these two women should be standing on top of the podium once the dust has settled.
Dark Horse – Nia Blackman is the woman who has the best chance of upsetting the balance of things and taking home the gold medal instead of Alves or Silva. She will likely have to beat both women if she wants to do that though, and that might be a little too much to ask, but if anyone can do it then Blackman can.
Heavyweight
Favorites – Yara Soares is the favorite at heavyweight and she should be able to come away with the gold medal here, especially seeing as she’s already beaten her biggest competition earlier this year. Maria Vicentini is the other top contender but she lost to Soares at the IBJJF European Championship 2024, and that’s why Soares is the safest bet to win the title.
Dark Horse – Anabel Lopez is an 18 year-old brown belt who will be representing Checkmat and she’s the dark horse in this preview of the heavyweight division at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam – Rome 2024. She should be able to cause an upset against one of the more experienced competitors and stand on the podium, but it’ll be really difficult for her to beat either of the favorites.
