BJJ Stars 12 will take place on April 27th, 2024 and we’ve put together a full preview of both the superfights and the stacked medium-heavyweight grand prix. There’s a total of 8 single matches that have been booked for the lineup, but the main attraction will undoubtedly be the tournament. The promotion is known for putting together fantastic brackets featuring the best competitors in any given weight class and their 12th event is clearly no exception. 8 of the best grapplers in the medium-heavyweight division will be taking to the mats to compete for the grand prize and once the dust has settled on the tournament, there will be plenty of movement in the rankings at that weight.
BJJ Stars 12 Full Preview
Isaque Bahiense
Isaque Bahiense is rightly considered to be one of the top contenders in this preview of the medium-heavyweight grand prix at BJJ Stars 12. He won the IBJJF World Championship back in 2018 and although he hasn’t been able to repeat that success, he’s stood on the podium at every single edition since then. He’s a permanent fixture at the top of the sport and it’s hard to imagine him going out before the semi-finals of this tournament at the very least. Bahiense has already crossed paths with half the bracket as well and with wins against two of them, he stands a good chance of winning the title here.
Prediction: Contender
Fellipe Andrew
Fellipe Andrew is actually moving down from the heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions, where he normally dominates the vast majority of his opposition. He’s actually faced four of his potential opponents in the past and over a total of 9 matches against them, he has a perfect undefeated record. That actually includes a pair of matches against the other favorite in the bracket too, so Andrew has already done more than enough to deserve his status as the favorite to win this tournament.
Prediction: Favorite
Gabriel Brod
Gabriel Brod is far less experienced than the rest of the bracket and in fact, he was promoted to black belt just a little under a year ago by Felipe Pena. He’s had a good run to start his black belt career though and he’s won over 90% of his matches so far, and the only 3 losses he’s suffered have actually come in no gi competition. He represents a new challenge to everyone else in this bracket and it’ll be interesting to see if they can cope with his fantastic straight ankle-locks. That being said, he’s not been tested to this level just yet so he’s not likely to win the entire tournament with such elite opposition waiting for him.
Prediction: Underdog
Leonardo Lara
Leonardo Lara actually became an IBJJF world champion at brown belt before he was promoted to black belt in 2018, but he hasn’t had the same success at the highest level since then. The bracket will likely be very tough for Lara to progress in, because he’s faced some of these opponents before and hasn’t managed to beat them yet. He’s had a total of 7 matches against 3 of them, so he’ll be chasing his first win against several different competitors here and he’ll have to pull something special out of the bag if he wants to win the tournament.
Prediction: Underdog
Gustavo Batista
Gustavo Batista is the reigning IBJJF World Champion at medium-heavyweight and it’s actually the second time that he’s won a gold medal there too. It’s impossible to achieve that level of success without beating the best in the division and Batista should be able to beat most of his potential opponents here. The real difficulty for Batista at BJJ Stars 12 lies in the inevitable matches against the two favorites, Bahiense and Andrew. He’s actually lost all 5 matches he’s had with Andrew and holds a 1-5 record and Bahiense, so while he has the ability to win the tournament it’s still going to be tough to do so when it comes to the most likely final matches.
Prediction: Contender
Francisco Lo
Francisco Lo is a very unpredictable grappler, and he’s capable of pulling out wins against top competitors when he’s in form. He’s submitted some top BJJ black belts like Jacob Couch and Adam Wardzinski in the past, but he’s also lost matches against less well-known competitors too. He has a fast-paced and exciting style so his results often depend on what happens in split-second scrambles, and whether he’s able to come out on top in them. Lo has shown that he’s capable of winning the entire tournament at BJJ Stars 12 but he might go out in the opening round too, so we’re picking him as a real dark horse in this preview.
Prediction: Dark Horse
Uanderson Ferreira
Uanderson Ferreira has been a top prospect for a while now and he was a brown belt beating some of the top black belts in the world for a while before getting promoted in 2023. He’s actually beaten 3 of his potential opponents already too, so depending on how the bracket shakes up it wouldn’t be surprising to see Ferreira make it all the way to the final. It will be tough for him to beat the favorites, but young competitors do often make leaps and bounds in their development in short spaces of time. He’s definitely one to watch for the future though and could easily be winning tournaments like this on a regular basis in just a few years regardless.
Prediction: Dark Horse
Mauricio Oliveira
Mauricio Oliveira is a veteran competitor but he will also likely be one of the smallest men in the division, as he has managed to compete as low as 77kg in the past. He’s still going to be tough to beat and he’s enjoyed some mixed results against his potential opponents in the past. He holds a pair of wins over Lara but has lost to both Lo and Ferreira, so things really could go either way for him based on past performances. If he can make it through the opening round and build some momentum then he might be able to launch a challenge, but it’ll definitely be an uphill battle.
Prediction: Underdog
Superfights
Meyram Maquine vs Samuel Nagai
Meyram Maquine is facing Samuel Nagai in the co-main event of BJJ Stars 12 and it’s also the toughest superfight to predict in this preview. They have met on the mats once before back in the opening round of the Spyder: Road to Black under 65kg tournament, and it was Maquine who emerged victorious then. He won 4-2 on points though and with a few minor changes in the way it played out, Nagai could have come away with the win instead. Nagai has been in fantastic form since then too, winning both the IBJJF World Championship and the inaugural IBJJF: The Crown event. This really could go either way but we’re sticking with Maquine to win again and most likely by a similarly close margin on points.
Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro vs Adriano Silva
Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro is an absolute legend of competitive Jiu-Jitsu, winning three consecutive IBJJF World Championship gold medals from 1999 to 2001. This was actually before Adriano Silva was even a black belt, although he is from the same generation of competitors as Ribeiro. Both men are in their 40s now and this is undoubtedly going to be a really fun matchup between two veterans of the sport, but Ribeiro reached a higher level during his prime and will likely have maintained a higher level up until now as well. Because of that, Ribeiro should be able to come away with the win here.
Piter Frank vs Celso ‘Celsinho’ Venicius
This is another entertaining matchup between two masters competitors and much like Ribeiro, Celso ‘Celsinho’ Venicius was at one point one of the best BJJ black belts on the planet. He won back-to-back IBJJF World Championship gold medals in 2005 and 2006 before adding a third title to his collection in 2008. He’s still been able to compete at a high level quite recently too, taking a win over AJ Agazarm at BJJ Stars 7 and even beating Edwin Najmi at ADCC 2019. Frank is no doubt going to be a game opponent and will do everything he can to get a big win on his record, but Venicius should be able to win this match.
Sabrina Gondim vs Larissa Martins
Sabrina Gondim is relatively new to the highest level of competition in the sport but she’s been coming away with some decent results already. She’s notoriously difficult to submit as well, with Gabrieli Pessanha being the only woman who’s ever managed to do so. Larissa Martins is a pretty fresh black belt too, although she won the IBJJF world championship as a brown belt back in 2022 and has been very active since being promoted. It’s going to be a challenging match for both women and it’s tough to separate them, but Martins should have enough of an edge to come out ahead.
Luiza Monteiro vs Julia Alves
Luiza Monteiro has won every single major IBJJF title multiple times over during the course of her career and she’s a truly fearsome competitor. Julia Alves on the other hand made her name competing all around the world on the AJP Tour circuit and by racking up titles at Abu Dhabi Grand Slam events. This allowed her to compete and win against top black belts while still making her journey through the colored belt ranks and even though she was only promoted in 2022, she still has plenty of experience at the highest level. A win here would be huge for Alves’ career but there’s a reason that Monteiro has stayed on top for so long, and she’s not someone you should ever bet against.
Anna Rodrigues vs Ana Schmitt
She narrowly missed out on a third consecutive IBJJF World Championship in 2023 but since then Anna Rodrigues has put on some fantastic performances on the mats. She’s managed to get off to a great start this year too, as she recently won ADCC South American Trials and booked her place at ADCC 2024. Although Ana Schmitt is a solid grappler who will no doubt be giving this match everything she’s got, Rodrigues is the favorite in this matchup and should be able to come away with the win.
Ygor Rodrigues vs Pedro Veras
Ygor Rodrigues is a very prolific competitor and he’s shared the mats with some of the best grapplers in the world, including the likes of Tommy Langaker and Mica Galvao. That level of experience will undoubtedly serve him well in his match against Pedro Veras, who is a talented BJJ competitor in his own right. This match should have plenty of back-and-forth action between the two men but ultimately, Rodrigues would likely be the favorite to win.
Hugo Souza vs Jeferson Santos
This is a matchup between two talented up-and-coming competitors, both of whom are still making their way through the colored belt rankings. Both Hugo Souza and Jeferson Santos are purple belts, representing Vision Jiu-Jitsu and the Dream Art project respectively. It’s a huge opportunity for both young grapplers to make a name for themselves with an impressive performance so they will both be putting it all on the line to get the win. There’s bound to be a lot of action and the likelihood is that one of them finds the finish, but based on recent performances it seems like it might Souza who gets the win.
The full BJJ Stars 12 event, including all of the matches in the above preview, will be available to watch live on April 27th, 2024 on FloGrappling.
