The date and location has just been confirmed for the first ever Sapateiro World Championship, and all the action goes down on March 15th, 2025. The promotion has been around for a long time now and has featured some of the biggest names in the sport like Gordon Ryan and PJ Barch. They broke new ground almost a year ago though, as they announced that they were going to put together the biggest event that they ever have. Not only would they be crowning their first ever world champion, but they would also be offering a grand prize of $100,000 to the man who won the title.
It was huge news at the time and it attracted the attention of a number of high-level grapplers, although only those who could make the weight limit of 160lbs would be able to compete. The months since that initial announcement have been an absolute whirlwind, as Sapateiro have put together several qualifier tournaments all around the US. There were some invites held back for the very best competitors in the world, but there weren’t many opportunities available. That meant that the majority of those looking for a shot at the $100,000 grand prize would need to earn their opportunity by beating several of their peers on the same day.
Deandre Corbe won the first qualifying tournament and that really set the standard of competitor who would be entering these events early on. He was soon joined by Julian Espinosa and now several more talented grapplers have earned their places alongside them. The invites for the final spots are still being announced at the time of writing, but Gianni Grippo and Ethan Crelinsten were the first to be revealed. The bracket will clearly be stacked full of some of the best in the world at under 160lbs and fans will get to watch them all compete live at Hotel Flor in Tampa, Florida on March 15th, 2025.
The date and location for the Sapateiro World Championship 2025 was announced in a recent post to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
