Reigning ADCC world champion Ffion Davies has just been promoted to first degree BJJ black belt by her coach, JT Torres, at Essential Jiu-Jitsu. While degrees are given out based on time-served as a black belt, it appears as though Davies’ first one is actually quite late. The regular time period required to receive the first degree is 3 years, but Davies was actually promoted to black belt on November 27th, 2018 so would have been eligible to receive this around 18 months ago.
Davies quickly established herself as one of the top competitors in the sport back then, as she won the IBJJF no gi world championship almost immediately after being awarded her black belt. That made her the first British and Welsh competitor to ever win a world title at adult black belt, and she’s continued to make history throughout her competitive career. She had one of the best debut years at black belt that anybody has ever had, including becoming the first European competitor to ever win the IBJJF Brazilian National Championship.
Davies also became the first UK national to win a medal at the ADCC world championship when she managed to earn silver in the under 60kg division in 2019. The biggest achievement of her career came at ADCC 2022 though, when she came back even stronger and won a gold medal in the division. She put on one of the most impressive performances of the entire tournament, winning her first match by submission and the remaining two matches by wide points-margins without conceding any in return. Davies is just 28 years old and still has plenty of time remaining in her competitive career, so it’ll be interesting to see what she manages to do over the next few years.
Ffion Davies announced the news that she had been promoted to first degree BJJ black belt in a recent post to her official Instagram account:
