Four excellent grapplers have just been confirmed as the coaches for Season 8 of PGF, and the lineup has undergone a full change. Last season’s coaches were all legends of the sport who have been training and competing for decades, whereas there’s an interesting mixture this time around. The four men all come from completely different generations of BJJ history and two of them are actually active elite competitors right now, with both of them having PGF experience. Each man will be able to bring something different to his team and now that the season will take place over twelve weeks from July 23rd to August 12th, 2025, their impact will be even bigger than ever before.
The most experienced coach in the lineup is Amilcar ‘Mica’ Cipili, a 6th degree black belt under Royler Gracie who is the head instructor of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Las Vegas. He has trained under a number of key figures in the early days of Jiu-Jitsu’s growth like Rickson Gracie and Pedro Sauer, giving him an incredible amount of knowledge. The other veteran is also the coach with the highest no gi accomplishment, and that’s American BJJ 4th degree black belt Robert Drysdale. As an ADCC absolute world champion, Drysdale knows exactly what it takes to succeed at the highest level of the sport.
The other half of the coaches lineup for PGF Season 8 actually both made it all the way to the Playoff finals in Season 6. The first man up is Renato Canuto, who is known for being one of the most fast-paced and exciting grapplers in the world. Where Canuto sent out in the quarter-finals of Season 6; the final coach actually won the title that time around. Andy Varela is one of just a handful of grapplers who have battled through the 15-match gauntlet of the PGF and come out on top. He has a much more aggressive style but he also pushes the pace relentlessly, making him an excellent coach for the stacked lightweight roster.
PGF announced the full lineup of coaches for Season 8 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
