EBI 24 is scheduled for July 27th, 2025 and the full lineup of elite bantamweights competing in the tournament has now been announced. The original promotion under the Eddie Bravo umbrella has a long history in this division and Geo Martinez was the first champion there. He will not be returning this time around but there’s plenty of talented grapplers all vying for their own place in history. There’s a few competitors with a good chance of winning but man stands out as the most likely champion, as he’s coming into this tournament immediately off winning his first EBI title in a higher weight class.
EBI 23 featured a featherweight tournament and it was Demian Balderrama who ran through that bracket just a few months ago, submitting all four of his opponents. Not only has he already done it before but he should find it a little less taxing this time around, as he will be facing smaller opponents. There’s still some very tough matches though, particularly from rising stars Isaac Cordova and Yuki Takahashi. Both of them are exciting grapplers who will present different problems for anyone they face, and Takahashi actually made it to the second round of the Combat Jiu-Jitsu Bantamweight World Championships in 2023.
Takahashi isn’t the only Combat Jiu-Jitsu veteran in the lineup for EBI 24 either, as Luigi Gonzalez had his fair share of experience there and Marcelo Cohen has more than almost anyone else. There’s a few MMA fighters involved too, ranging from UFC veterans Edgar Chairez and Jimmy Flick to regional circuit stars Uriel Uribe, Jose Sandoval, and Luis Pinango. Kevin Shaughnessy, Gavin Teasdale, and 10th Planet black belt Manny Vazquez are all exciting grapplers making the journey over from the United States, while Mario Carrasco makes his debut and Alexis Torres gets the invite back after getting the quickest submission at EBI 23.
The full EBI 24: The Bantamweights event, including all of the above lineup, will be available to watch live on July 27th, 2025 on UFC Fight Pass.
