The Sapateiro World Championship 2024 Chicago Qualifier will take place on May 25th, 2024 and the full lineup has now been announced. There will be another place in the grand finale available for the whoever manages to emerge victorious, and they will join the two other winners who have already secured their invites. Deandre Corbe won the Florida qualifier after submitting three out of his four opponents along the way, and it wasn’t long before he was joined by the second competitor in the final as Julian Espinosa achieved the same feat when he won the Bethlehem qualifier.
One of the top contenders in the bracket will be Max Hanson, as he made it all the way to the final of the Florida qualifier and will be aiming to do one better than that this time around. He isn’t the only returning medalist though, as top young prospect Sid Tavolaro left with a bronze medal from the Bethlehem qualifier and will be likely to win another medal here. There’s other favorites too of course, as Emilio Hernandez won a silver medal at the IBJJF No Gi Pan Championship last year and Jordan Holy is a veteran grappler who has competed in several major tournaments over the years.
Dylan Cameron and Michael Sainz will also be back for another shot at glory after they both made it to the quarter-finals of the Florida qualifier, while Danny Lyons returns after going out in the opening round of that event. A lot of attention will likely be on 10th Planet competitor Mike John after he was able to put in some good performances lately, while talented brothers CJ and Joshua Murdock will be representing Pedigo Submission Fighting in the bracket. Marcus Wilson and Kyle Perkins will both be eager to make an impact too, as this tournament will be their debut for Sapateiro.
ATOS black belt David Barnes, Combat Jiu-Jitsu World Championship veteran David Garcia, and talented grappler Jason Roberts will be rounding out the bracket. The Sapateiro World Championship 2024 Chicago qualifier doesn’t end there though, as the lineup will also feature an openweight title-fight between Steve Joachim and the reigning champion Andre Porfirio. Joachim actually earned the right to challenge for the title at the Bethlehem qualifier last month, as he won a four-man tournament with a title-shot on the line.
The full lineup for the Sapateiro World Championship 2024 Chicago Qualifier was announced in a series of posts to the promotion’s official Instagram account: