Gabrieli Pessanha has just secured her place in the history books by becoming the first person, male or female, to win an IBJJF double grand slam in no gi competition. Winning a grand slam alone, in either gi or no gi, is an incredible achievement that the vast majority of competitors will never manage. It requires a competitor to travel around the world maintaining a perfect record in the four major IBJJF events; where winning just one of them is a huge moment for anyone. She achieved this with a double gold performance at the IBJJF European Championship 2025, as she had already won the other three majors prior to this.
Pessanha not only broke new ground herself, but she also became one of only two people to win every major IBJJF event in both gi and no gi during her career after Rafael Lovato Jr became the first earlier this year. The most impressive part of all of this is that Pessanha is a gi specialist first and foremost, and she only made the transition to no gi competition less than a year ago. In fact, her first no gi match took place at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship 2024 and her pair of gold medals there is what started her grand slam run.
Pessanha was already known as one of the greatest gi competitors in the history of the sport, having won three consecutive double grand slams from 2022 to 2024 and going on a run of 161 matches undefeated. Pessanha has only lost a single match since 2021 to Tayane Porfirio and although that snapped her incredible winning streak, she has beaten Porfirio twice more since then. She remains undefeated in no gi competition now with 20 wins under her belt and it seems like she’s in the process of going on a similar streak in no gi. The big question now of course is whether she will compete at ADCC 2026, as that is the only major title that doesn’t already sit in her trophy cabinet.
The full IBJJF No Gi European Championship 2025 event replay, including Gabrieli Pessanha completing her no gi double grand slam, is available to watch on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
