The Crown is scheduled for November 19th, 2023 and the IBJJF have put together yet another fantastic division, this time for the heavyweight bracket at the event. There are already some fantastic grapplers competing in the other divisions and heavyweight is going to be no exception, with the early standout being the reigning IBJJF World Champion from 2023. Although it won’t be easy for him, Fellipe Andrew has proved time and time again that he belongs to be counted among the best BJJ competitors in his weight class and this will be another opportunity for him to shine.
There’s another former IBJJF World Champion competing in the division too, as Gustavo Batista has also been invited. He has already been beaten by Andrew four times in the past too, so he’ll no doubt be eager for some revenge against him. Uanderson Ferreira will also be competing and as a rising star in the sport, it’ll be interesting to see what he’s able to do against the other more experienced grapplers. Andrew has beaten Ferreira in the past as well but Ferreira is tough to beat for anyone and he already holds a win over the final entrant, fellow exciting prospect Francisco Lo.
This heavyweight lineup is just one of six divisions at The Crown, and several others have already been confirmed. The first to be announced was the featherweight division, which is one of the most impressive as it features 4 former IBJJF world champions. It was less than a week later that the first female competitors were revealed and the women’s lightweight division was announced. Almost immediately after that, the men’s divisions reached the halfway point as the lineup for the men’s middleweight division was confirmed as well. This is now the third men’s division and all that remains is super-heavyweight, along with the women’s heavyweight division as well.