The IBJJF have just announced that their major professional grappling event, The Crown, will be returning for it’s third edition in 2025. It’s one of the biggest tournaments of the year and definitely the biggest in the gi, with huge cash prizes in every division that attract some of the best competitors in the world. The total prize pool last year sat at over $250,000, with the winners of each of the 6 divisions receiving $20,000 and everyone receiving show money. It’s unclear if they’ll be increasing that prize pool moving forward but even if they don’t, that still ranks as one of the biggest prizes available for gi competitors today.
One huge change that was made last year was that each division was doubled in size from 4 competitors to 8, which also doubled the number of matches that fans were able to watch on the day. The IBJJF also have yet to confirm whether or not this will remain the case, but it was clearly a success last time around so there’s no real reason why it shouldn’t. The date and location have yet to be confirmed as well, but both of the first two editions of The Crown took place in the middle of November and they also both used the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.
The competitors will be announced shortly but there are 6 reigning champions from The Crown 2024 who all stand out as clear favorites to be invited. Whether or not they choose to accept those invites remains to be seen, but two of them in particular are very safe bets. Erich Munis and Gabrieli Pessanha are the only people to win both editions of The Crown so far, dominating the men’s ultra-heavyweight snd women’s super-heavyweight divisions respectively. Given that they’ve both held their titles since the inaugural IBJJF: The Crown in 2023, it stands to reason that they would want to defend them once again in 2025.
The full IBJJF: The Crown 2025 event will be available to watch live on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
