The IBJJF European Championship 2023 is slowly coming to an end and the cut-off for registration into the absolute division has now closed, meaning that the full lineup for both the men’s and women’s openweight divisions can be confirmed. The men’s absolute division has a staggering 28 competitors while the women’s has an impressive 13, with each one containing athletes from a wide range of regular divisions. The adult black belt divisions will be spread across January 27th and 28th, 2023, while both absolute divisions will take place on the final day of the 28th.
The men’s absolute division is pretty tough to call, but Kaynan Duarte and Mason Fowler are the favourites to win the two heaviest divisions at Super-Heavyweight and Ultra-Heavyweight respectively. That means that these two will likely have the best chances of winning gold in the absolute division too, but this is where things get much more unpredictable. Seif-Eddine Houmine is a tough challenge for anyone and there’s likely to be some interesting challenges with young competitors like Rider Zuchi and lighter athletes like Tarik Hopstock in the mix too.
The favourite to win the women’s absolute division at the IBJJF European Championship 2023 is much clearer, as Gabrieli Pessanha has been absolute unstoppable recently. She is the returning absolute champion from 2022 and she won over fifty matches in the gi last year without losing a single one, earning her ‘Female Grappler of The Year – Gi’. It’s unlikely that anyone stops her, but with Elisabeth Clay and Nathalie Ribeiro both competing as well, she will definitely have several tough matches to retain her title.
IBJJF European Championship 2023 Absolute Division Lineup
Men’s Absolute Division
Tyron Elliot
Bruno Lima
Pedro Cadete
Gabriel Henrique Oliveira
Harryson Pereira
Kaynan Duarte
Pedro Machado
Mason Fowler
Pavel Kalesnik
Alexandre Molinaro
Christiano Moreira
Jansen Gomes
Francisco Lo
Vinicius Liberati
Luiz Bonfim Junior
Vinicius Lessa
Luis Cantareira
Rider Zuchi
Tarik Hopstock
Marcos Carrozzino
Seif-Eddine Houmine
Eric Bergmann
Eduardo Roque
Cleyton Flores
Pedro Bisneto
Sebastiao Batista
Women’s Absolute Division
Maria Malyjasiak
Elizabeth Mitrovic
Leticia Cardozo
Elisabeth Clay
Luiza Monteiro
Nathalie Ribeiro
Vannessa Griffin
Thalyta Silva
Sabatha Lais
Gabrieli Pessanha
Maria Claudia Almeida
Claire-France Thevenon
Gabriele Schuck
The full brackets for the IBJJF European Championship 2023, including the men’s and women’s absolute division lineup above, are available here.
