The IBJJF European Championship 2026 will take place from January 15th to 24th and we’ve put together a full preview of all the adult black belt divisions taking place at the event. Most of the weight classes are guaranteed a new champion but there are plenty of gold medalists returning from last year’s Euros to defend their title too. As always there’s a wide range of nationalities travelling to Lisbon, Portugal for their shot at glory; with competitors coming in from all across Europe and even Brazil and the United States. It’s going to be a long week filled with hundreds of matches between some of the best grapplers in the world, and there’s a lot to look forward to.
IBJJF European Championship 2026 Preview
Men’s Divisions
Roosterweight
Favorites: The lightest weight class is also the smallest, with just 11 men competing at roosterweight. There might not be a returning champion but Jalen Fonacier is the clear favorite here. He took a silver medal at this event last time but built momentum over the year and finished his gi run by winning the IBJJF World Championship 2025. This should be his division to win but there are a few tricky matches waiting for him and the one that seems most likely to cause him trouble is last year’s bronze medalist Tadiyah Danforth.
Dark Horse: Shay Montague is one of the best grapplers in the UK right now and although he’s become known for his no gi success, he’s an excellent gi competitor too. Montague is coming into this off winning the IBJJF No Gi World Championship 2025 and if he can ride that wave then he might be able to take home his first gi major in Portugal.
Light-Featherweight
Favorites: Although the light-featherweight champion isn’t among the 17 men competing, Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira is moving down after winning featherweight gold last year. He won a grand slam last year across both of those weight classes and is coming in as the clear favorite to win again here. Shoya Ishiguro won silver at this weight last year and will likely give Oliveira a good match; as will top Brazilian contender Anderson Duarte. Both of them should reach the podium but beating Oliveira is a very tall order.
Dark Horse: Malachi Edmond is flying under the radar lately after a fairly quiet year in 2025, but he has won Euros before just a few years ago. He is definitely capable of getting a win over Ishiguro and Duarte though and he’s a real contender to make it to the final.
Featherweight
Favorites: There’s no returning champion here due to Pato moving down in weight, but his teammate Cole Abate is the most likely champion. There’s 19 other men in the division though so anything could happen, and his two biggest rivals are both capable of beating him. Although they’re 1-1, both of his matches with Kennedy Maciel have been decided by advantages and could have easily gone either way. The same could be said for his matches with Sebastian Serpa too, even though Abate won both of them. These three men are almost certainly going to be on the podium, but it’s impossible to predict the exact order.
Dark Horse: Giuliano Spera won a bronze medal at Brasileiro 2025 and could easily do the same again here even in such a big bracket. He will likely be the 4th man on the podium and with a few good decisions at the right time, he might snatch one of the top two spots.
Lightweight
Favorites: Lightweight is the biggest division in this preview of the IBJJF European Championship 2026, with 24 men entered. Jackson Nagai wasn’t here last year but he’s the most likely winner this time around; either him or the returning silver medalist Lucas Protasio. There’s also Pedro Maia in the mix too, and he’s hit the podium of multiple majors over the years so he’s a threat in any bracket.
Dark Horse: Lucas Maquine won a gold medal at the IBJJF Brazilian National Championship last year so he’s more than capable of winning a major gi event right now. The talent pool is generally tougher there too, so Maquine is actually a pretty safe bet to make the podium at least.
Middleweight
Favorites: It’s surprising that there’s just 15 men competing at middleweight but it may well have something to do with the fact that Tainan Dalpra is returning to defend his title. He won another grand slam last year and he looks poised to do so again in 2026, with Euros being the first stop on his way to it. His biggest threat will be probably be Brasileiro bronze medalist Yuri Rodrigues, but truthfully he looks like the obvious winner regardless.
Dark Horse: Dalpra is going to be tough for anyone to beat really, but Matheus Luna is another top competitor who will give him a good match. It’s unlikely Luna wins gold but he should be standing on the podium somewhere.
Medium-Heavyweight
Favorites: There’s 23 competitors at medium-heavyweight and the division is actually pretty open for the taking, as there’s not a lot separating most of these men. Tarik Hopstock is a pretty consistent threat at Euros so he has a decent chance of making a good run, as does last year’s bronze medalist Uanderson Ferreira. There’s also Shane Fishman in the mix too, and he’s always a difficult opponent to prepare for.
Dark Horse: This is probably the division where the dark horse has the best chance of winning gold. Partly because there’s no clear top contender, but also because Eduardo Alves is coming in off winning the brown belt IBJJF World Championship last year. It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if Alves won the whole thing really.
Heavyweight
Favorites: This is another division with no returning champion and out of the 14 men competing, there’s a few likely winners here. Leonardo Ferreira has made a pretty big impact since being promoted to black belt almost 2 years ago and this looks like the ideal chance for him to win his first major. Nolan Stuart had had a similar experience since receiving his black belt though, and he has already had a huge win when he won The Crown 2025. These are the two top contenders and also the most likely final pairing.
Dark Horse: Igor Tanabe is a bit of an unpredictable competitor recently; in that he’s an excellent grappler but has spent more time focusing on his MMA career lately. If he shows up on the top of his game then he could definitely run away with the title.
Super-Heavyweight
Favorites: There’s no returning champion but there’s still an obvious favorite among the 14 men at super-heavyweight; Erich Munis. Munis has looked pretty unbeatable outside of a handful of top competitors over the last few years, and none of them are in this bracket. Marcos Carrozzino is someone Munis will have to watch out for and he should make it into the medal-rounds at least, but Munis has got the better of him in both of their previous matches.
Dark Horse: Harryson Pereira is someone that gets overlooked a lot at this weight but he’s won medals at a few majors in the last few years and fell just short of a medal last time he was here. If he can continue improving then there’s no reason why he couldn’t have a good run here.
Ultra-Heavyweight
Favorites: There’s no returning champion at ultra-heavyweight but Roosevelt Sousa had an excellent year in 2025 that included his first world title in the gi. He stands out as the top contender alongside the man he would have fought in the final of that tournament if not for a disqualification in the semi-finals, Pedro Lucas.
Dark Horse: Anderson Kauan won bronze here last year and will probably do at least that good again; potentially even better if he can overcome the odds and beat Lucas or Souza.
Women’s Divisions
Roosterweight
Favorites: There are 8 women competing at roosterweight and although last year’s champion is back, she isn’t actually one of the favorites. That’s because Mayssa Bastos is dropping down after winning light-featherweight gold here, along the way to winning yet another world title at this weight. The other big contender here is Jessica Dantas, who won silver in the light-featherweight final against Bastos last year. She’s actually won one of the four matches she’s had against Bastos too, so she has the skills to take home the title.
Dark Horse: It might seem odd to have reigning champion Thais Loureiro as the dark horse here, but that’s just how dominant Bastos has been. They actually faced each other last year where Bastos won by a crazy 28-point margin, and Loureiro is 0-2 against Dantas too. She should still win a medal at least, but winning the title would require one ir two big upsets.
Light-Featherweight
Favorites: There’s no champion here after Bastos has left the division and there’s actually a few real contenders among the 9 women competing. Mia Funegra is coming in off making history by winning Worlds at 18 years old last year and although she’s still very early in her career at this level, she’s got a good chance of winning gold. She’ll likely have to get through Rose El-Sharouni though, and her years of black belt experience is going to be a huge factor that could earn her a gold medal.
Dark Horse: Ashlee Funegra is in the same division as her sister and they both actually became world champions last year, showing just how ahead of the curve they are for their age. She’ll only have to face her sister if they both make it to the final and they would potentially just closeout the division from there, but that’s far from a guaranteed outcome.
Featherweight
Favorites: There’s 16 women competing at featherweight, making it the biggest female division in this preview of the IBJJF European Championship 2025. Larissa Campos is the reigning European and World champion and while that would normally be enough to make her a clear favorite, she has to share the spotlight here. Cassia Moura might be young but she’s a consistent threat at every event she enters and it’s not hard to imagine her winning gold here. Finally, Maria Luiza is another perennial contender and she will almost certainly feature on the podium somewhere.
Dark Horse: Laurie Rocha is going to be one to watch in this division, as the young Swiss competitor has won gold here at the lower belt levels before. Winning gold would be an incredible accomplishment given the depth of talent and size of the division, but she might be able to land on the podium somewhere if things go her way.
Lightweight
Favorites: Lightweight is a surprisingly small division, with just 7 competitors entered. There’s no returning champion and the level of competition is fairly even, but Sarah Galvao does stand out. This is her first time here as a black belt after winning Worlds at brown belt last year, but she already got a huge win at The Crown so should be able to win gold here.
Dark Horse: Randryely Souza won a bronze medal here last year and she will probably end up somewhere on the podium again, but she will definitely be the underdog in a direct match with Galvao.
Middleweight
Favorites: There are 8 middleweights competing at Euros and no returning champion, so without any other clear favorites this is another division that’s pretty open for the taking. Stephanie Faure has moved up after winning a silver medal at lightweight so she has a decent chance of winning here, but the middleweight silver medalist Vitoria Nogueira is also back again and in the hunt for an improved result.
Dark Horse: Larissa Martins is an excellent competitor and she can beat anyone in this bracket on the right day, so whether or not she wins gold here will really just come down to a handful of scrambles or sequences throughout the weekend.
Medium-Heavyweight
Favorites: Ingridd Alves is the reigning champion at medium-heavyweight and she finished off the gi season last year with a silver medal at Worlds, but the woman who beat her in the final isn’t here. She has a good chance of winning gold but she isn’t as much of a clear favorite as some of the woken in other divisions.
Dark Horse: Alves might have the slight edge over Maria Vicentini on paper but it really is only a small gap. Not only did Vicentini win Brasileiro last year but she also won the IBJJF Pans last year too. It wouldn’t be too much of an upset if she added another major title to her collection here.
Heavyweight
Favorites: There’s only 6 women competing at heavyweight and Yara Soares is the top contender, as she beats almost everyone who isn’t Pessanha. She wins silver medals behind Pessanha at pretty much every event and now that she’s dropped down to heavyweight, the path to gold is clear.
Dark Horse: Anabel Lopez is still relatively new to the highest level of competition but she’s already had some great results, including a bronze medal at Worlds. She’s actually 1-1 against Soares too and although her win came in no gi competition, she might be able to upset the order here.
Super-Heavyweight
Favorites: Super-heavyweight is almost always the smallest women’s weight class and this year there’s just 4 women in it. The favorite is always going to be Gabrieli Pessanha, the undisputed queen of gi competition. It is worth noting that she looked more vulnerable than ever before last year though, losing two matches including the first submission loss of her black belt career.
Dark Horse: Marina Carraro is a great grappler and she also has the physicality to cope with Pessanha too. Winning would be unlikely of course, but Carraro should put on a good match regardless.
The full IBJJF European Championship 2026 event will be available to watch live on January 15th to 24th, 2025 on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
