The IBJJF No Gi Brazilian National Championship 2024 will take place on June 30th, 2024, and we’ve put together a full preview of every division at the tournament. This event will actually be kicking off the IBJJF no gi season and naturally there are plenty of top competitors looking to add another major gold medal to their collection. There are some of last year’s champions returning to defend their titles and plenty of tough opposition looking to stop them, so there should be quite a few exciting matches along the way. With the gi edition of Brasileiro taking place earlier in the year, there’s also some champions from that event looking for a clean-sweep in Brazil in 2024.
IBJJF No Gi Brazilian National Championship 2024 Full Preview
Men’s Divisions
Roosterweight
Favorite: Roosterweight is the smallest men’s division at the IBJJF No Gi Brazilian National Championship 2024 and with just 4 competitors, we’re only picking one favorite in this preview. There’s no returning champion, but Weslei Costa was the silver medalist last year and he should be able to stand on top of the podium this time around.
Dark Horse: Christopher Tran is the other contender in the roosterweight division and although Costa will be the favorite, Tran could very easily end up becoming the champion here instead.
Light-Featherweight
Favorites: There’s no champion returning at light-featherweight either, and again last year’s silver medalist has a great chance of coming away with the title. That man here is Welerson Goncalves, but he does have 9 other elite grapplers standing in his way. His biggest challenge will probably come from Yuri Hendrex, a veteran gi competitor who’s beaten some big names over the years.
Dark Horse: Daniel De Groot might not be a particularly well-known name but he’s one of the top no gi grapplers in Europe. He’s medalled at this event and at ADCC Trials in the past, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him standing on the podium again.
Featherweight
Favorites: There’s 14 men in the featherweight division and even among that tough competition, Julian Espinosa stands out as the most likely winner. He’s an exciting grappler and even recently won a bronze medal at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship, but a win here is far from guaranteed. Sam McNally is another big name competing in the division and after his entertaining breakthrough performance ADCC 2022, he will be a serious threat for the title.
Dark Horse: David Weintraub is a veteran competitor with a ton of experience, something that is invaluable in a major tournament like this. Although it would be surprising to see him win, he could definitely make it to the podium if things go well.
Lightweight
Favorites: Lightweight is another division without a reigning champion in it, so the young Kaua Gabriel will probably attract the most attention The Melqui Galvao prospect has an incredible amount of talent and even though it’s still early days for him, he should still be considered a top contender for the title here. Yigit Hanay has won both a bronze and silver medal at ADCC Trials recently and he’ll be a serious threat to Gabriel here.
Dark Horse: The returning bronze medalist here is Artur Lanes and he will probably hit the podium again, but Gabriel and Hanay will both be very tough opponents for him.
Middleweight
Favorites: The only returning member of the middleweight podium from last year is Pier Paolo Chiappe, the bronze medalist. He should be able have the same success again at least and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get further, but there’s a clear top contender in the bracket. Alexandre De Jesus stands the best chance out of all 19 men of winning the division and he’s coming in on good form after winning the Second ADCC South American Trials earlier this year.
Dark Horse: Nikolas Souza is another student of Melqui Galvao’s who will be looking to gets some big wins here. He might not leave with the title, but he should be able to make a pretty big impact before the event is over.
Medium-Heavyweight
Favorites: Rafael Paganini is the returning champion at medium-heavyweight and he’s the obvious favorite as well. He also won bronze at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship last year and none of the men who stood higher than him on the podium are here. He’ll have a challenge from Servio Tulio though, as he has won bronze medals here last year and in the gi edition this year. It’s worth remembering that this is the biggest bracket at the IBJJF No Gi Brazilian NationalChampionship 2024 with 22 competitors, so anything could happen outside the men in this preview.
Dark Horse: Manoel Junior has had a fantastic year so far and he won a silver medal in the gi here earlier this year, so he will be one to keep an eye on as the bracket progresses.
Heavyweight
Favorites: There’s no returning champion at heavyweight and the top contenders have both moved here from other divisions. Gabriel Brod is dropping down after winning a bronze medal at super-heavyweight last year and alongside him is Iago Duarte, who is moving up after winning a silver medal at medium-heavyweight.
Dark Horse: Sergio Vilas is a frequent face on the superfight circuit and he’s had some impressive appearances. With just 14 competitors in the bracket, there’s plenty of room for him to make a run to the podium at least.
Super-Heavyweight
Favorites: The top contender at super-heavyweight is the veteran Patrick Gaudio, who will be looking to make this a perfect year in Brazil after he won the heavyweight title in the gi earlier on. Elioenai Braz will be his toughest test out of the other 12 men in the division, as he has won a pair of silver medals at ADCC Trials this year and will likely get at least that placement here.
Dark Horse: Eldeson Santino won a bronze medal in this division in the gi and there’s not much room for surprises in the bracket so he should be able to get a similar result. With a little bit of luck and some good choices, he might make it even further.
Ultra-Heavyweight
Favorite: Antonio De Padua is the reigning champion at ultra-heavyweight and he’s the clear favorite coming into the tournament this year too. There’s 8 men in the bracket so with just 3 matches to win, there’s very little room for surprises and De Padua should be able to retain the title.
Dark Horse: Airton Siqueira is a talented competitor and he won’t be an easy match for anyone. It’s unlikely that anyone other than De Padua wins at ultra-heavyweight but if anyone can do it then Siqueira does have a chance.
Women’s Divisions
Roosterweight
Favorite: Thais Loureiro is the only competitor in this division, so she will receive a default gold medal.
Light-Featherweight
Favorite: Jessica Dantas is the reigning champion at light-featherweight and there’s only 3 other women in the bracket this year, so she’s the clear favorite in this preview of the IBJJF No Gi Brazilian National Championship 2024 and she’s expected to repeat that success.
Dark Horse: Barbara Souza won a silver medal behind Dantas last year and she lost to her again later on in the year. She’ll undoubtedly be out for revenge and she should get another silver medal at least, but it’s unlikely that she can dethrone the champion.
Featherweight
Favorite: Thauany Correia is the only woman returning from last year’s podium, and she was the bronze medalist at featherweight. She should be able to win the bracket this year and there’s not many women standing in her way either, as there are just 4 competitors in the division.
Dark Horse: Laura Peretti might be able to cause a bit of an upset if things go her way, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see her standing on top of the podium instead of Correia.
Lightweight
Favorite: Vitoria Vieira won this tournament in the gi earlier in the year so even though there’s no returning champion, there’s still a clear top contender regardless. This is actually the smallest women’s division other than roosterweight, as there are just 2 other competitors in the bracket.
Dark Horse: Melqui Galvao’s team of young stars doesn’t seem to end in this tournament, as Franciele Nascimento is competing here. She will be guaranteed a medal, but this could be her moment to get a huge win.
Middleweight
Favorites: There might not be a returning champion at middleweight but Jamile Lima won the brown belt medium-heavyweight division last year. She will be a big threat but Juliana Teixeira is a veteran competitor and after winning a bronze medal last year, she’ll be the favorite to take home the title.
Dark Horse: It’s always tough for non-Brazilian grapplers to compete in Brazil, but some of them do manage to shine regardless. Rosa Walsh has had some great moments since being promoted to black belt and she’s making the trip here, so it’ll be interesting to see how far she can go.
Medium-Heavyweight
Favorite: There’s no returning champion at medium-heavyweight and this is one of the bigger female divisions with 7 competitors in it. It truly is wide open and any one of the women in it could end up winning, but it’s tough to bet against a veteran like Victoria Montrezor. She’ll have very challenging matches all the way through, but her experience might prove to be the winning factor.
Dark Horse: Luiza Neto is coming into this division at the opposite end of the scale, as she medalled in this tournament at brown belt last year. She’s still largely untested at this level but with such an open bracket, she might be able to make a big impact.
Heavyweight
Favorite: Karen Correia won a silver medal last year and although that would normally make her a clear favorite when there’s no champion returning, she was also the only other woman in the bracket. She should still do very well and may end up winning, but the rest of the field isn’t too far off the pace and any one of them could stand on top of the podium instead.
Dark Horse: Eliza Vasconcelos is a veteran competitor with some great results despite actually being eligible to compete in masters divisions. Although anyone could end up with the title here, Vasconcelos is probably the second-most likely just behind Correia.
Super-Heavyweight
Favorite: Mikaela Barros is the reigning champion in the super-heavyweight division and the top contender, particularly because she beat her toughest opposition last year. A lot has changed since then though, so it won’t be as simple for Barros now that the division is bigger.
Dark Horse: It’s not just that the division is bigger, Roberta Ribeiro was the silver medalist last year and she’s still very early in her career. Rapid development is possible at this stage and she has likely gotten significantly better since then, so this might be her chance to take gold instead.
The full competitor list for every division in this preview of the IBJJF No Gi Brazilian National Championship 2024 can be found here.