The IBJJF No Gi Absolute Grand Prix 2026 took place on February 26th, 2026 and the results saw a new champion get crowned. The promotion put together an excellent bracket but there weren’t any major surprises at any stage, as the top contenders all delivered on their promise. There were also some great superfights booked too, starting off with some top coloured belt prospects on the preliminary card. Then in the first black belt match, Mateo Cardona used some beautiful sweeps to outscore Leonardo Souza. The pace picked up even higher after that though; with the next few superfights ending in finishes.
Ashlee Funegra and Sarah Galvao both put on flawless displays in their gi matches and both got the finish with armbars, submitting Yasmyn Castro and Maria Vicentini respectively. The only no gi superfight of the night was another female matchup and although Aghata Fernandes gave a great account of herself, Helena Crevar eventually caught her in a D’arce choke to secure the win. The final superfight of the night was between two top young American competitors; Cole Abate and Will Wilson. Both men had their moments of success and it was a pretty close match, but in the end Abate managed to score just one more advantage for the win.
In the grand prix tournament, Victor Hugo shut down Marlon Tajik for a 3-0 win on points in the opening round before locking up a rear-naked choke to submit Javier Barter in the semi-final. Pedro Marinho was equally impressive on the opposite side of the bracket, as he stayed in control throughout his match with Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira for a 2-0 win before heel hooking Gustavo Batista in the quickest finish of the night. The final might have been the one that everyone predicted, but it went very differently to how most people would have pictured it.
Both men were happy to work on the feet and Marinho hit a lovely duck-under to a throw in the first minute, but Hugo bounced back up quickly. It was enough for Marinho to score an advantage and he maintained that lead right the way through the first half of the match. That’s when disaster struck, as a miscommunication led to Marinho turning to look to the referee and Hugo tackled to the floor and mounted as soon as he did. Marinho reguarded and swept Hugo but was swept in return when he tried to attack the legs, and Hugo racked up a huge score of 15-2 by passing to mount. The match ended there and Hugo was awarded both the grand prix title and the $50,000 grand prize.
IBJJF No Gi Absolute Grand Prix 2026 Full Results
Victor Hugo defeats Marlon Tajik via Decision – 3 to 0 on Points
Javier Barter defeats Nick Hartman via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Pedro Marinho defeats Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira via Decision – 2 to 0 on Points
Gustavo Batista defeats Michael Pixley via Decision – 2 to 0 on Points
Semi-Finals
Victor Hugo defeats Javier Barter via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Pedro Marinho defeats Gustavo Batista via Submission – Heel Hook
Final
Victor Hugo defeats Pedro Marinho via
Superfights
Cole Abate defeats Will Wilson via Decision – 2 to 1 on Advantages
Helena Crevar defeats Aghata Fernandes via Submission – D’arce Choke
Sarah Galvao defeats Maria Vicentini via Submission – Armbar
Ashlee Funegra defeats Yasmyn Castro via Submission – Armbar
Mateo Cardona defeats Leonardo Souza via Decision – 4 to 2 on Points
Dominic Manno defeats Luan Veras via Decision – 2 to 0 on Points
Kellyson Carlos defeats Evan Duncan via Decision – 1 to 0 on Advantages
Natalee Funegra defeats Kaitlyn Schmidt via Decision – 1 to 0 on Advantages
Johnny Anderson defeats Julio Cesar via Decision – 2 to 0 on Points
Asafe Alves defeats JP Tran via Decision – Judge’s Decision
Mick Whelan defeats Isaac Huertas via Submission – Triangle Armbar
The full IBJJF No Gi Absolute Grand Prix 2026 event replay, including every match in the above results, is available to watch on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
