The IBJJF World Championship 2023 is well underway and the absolute division brackets have just been released, ready for the athletes to battle it out over June 3rd and 4th, 2023. As is customary for major IBJJF events, the absolute division lineup has been finalised before the other weight classes have come to a conclusion and some of the athletes competing may end up winning their own divisions before they step on the mats for the absolute. With several incredible matches booked for the regular weight classes already, it was always a guarantee that the absolute division would be stacked with top talent.
IBJJF World Championship 2023 Absolute Brackets
The absolute division at the IBJJF World Championship is always full of surprises and 2023 will almost certainly be no exception. A lot will depend on the outcome of their regular weight classes too, as athletes can ride a wave of success into huge achievements later on or maybe even be fired up after a disappointing early exit from their division. Regardless, there are still some competitors who stand out as the most likely winners of both the men’s and women’s absolute before they even hit the mats and here we’ll look at who they are.
Men’s Absolute Division
There’s a little additional intrigue surrounding the men’s absolute division at the IBJJF World Championship in 2023, thanks to Nicholas Meregali challenging the winner to a $20,000 superfight as their next match. It’s a very difficult division to call really, primarily because none of these men have ever won the absolute before. Those who stand out as the most likely winners are returning champions though, as Erich Munis, Kaynan Duarte, and Victor Hugo all won gold medals in their respective weight classes for the last two years in a row. There are plenty of other top grapplers who could feasibly win the division too though and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Pedro Alex, Elder Cruz, or Guilherme Augusto standing on the podium.
Women’s Absolute Division
Gabrieli Pessanha is the obvious favourite to win the women’s absolute division at the IBJJF World Championship 2023 but there’s plenty of difficult opponents waiting for her in the bracket. Depending on how the other matches go, she might have to beat some top grapplers like Melissa Stricker Cueto and Maria Malyjasiak just to book her place in the final to begin with. The other side of the bracket isn’t any easier either, with Amy Campo, Elisabeth Clay, and Ana Vieira all standing out as potential finalists. While it’s not smart to bet against Pessanha because she’s looked unstoppable in recent years, any one of these women could provide an upset on the day.
The full brackets for both the male and female absolute division at the IBJJF World Championship 2023 were released in a post to the official Instagram account of FloGrappling:
