The IBJJF World Championship 2025 will take place from May 29th to June 1st, 2025 and we’ve put together a full preview of every division in the world’s most prestigious gi grappling event. There’s several elite grapplers in every weight class and dozens of storylines worth paying attention to as the brackets unfold. Most of the reigning champions from last year will be returning in an attempt to defend their titles, while there’s also a handful of competitors looking to complete their IBJJF grand slam run this year as well. Hundreds of elite black belts will be fighting for just 19 gold medals, and the ability to secure their place in the history books as a world champion.
IBJJF World Championship 2025 Full Preview
Men’s Divisions
Roosterweight
Favorites: The reigning champion in the lightest weight class is Carlos ‘Bebeto’ Oliveira, but there’s 20 other hungry contenders looking to dethrone him. He’s not quite a clear favorite either though, as Thalison Soares is coming in on pretty equal footing. Soares hasn’t had the same level of success as Oliveira recently but he’s the 2022 IBJJF World Champion and is currently 1-1 against him. Yuri Hendrex is another big name who could surprise a few people by winning his first world title here, although Soares and Oliveira are the most likely final pair.
Dark Horse: Jalen Fonacier is a young contender who seems to improve almost every time he hits the mats, and he actually won the IBJJF Pan Championship this year. He’ll have to beat some of the best grapplers in the world to take home the title here, but he should hit the podium at the very least.
Light-Featherweight
Favorites: There’s 19 men competing at light-featherweight but the main storyline here is Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira attempting to complete his IBJJF grand slam. Not has he won every IBJJF major this year but he’s also the reigning world champion as well. Half of Oliveira’s titles this year have actually been at featherweight, leaving room for Diogo Reis to win the Euros at the start of the year. The series between Reis and Oliveira stands at 3-3 right now but Oliveira has the upper hand in gi matches, so he’s still the favorite to win gold. Shoya Ishiguro won the silver medal at the IBJJF European Championship and although he could spring a surprise here, the most likely outcome is that Reis and Oliveira get the 7th match.
Dark Horse: Malachi Edmond has an outside chance of winning here and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him make it to the podium, but winning a world title will likely require beating both Oliveira and Reis.
Featherweight
Favorites: Meyram Maquine is the reigning world champion at featherweight and he’s the clear favorite out of all 23 competitors. Kennedy Maciel almost won a grand slam last year and even though he’s slowed down a little in the last few months, he’s still the same elite competitor and could end up winning here. Fabricio Andrey actually beat both Maciel and Maquine at BJJ Stars 14 last year in the performance of a lifetime, so he’s clearly capable of winning his first world title if he can repeat that here.
Dark Horse: Isaac Doederlein is a former world champion too, but that was back in 2022 and a lot has changed since then. He’s given Maquine some close matches in the past though and he won a silver medal at Brasileiro 2025 earlier this month, so he’s in good form and could be a real threat.
Lightweight
Favorites: Lightweight is the joint-biggest division at the IBJJF World Championship 2025 and there’s a massive 32 competitors to consider in this preview. There’s no returning champion and the conditions look perfect for Andy Murasaki to finally win the world title he has come so close to in the past. While Murasaki won silver last year, Pedro Maia was one of the bronze medalists. Murasaki has beaten him twice before though and the most recent was at the IBJJF Pan Championship just a few months ago, so he should be able to do so again. The third top contender is another tough challenge for both Murasaki and Maia, as Elijah Dorsey is one of the best American gi grapplers around right now.
Dark Horse: Anything can happen in big divisions like this, especially when there’s someone with a unique style like Espen Mathiesen. He presents a completely different problem to everyone else in the division and if the favorites aren’t careful, Mathiesen will cause an upset.
Middleweight
Favorites: The middleweight champion is absent but Tainan Dalpra is definitely the favorite in this 23-man division. He has had a tough time at Worlds lately after falling short in both of the last two years, but he’s still a two-time world champion. After winning the IBJJF Brazilian National Championship a few weeks ago, Dalpra is also in the hunt for a grand slam as well. His two big threats in this bracket are probably going to be veteran ATOS black belts Rolando Samson and Ronaldo Junior, but Dalpra is 7-0 against them respectively and should continue his streak.
Dark Horse: Yan Paiva won a bronze medal here last year and he’s an excellent grappler, so he has the best chance of causing an upset against the top three. It’s still going to be very tough for him though and given the size of the division, it’ll take a lot just to repeat last year’s finish.
Medium-Heavyweight
Favorites: This is the other biggest division in the IBJJF World Championship 2025, but the favorite in this preview is the reigning champion Gustavo Batista. His main opposition is the man he beat in last year’s final, Jansen Gomes. While Batista chases down his fourth world title, Gomes will be looking for a second and revenge against him at the same time. Although Batista vs Gomes is the most likely final match, Davi Vetoraci might be able to spoil that storyline. He’s the European champion this year but couldn’t beat Gomes in the final at Brasileiro, so he will need to pull off an upset here to get past either of them.
Dark Horse: Matheus Vetoraci is also competing in this weight class and although he isn’t quite the favorite his brother Davi is, he’s still an excellent competitor. He’s medalled at two IBJJF majors already this year and should be able to do the same here at least.
Heavyweight
Favorites: The reigning heavyweight world champion is Adam Wardzinski and he’s also one of the tiny handful of competitors here on the road to a grand slam. There’s 21 other men in the bracket who will all be looking to stop him and there’s one man in particular who has a solid chance. Pedro Machado is 2-2 against Wardzinski and was actually the last man to submit him, so that’s a rematch that will be very interesting. Rider Zuchi is another threat, as he’s a multiple-time bronze medalist here and has even beaten Machado in the past.
Dark Horse: Leonardo Ferreira is still relatively new to the highest level of IBJJF competition but he actually holds a narrow win over both Machado and Zuchi from earlier this year. He’ll have to string together a great run and avenge his two losses to Wardzinski, but he’s definitely capable of doing it.
Super-Heavyweight
Favorites: Super-heavyweight is the smallest men’s bracket surprisingly, with just 14 competitors. There’s no returning champion but Erich Munis won the absolute division last year and a silver medal in this weight class. He also won this division for three years in a row before that, so he’s a pretty safe bet to do again. His biggest threats will likely be this year’s European champion Windson Torres and the Pan champion Nolan Stuart, but Stuart has been on the more impressive run this year.
Dark Horse: Henrique Betta is a very consistent performer and he’s always a threat in any bracket, but this one looks particularly tough with little room for error. He should make it to the podium at least, but it would be a pretty sizeable upset for him to stand on top of it.
Ultra-Heavyweight
Favorites: The heaviest weight class available has 17 entrants and although Seif-Eddine Houmine is last year’s gold medalist, he was only declared the champion several months after the event when both of the original finalists failed PEDs testing. That makes this division very tough to predict, but the most likely winners are two perennial contenders. Both Marcus Ribeiro and Gutemberg Pereira are consistently featured on the podium of IBJJF majors and either one of them could be coming away with their first world title here.
Dark Horse: Everyone should be paying attention to Luis Oliveira here, as he’s really come into his own this year. He won double gold at Euros and actually went 1-1 with Ribeiro at the event so even though he’s not one of the favorites, he could make a deep run based on recent performances.
Women’s Divisions
Roosterweight
Favorites: There’s 14 women competing at roosterweight but with Mayssa Bastos involved, there can only be one clear favorite. Bastos has won Worlds at this weight every year since 2019 and is one of the best female grapplers of all time. Jhenifer Aquino is last year’s silver medalist and she should probably get a similar result this time around, while Thais Loureiro won Euros earlier this year and could make a good run too. They’ll both find it tough against Bastos though, and she’s never lost to either of them before.
Dark Horse: Mariana Rolszt won a bronze medal last year and she’s a solid grappler, so she could improve on that this time around. She’s 0-5 against Bastos with every match ending in submission though, so that’s her biggest challenge to overcome.
Light-Featherweight
Favorites: There’s 13 women competing at light-featherweight and no returning champion, so the division is wide open for the taking. Jessica Dantas won Pans at roosterweight and earned silver medals in the other two majors, so she’s probably the top contender. Brenda Larissa won Brasileiro though and has consistently been a threat over the last few years, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see her win instead. Shelby Murphey is another woman who has a chance of winning though, and she’s become a successful competitor despite just a short time at black belt.
Dark Horse: Mia Funegra has been dominant during her run through the colored belt ranks but this is her first taste of Worlds at this level. She is very much an unknown quantity at this level and might end up carrying that success on, but it’s impossible to guarantee.
Featherweight
Favorites: There’s no returning champion at featherweight and 15 talented grapplers, making it very tough to predict. Larissa Campos won Euros and is always a tough opponent, so she could easily end up running away with it here. The other two winners from this year’s majors are also here though, with Cassia Moura winning Brasileiro and Maria Luiza winning Pans. Any one of these three women has a solid chance of winning gold, and it’ll be interesting to see how this shakes up.
Dark Horse: Margot Ciccarelli is one of the top competitors to come out of Europe in the current generation and she’s always hitting the podium at major events, so there’s no reason this should be any different.
Lightweight
Favorites: Despite announcing her retirement after winning gold last year, Luiza Monteiro has come back to add at least one more world title to her impressive collection. She’s the favorite in this 15-woman bracket but Janaina Lebre is 2-2 against her and actually won their most recent match earlier this year. The other main rivalry going on here is between Lebre and Brianna Ste-Marie, where Lebre currently leads the series 2-1. Ste-Marie is just as much of a threat as Lebre though and either woman could end up in the final.
Dark Horse: Stephanie Faure has been quietly building up an impressive record and has medalled at two majors this year already, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see her do well here.
Middleweight
Favorites: Middleweight is the biggest women’s division at the IBJJF World Championship 2025 and there’s no returning champion to feature in this preview either. Last year’s silver medalist Larissa Martins stands out as the most likely winner but with 22 women in the bracket, anything can happen. There’s some real big threats too; like Gisele Tavares and Elisabeth Clay, who won Pans and Brasileiro respectively. All three of these women are hunting for their first gi world title too, so the competition will be fierce.
Dark Horse: Vannessa Griffin has been steadily building up an impressive record of competition performances and she even won Euros at the beginning of the year. She might not be one of the top favorites here, but she has all the skills necessary to win a world title on the right day.
Medium-Heavyweight
Favorites: Thamara Ferreira won her first world title at this weight class last year and she’s one of the 15 women competing here again this time around. Two women have stood out at the IBJJF majors this year though and either one of them could end up dethroning her. Maria Vicentini took silver behind Ferreira last year but has won both Brasileiro and Pans this year, while Ingridd Alves was the European champion.
Dark Horse: Aurelie Le Vern has been consistently close all year long, winning a silver medal at every single IBJJF major behind Vicentini and Alves. She’s really within inches of winning and if she can fix those tiny mistakes in a short time then she might have a superb performance here.
Heavyweight
Favorites: Tamiris Silva is the reigning heavyweight world champion and although there’s only 8 women in the division, the competition is still fierce. Almost half the bracket have won Worlds before, but the biggest obstacle in the way of Silva winning back-to-back titles is probably going to be Melissa Stricker. Stricker is the 2021 and 2033 champion, so she has a proven track record of consistent success and a 1-1 record against Silva as well.
Dark Horse: Larissa Dias is the other former world champion in the bracket, with her title coming in 2022. She’s 1-2 against Stricker, but both of her losses have been by narrow margins on advantages. She also has a pair of wins over Silva, but both of them were in 2023 and Silva has definitely improved since then. Truthfully it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see Dias winning gold here, even though she’s not quite the top favorite.
Super-Heavyweight
Favorites: With just 7 women competing at super-heavyweight, this is the smallest bracket of the tournament. Gabrieli Pessanha is the favorite as always, as she’s the reigning double champion and has won 5 out of a possible 6 gold medals at IBJJF majors this year. Tayane Porfirio stopped her from enjoying yet another perfect year by beating her in the final of Brasileiro just a few weeks ago, ending a historic four-year undefeated run. This is the most likely final match but seeing as Pessanha holds a 6-2 record against Porfirio, she’s still more likely to win.
Dark Horse: Isabely Lemos is definitely won to watch for the future and she’s already medalled at both Pans and Brasileiro this year. She’s 0-4 against Pessanha though, so it’ll take something really special for her to win gold here.
The full IBJJF World Championship 2025 event will be available to watch live on May 29th to June 1st, 2025 on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
