The first ever Ocean BJJ Final is coming on September 21st, 2024 and the promotion has just finished announcing an incredible lineup for the tournament. They’ve conducted 6 trials events in Italian cities to allow competitors to book their place in the grand finale, along with hand-picking some special guests from among the best grapplers in the world. There are 20 entrants in the under 80kg division and 17 entrants in the over 80kg division, along with two four-woman tournament brackets at under and over 65kg. All in all, there will be a ton of high-level grappling taking place in Cagliari and all of it will be broadcast live on FloGrappling.
One of the most interesting things about Ocean BJJ is the unique points system that focuses on rewarding deep submission attempts above all else. Competitors will be awarded one point per deep submission attempt and one point for any traditional point-scoring position or transition (takedown, sweep, mount etc). The intriguing element is that the points scored for positions and transitions will only matter if the points scored from submission attempts is equal. This means that competitors are always incentivised to hunt for the finish instead of relying on scoring points in the traditional manner, and a deep submission attempt is worth more than any amount of positional dominance.
The Ocean BJJ ruleset will undoubtedly present some unique challenges and may well change the way that some competitors approach their matches, particularly against the seasoned veterans in the lineup for 2024. The matchmakers behind the promotion have done a great job in selecting their special guests too, as they’ve picked renowned submission hunters. The under 80kg division has top Norwegian competitors Espen Mathiesen and Tarik Hopstock, both of whom are among the best in the world at their particular styles. Mathiesen has a phenomenal guard and dangerous back-attacks, whereas Hopstock has lethal leglocks and is the inventor of the Tarikoplata.
Marcin Held has also been invited to the under 80kg division and the Polish MMA veteran is another elite leglocker who will be very tough to deal with. The final special guest at this weight is Fabyury Khrysthyan, a top prospect and IBJJF No Gi World Championship winner at brown belt last year. The over 80kg division has equally incredible special guests too, starting with the most successful male grappler in the UK right now; Eoghan O’Flanagan. As a top-four finisher at ADCC, the expert leglocker has reached a level that very few British competitors ever have.
O’Flanagan is joined by another Norwegian grappler, Tommy Langaker. Although Langaker has been one of the top European gi competitors for quite some time, he has made an even bigger name for himself as a well-rounded no gi grappler in recent years. This bracket also has a brown belt IBJJF No Gi World Champion in Luccas Lira, who also happens to be an ADCC veteran as well. Manuel Pilato is the final special guest here, and he’s earned his invite by being one of the most well-respected grapplers in Italy. Pilato is a Polaris veteran with years’ worth of submission wins against highly-skilled opponents.
Although those eight men are the ones that everyone will be paying attention to as the two brackets unfold, there are plenty of dangerous grapplers elsewhere in the tournament too. Francesco Bartolotta is another Polaris veteran who will be competing at under 80kg, and he’ll be joined by UWW grappling world champion Jakub Najdek. Pedro Dias is one of the top contenders at over 80kg, but he has equally tough opposition from the likes of top brown belt prospect Moritz Kollensperger. There’s so much talent throughout both brackets in fact, that it’s impossible to predict who’s going to make it to the top.
Pawel Jaworski is another name to watch, particularly because he’s actually competing in both the under and over 80kg divisions. He won two separate editions of the trials events in different weight classes and elected to accept both invites, while Gamila Kanew did exactly the same and she will be competing at both under and over 65kg in the women’s divisions. She has some tough opponents in the lineup for both divisions though and she could have anywhere up to four matches at the Ocean BJJ 2024 Final, all against talented female competitors.
Full Ocean BJJ 2024 Final Lineup
Men’s Divisions
Under 80kg
Espen Mathiesen, Tarik Hopstock, Marcin Held, Fabyury Khrysthyan, Alessio Sachetti, Maicol Benetti, Edoardo Honegger, Jakub Najdek, Mustafa Ciplak, Christian Frillici, Pawel Jaworski, Mateusz Flaga, Francesco Bartolotta, Matteo Pezzati, Tomas Smirnovas, Ivan Crotti, Alain Masha, Bruno Amaddeo, Matteo Adami, Oleg Bruma.
Over 80kg
Eoghan O’Flanagan, Tommy Langaker, Luccas Lira, Manuel Pilato, Alessandro Casati, Adrian Harizi, Simone Casini, Moritz Kollensperger, Mateo Parolin, Mattia Florena, Pawel Jaworski, Pedro Dias, Max Arnold, Claudio Conti, Colin Lozzi, Fabio Pititto, Samuel Curelariu.
Women’s Divisions
Under 65kg
Giulia Angiolini, Emaa Rosini, Gamila Kanew, Raluca Bianca Rosca.
Over 65kg
Sara Ghaffari Far, Gamila Kanew, Francesca Recchi, Emanuela Scioli.
