Jonnatas Gracie will now be returning to competition as he is set to meet Aaron Wilson in the main event of The Tower Grand Prix 3 on April 1st, 2023. It will actually only be the second match that Gracie has taken this year, after he won a decision against Oliver Taza at Who’s Number One: Nicky Rodriguez v Felipe Pena. Aside from that match, Gracie has been absent from competition in 2023. The last time he stepped on the mats before that was back at the IBJJF no gi world championship at the end of 2022, where he put in a fantastic performance to win a gold medal in the medium-heavyweight division.
Despite not competing much over the last few months, Gracie has been in the news regardless. This was because the results came in from testing at the IBJJF no gi world championship 2022, and he was among several athletes who were handed three-year suspensions due failing those tests. He tested positive for metabolites of both exogenous testosterone and nandrolone, as well as other prohibited 19-norsteroids. This means that it will be a long time before anyone is able to see Jonnatas Gracie in IBJJF competition, although he is of course still able to compete in superfights like the main event at The Tower Grand Prix 3.
His opponent at the event, Aaron Wilson, is a veteran competitor who has made appearances on a number of top events like Fight 2 Win, Third Coast Grappling, and Emerald City Invitational. This will be an incredibly tough matchup for Wilson, but it’s a huge opportunity for him to make a statement against one of the best grapplers in his weightclass. Just a week before the match takes place, Wilson has another chance to make an impact as he will also be competing in the Combat Jiu-Jitsu welterweight world championship.
The news that Jonnatas Gracie was going to compete against Aaron Wilson in the main event of The Tower Grand Prix 3 on April 1st, 2023 was announced in a post to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
