Kaynan Duarte has just pulled out of the upcoming IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix on September 1st, 2023 and has now been replaced by Paulo Merlin. Unfortunately for the fans, Duarte has decided to withdraw from the event on a little over two week’s notice after receiving the results of a few tests conducted on him recently. Duarte would have been one of the favorites to win the IBJJF Grand Prix and Merlin will no doubt be eager to make an impact as a late replacement in the bracket. As a medalist at both the IBJJF World Championship and the IBJJF Pan Championship, he’s likely to put on a good performance.
Although the IBJJF announced the news that Paulo Merlin was replacing Kaynan Duarte in the upcoming Absolute Grand Prix 2023 first, Duarte gave a statement on it himself:
“Whats up guys! I just want to let you guys know that unfortunately I will not fight the IBJJF GP. First of all, I would like to thank the federation for the invitation and the opportunity, but due to the results of some of the tests that I did with my team, we believe that the best thing now is to give my body the necessary rest and prioritize my health, as there would not be enough time for recovery. Thanks for all the support and messages from each one of you, very soon I’ll be back in action.”
Duarte has had a pretty heavy schedule recently of course, as he recently competed against Nicholas Meregali in the main event match of Who’s Number One 19. Although that was only a single match, obviously a big event like that requires several weeks worth of hard training leading up to it. Alongside that, Duarte is also scheduled to compete in another Absolute Grand Prix at Polaris 25 just a few weeks after the IBJJF event. It makes sense then that he might need a break in between these two events in order to recover fully and not increase the risk of injury.
The IBJJF announced the news that Kaynan Duarte had pulled out of the IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix 2023 and was replaced by Paulo Merlin in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
