Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu put on an excellent showcase of elite grappling talent at the IBJJF Masters World Championships 2021 when he defeated every opponent he came up against and won gold medals in both his weightclass and the absolute division. The event is one of the most exciting and interesting in the Jiu-Jitsu calendar despite the fact that it’s not the most prestigious age bracket. As the years have gone, several elite athletes have aged out of the adult division where the majority of the attention goes and as a result, the masters division is a stronger field of competitors than ever before.
Every year that goes by, more and more incredible grapplers reach the age of 30 and start to compete in the masters division. Now, the IBJJF Masters World Championships regularly features legends of the sport like Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu, Rafael Lovato Jr, Clark Gracie, and Gregor Gracie. Even the Miyao brothers have recently started competing in masters divisions alongside each other, although they do still compete and win in the adult division and on the superfight circuit as well. That’s what Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu does as well, he might have won double gold this past weekend but he also regularly proves that he’s still one of the best Heavyweight grapplers on the planet despite the fact that he’s 40 years old.
It’s not as if Cyborg’s victories in the adult division are not few and far between either, as just earlier this year he won gold in his weightclass and silver in the absolute at the IBJJF no gi World Championships. Back in 2020, Cyborg was so successful that he earned male grappler of the year at our end of year awards ceremony, beating out elite grapplers around the world in their athletic prime. Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu posted a celebration of his phenomenal performance at the IBJJF Masters World Championships in a recent post to his official Instagram account: