Two superfights have just been announced for the IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix 2023 on September 1st, 2023 and both of them will undoubtedly produce some fireworks for the fans in attendance and watching at home. The main attraction of the night will undoubtedly be the absolute tournament, particularly because it’s been around a year since the last absolute grand prix. While the attention has been solely focused on that tournament since it was first announced, the IBJJF have been known to include some epic matches in between each stage of their tournaments too.
The next edition of the IBJJF Grand Prix is clearly no exception either, as the first two superfights announced for the event feature some of the best grapplers on the planet. First up is a veteran of IBJJF Grand Prix events, Ronaldo Junior, and he will be facing one of the top Unity Jiu-Jitsu black belt competitors, Sebastian Rodriguez. Although Junior has more experience competing at the highest level of the sport and has been a black belt for much longer, Rodriguez has had fantastic success already and is the reigning middleweight IBJJF no gi world champion after Jonnatas Gracie was disqualified for failing a PEDs test.
The second of the two superfights announced for the IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix 2023 will feature two of the top competitors in the women’s divisions right now, Janaina Lebre and Emily Fernandez. Lebre announced her arrival to the highest level of BJJ competition after putting in a fantastic performance last year, when she won the first female IBJJF Grand Prix event. Fernandez has put in several solid showings on the IBJJF open circuit since being promoted to black belt but she has already met Lebre once before. Lebre won the first match between the two by a margin of 8-2 on points, and it’ll be interesting to see what changes these two competitors have made since that first meeting.
