Gabrieli Pessanha is going to put her absolute title on the line against Tayane Porfirio in one of the biggest matches on the card at BJJ Stars 15 on April 26th, 2025. There aren’t many women more deserving of a shot at the champ in the gi, especially because Pessanha has won double gold at every IBJJF major for the last 3 years. That hasn’t left much room for any other contenders to really emerge but Porfirio is a veteran competitor who was at the top of the game when Pessanha was still a colored belt. Like Pessanha, Porfirio has also won double gold at the IBJJF World Championship more than once during her career.
The two women have plenty of history with one another too, as they’ve actually had 5 matches dating all the way back to 2021. Porfirio won their first match back then and to this day she remains one of just 3 woman to beat Pessanha in her black belt career. She hasn’t been able to replicate that success since then and Pessanha has won all of their other 4 matches, although none of them have ended in submission. Porfirio is clearly capable of getting the win over her but with their previous track record and the run that Pessanha is on, Pessanha is still the clear favorite.
This will be the first time that Pessanha has attempted to defend the promotion’s absolute title too, as she won a grand prix tournament to claim it back at BJJ Stars 11. Porfirio was actually on the opposite side of that bracket at the time, although she couldn’t make it past the semi-final and didn’t get the chance to stand in Pessanha’s way. This isn’t the only title on the line at BJJ Stars 15 either, as Adam Wardzinski will challenge Erich Munis for the men’s absolute title. There will be several other superfights taking place throughout the night as well, but the final main attraction is a stacked no gi middleweight grand prix under ADCC rules.
BJJ Stars announced the news that Tayane Porfirio and Gabrieli Pessanha were going to compete for the women’s absolute title at BJJ Stars 15 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
