Who are the top black belts under 25 years of age? It’s a tough question but we did some research and put together a list of the young athletes we feel are rocking the game right now. 

Drawing on our expert knowledge of the sport we’ve included athletes from around the world. Some are brand new to the black belt division while others have already conquered multiple world titles! 

An interesting fact to consider is that the average age of the athletes on this list is a mere 22 years, 3 months and 8 days! 

It’s important to stress that is not designed to be a ranking – but we have rated those included based on the following criteria: skills and abilities, achievements to date, and potential for the future. 

Stay tuned as tomorrow we’ll release the athletes we think are the top 10 black belts under 25 years of age!



Photo: Richard Photography

25. Mansher Khera
Born 15. Apr 1992, age 23

Khera is one of key members of Marcelo Garcia’s ‘dream team’, a number of his top competitors who were all recently promoted to black belt. 'Munchie' won brown belt no-gi Worlds in 2014 in his weight class (middleweight) and the absolute, conquering the latter without conceding a single point en route to gold. As expected from a Garcia student he’s got a great X-guard but likes to invert and spin underneath his opponents. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--



Photo: Mike Calimbas

24. Mahamed Aly
Born 11. Jan 1994, age 21
If Aly’s name sounds familiar it’s because he was named after the all-time great heavyweight boxer. His parents must have been fortune-tellers, as Aly grew to be a heavyweight and is one of the most physically imposing grapplers on this list. He won double gold as a brown belt at Worlds and the Europeans this year among a host of other titles. From Rio, he currently lives in Baltimore training with Team Lloyd Irvin and received his black belt in September of 2015. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--



Photo: Sawada Ken / BJJ Spirits

23. Tomoyuki Hashimoto
Born 20. Apr 1993, age 21 

The lone Japanese entry on this list is newly-promoted black belt Hashimoto. Unusually for a Japanese BJJ practitioner he trains jiu-jitsu full-time, teaching and training out of the well-known Carpe Diem gym in Tokyo. He’s been described as “no strength, pure technique” and won IBJJF Worlds as a brown belt. Most impressive was that he won the roosterweight division finishing all of his matches by submission. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--



Photo: Marco Aurelio Ferreira

22. Felipe Cesar
Born 14. Aug 1992, age 23

Owner of the meanest kneebar on this list, Cesar is a ‘sapateiro’ (Brazilian nickname for someone who hunts for leglocks). He performs better in no-gi than in the gi, winning the black belt absolute this year at the IBJJF Sao Paulo Open, and double gold the Brazilian Nationals in 2013 as a brown belt. Probanly his biggest moment came making it to the finals of the ADCC trials in Sao Paulo this year, losing by decision to this year’s openweight winning Claudio Calasans in the finals and submitting four of his five opponents along the way. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--



Photo: Anderson Almeida

21. Yago de Souza
Born 7. Sep 1992, age 23

Yago and Wellington at #25 have been teammates for some years and stylistically they’re very similar. While Luis was Cicero’s up-and-comer at lightweight, de Souza is the team’s new young gun at middle. He's put in some amazing performances at brown belt, beating the likes of Dillon Danis by points in the gi in April. Along with Luis, Yago was promoted to black belt in June of this year. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--





20. Tanner Rice 
Born 2. Jan 1993, age 22

Rice got his black belt from one of the all-time best featherweight grapplers in the game, Rubens ‘Cobrinha’ Charles, at the tender age of 19. The promotion came shortly after he became a 2012 World Champion in the adult brown belt lightweight division. Rice teaches alongside his two younger brothers at their family-owned gym in Redding, California. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--





19. AJ Sousa
Born 30. Jul 1992, age 23 

After making a name for himself as no-gi world champ at brown belt in 2013, Sousa solidified his position as one of the toughest grapplers in his weight class on the American circuit with gold medal performances at IBJJF Opens in Dallas, Mami, Las Vegas and a double gold win at the UAEJJF US Nationals this year. Sousa came up under Pablo Popovitch, taking over his Florida training center when the ADCC champion relocated to the Middle East. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--



Photo: Hywel Teague

18. Dillon Danis 
Born 22. Aug 1993, age 22

Mega-talented Danis was one of Marcelo Garcia’s ‘dream team’ of brown belts and is widely tipped as world champion material at the highest level. The New Jersey native was promoted to black belt in May this year and impressed analysts by handily tapping out UFC fighter Joe Lauzon on Metamoris. Many would probably argue he deserves to be higher on the list, but with a lack of achievements at black belt so far we’re waiting to see what Danis has got to offer at black belt. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--



Photo: Mike Calimbas

17. Michael Liera Jr. 
Born 29. Sep 1993, age 22

Liera Jr is one of the many young competitors training out of Andre Galvao’s ATOS gym in San Diego. He joined Galvao as a purple belt and soon became an assistant coach at the facility. He’s a tough and capable competitor in both gi and no-gi and he’s known for his super technical spider and de la riva guard work. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--





16. Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa
Born 13. Feb 1992, age 23 

From Roraima in the North of Brazil, ‘Hulk’ got his nickname due to his very physical style of grappling. He crushed the brown belt circuit in Brazil and the US (he won double gold in every IBJJF event in 2015) and after getting his black belt he moved to San Diego to join the ATOS crew and train under Galvao. As you’d expect from someone with his nickname, he loves his takedowns and pressure passing. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--



Photo: Angelo Costa

15. Edwin Najmi 
Born 22. Dec 1992, age 22

Though he’s known for his killer flying triangle Edwin Najmi is a well-rounded young grappler with solid passing and sharp submissions skills from top or bottom. His long legs give him a tricky guard and he’s dangerous with everything from the de la riva guard to triangles. Training with Romulo Barral in Los Angeles, he cleared up winning Europeans and Pans, before being promoted to black belt on the podium after winning 2015 Worlds at brown. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--





14. Mikey Musumeci 
Born 7. Jul 1996, age 19

The youngest competitor on the list, Musumeci stunned the world when he beat Joao Miyao in the finals of the American Nationals this year – amazing, considering it was Musumeci’s first tournament as a black belt! He’s won Worlds at every belt level from blue to brown, and only three years ago he was competing in the juvenile division. When he’s not training full-time by day, he’s studying at night to become a doctor.

IBJJF Ranking

--





13. Magid Hage
Born 26. Feb 1993, age 22 

Brazilian-born Hage has lived in San Diego from a young age and figuratively grew up in the Gracie Barra network under his gym-owning father. One of Gracie Barra’s best young black belts, Hage earnmed his black belt in 2013 and is notorious for his use of the baseball bat choke, a sneaky attack that has caught out (and sometimes, put to sleep) high-level opponents such as Zak Maxwell and Clark Gracie. 

IBJJF Ranking

--



Photo: Hywel Teague

12. Victor Honorio
Born 12. Oct 1993, age 21

Honorio exploded onto the radar in May of this year when he entered the Copa Podio Heavyweight Grand Prix as a brown belt. He blew through the opposition, even beating heavy favourite Felipe ‘Preguica’ Pena in the group stages of the competition, ultimately taking silver overall. With a background in wrestling and powerlifting, Honorio is a physical fighter who overwhelms his opponents with dynamic passes and copious amounts of pressure. 

IBJJF Ranking 

--



Photo: William Burkhardt / BJJPix

11. Victor Silverio 
Born 3. Jul 1991, age 24 

GF Team has a habit of putting out tough, dynamic and aggressive competitors, and Victor Silverio is one of their best known. Though major titles have yet eluded him, he’s always a strong competitor who makes it through to latter stages of big tournaments and he placed third at the Copa Podio Middleweight Grand Prix in 2014 beating the extremely tough Gilbert ‘Durinho’ Burns along the way. 

IBJJF Ranking 




Agree or disagree? Let us know what you think in the comments! 

Part two of 25 Black Belts Under 25 Years of Age is coming tomorrow!