2026 IBJJF Brasileiros Preview: The Best In Brazil Are Ready To Battle

We break down every division at the 2026 IBJJF Brasileiro, including top names and toughest paths in the black belt divisions

Apr 29, 2026 by Joe Gilpin

2026 IBJJF Brasileiros Preview: The Best In Brazil Are Ready To Battle

As the IBJJF Brasileiro in full swing, it's all building up to the black belts - the cream of the crop at the final major of the calendar. There's multiple grand slams on the line, seeding & momentum for Worlds, and the pride of winning in a hub of the jiu-jitsu community in São Paulo. We break down every black belt division for fans, with contenders and favorites to watch out for.

The 2026 IBJJF Brasileiro began April 24th, with black belts taking the mats May 2nd. Every match will be streaming live exclusively on FloGrappling, with action in the juvenile, adult, and masters divisions.

Men's Rooster

#6 Andrew Soares
#10 Oziel Santos
#12 Yuri Silva
#13 Welerson Goncalves
#14 Josue Braga
Italo Almeida
Osamah Almarwai

With a few of the bigger names dropping out, we have a few really interesting roosterweights trying to vie for position going into Worlds. Yuri Silva won this tournament last year and looks to repeat in São Paulo against a much tougher field. Osamah Almarwai returns to the division for the first time this season as well and has always shown a strong ability to win at the majors. Definitely watch out for Italo Almeida as well, he's unranked but he has had a lot of really strong results on the open circuit recently and has won at this event before as a brown belt. His quarter against Silva will be a big early Sunday match.

Men's Light-Feather

#1 Diego Pato
#3 Shoya Ishiguro
#4 Rerisson Gabriel
#5 Gustavo Ogawa
#10 Anderson Duarte
Kleber Barboza
Yur Hendrex
Carlos Junior

Pato is back to continue his stanglehold on the division, having won the previous nine IBJJF majors. A gold medal here secures his third IBJJF grand slam - and with it an incredibly strong Hall of Fame case. He's got a pretty clear shot into the finals with his toughest test likely against Duarte. On the other side, Shoya Ishiguro pulls the two seed after his run at Pans. There's a crazy first round match between European champions Yuri Hendrex (up from rooster) and Gustavo Ogawa of AOJ on Saturday, winner then likely gets Rerisson Gabriel just to make the semifinals against Shoya. Busy division.

Men's Feather

#2 João Mendes
#3 Meyram Maquine
#5 Diego Sodre
#8 Alex Sodre
#9 Eduardo Granzotto
Kaua Gabriel
Guiliano Spera
Sebastian Spera
Cleison Santos
Danilo Moreira

BJJ's craziest weight class is full of tough grapplers ready to stake their claim at being Brazil's best. The two top seeds are the world finalists from 2025, Joao Mendes and Meyram Maquine. That was a razor close decision that went João's way and Meyram has revenge in mind. If he can win this tournament, he could rise all the way back to #1 in the world (given his head to head win against Abate). Watch out for Meyram's match on Saturday - it could be against ADCC Trials champion Kaua Gabriel. Both Sodre brothers are back and on opposite sides of the bracket. Those guys are always right there amongst the best. If either or both opens up and pulls the trigger on more offense, they could definitely see themselves closing out in the finals together. Crazy Saturday match to watch - Sebastian Serpa vs Eduardo Granzotto, Serpa isn't ranked right now but he has been and has many great wins. Granzotto is continuing to prove his place in the top-15, so this is a big match for him early.

Men's Light

#2 Andy Murasaki
#8 Luiz Paulo
Sandrey Silva
Romulo Rocha
Rodrigo Mariani
Leon Larman
Felipe Ribas
Julio Arantes

Andy Murasaki returns for his first IBJJF major under his new team of AOJ. For as amazing as his jiu-jitsu is, Andy has been on a long streak of silver medals and now looks poised to start his season with gold. There's definitely quality guys in this bracket but he's the man to beat here with his strong passing, back takes, X guard, and more.

Men's Middle

#1 Tainan Dalpra
#8 Jose Steve
#13 Yuri Rodrigues
Jonnatas Gracie
Lucas Foguinho
Gabriel Avila
Matheus Luna

Tainan Dalpra, like his AOJ teammate Pato, comes to São Paulo seeking his third IBJJF Grand Slam. It won't be easy but he's the favorite in every match he'll have in front of the raucous crowd. Jose Steve is a rookie black belt with all the confidence in the world, and great skills to match. The Belgian brought the crowd alive at Euros and was one of the most exciting runs to watch - until he ran into Dalpra in the finals. Now he's on Dalpra's home turf with an upset in mind. In his way first round is the world class Jonnatas Gracie, a world medalist making his return after a USADA suspension. Whoever comes out of that one becomes the favorite to make the finals.

Men's Medium-Heavy

#6 Eduardo Alves
#8 Alex Munis
#11 at middle Gabriel Galvão
Danylo Wruck
Uanderson Ferreira
Rui Alves
Jhonathan Marques
Elder Junior
Mikael Rhaillander
Lucas Gualberto
Leo Lara

Eduardo Alves has exploded onto the scene as a rookie black belt, showing all the skills necessary to compete at the elite levels of the sport. He won Europeans in a tough bracket, beating fellow rookie sensation Luiz Victor in the finals after navigating several tough matcups. Now, he pulls the one seed in another very talented division. Watch out for his semifinal where he could have Alex Munis, a clash of our top two ranked athletes heading into the tournament. Munis really broke out at Pans, making the finals after several upsets. On the other side, there's a few lurking contenders but Gabriel Galvão is the two seed after his open class performance at Pans. We haven't seen him against a lot of these medium heavyweights so now he will have to another chance to prove it in his new weight class.

Men's Heavy

#1 Leo Ferreira
#2 Matheus Vetoraci
#4 Pedro Machado
#7 Davi Vetoraci
#9 Rider Zuchi
#13 Wesley Felix
Fellipe Andrew
Mathias Luna
Nico Maglicic
Lucas Norat
Andre Baeta
Igor Ribeiro

We have another return, this time in World Champion Fellipe Andrew! The AOJ athlete has been suspended since the 2024 European Championships and is now eligible again to continue his very impressive IBJJF career. Even after all this time, he still has the one seed. He could have an early one against no-gi World Champ Nico Maglicic so we are going to learn early where he's at - I would lean towards he isn't going to skip a beat. On the other side of that semifinal, it looks likely to be Rider Zuchi or Mateus Vetoraci in a clash of powerhouses. The other side of the bracket gets no easier. Leo Ferreira draws the two seed and looks like a comfortable semifinalist but Pedro Machado and Davi Vetoraci will battle just to make the podium early on Sunday. Those are going to be some great matches and whoever comes out on top of heavyweight is going to be the undisputed number one guy heading into Worlds.

Men's Super-Heavy

#1 Erich Munis
#2 Nolan Stuart
#3 Vinicius Liberati
#6 Lucas Alves
Eldeson Santino
Hygor Brito

It feels crazy that it's the third IBJJF major of the year and Erich Munis has yet to capture a gold medal. Obviously he's still the rightful number one guy at this weight given his track record of success, but he's gotten into the habit of closing out with teammates and giving them to chance to earn their own gold medals. Soldiers has really built a great roster at super heavy, with Erich, Anderson Munis, Vinicius Liberati, and Gabriel Ribeiro all in the top 5. Standing against them with the best chance of winning is Nolan Stuart. He's young, American, and has developed a reputation for having the best omoplata in modern jiu-jitsu. He's shown himself capable of taking out top guys before (with his submission win against Adam Wardzinski) but now he's got a whole new mountain to climb in the prime Erich.

Men's Ultra-Heavy

#2 Gutemberg Pereira
#7 Pedro Alex
#8 Seif-Eddine Houmine
#9 Luis Cantereira
#13 Pedro Lucas
#5 at super-heavy Gabriel Ribeiro
Guilherme Avelino
Anderson Gomes

This ended up being a really good ultra heavyweight class! We have multiple guys who can win here, with Seif-Eddine Houmine looking for his third straight IBJJF major gold medal. His size has been an issue for people to deal with but there are so many beasts here that it will take an extra effort for another championship. Gutemberg is back again after World silver, this time repping CheckMat as he brings his unique mix of technique, speed, and size to every match. There's also so many strong young black belts here too, including Guilherme Avelino and the newly promoted Adrian Roberto. Roberto had been dominating at brown belt this year and now he gets the chance to level up for the first time in Sao Paulo.

Women's Rooster

#1 Mayssa Bastos
#3 Thais Loureiro
#4 Jessica Caroline
Gabby Etzel

A small bracket but packed with intrigue. Thais beat Mayssa at Europeans for the biggest win of her career, a win that put her number one in the world. That ended, though, when she lost to Ana Lima at Pans - pushing Mayssa back to number one given her overall resume. Now, Thaís is back for another round after her first big win and has to deal with an even more motivated Bastos. If Thais can get past the world class Jessica Caroline - who has also beaten Bastos before - then she has all the tools to win again. Mayssa, for her side, gets the chance to avenge that loss and reemphasize her dominance in the lightest weights.

Women's Light-Feather

#2 Ashlee Funegra
#4 Andressa Giurau
#6 Vitoria Assis
#5 at feather Maria Luiza

It really feels like light-feather is entering an era of Funegra girl dominance, with Ashlee winning Euros and closing out in Orlando with Mayssa for first place. She's now back with another gold in mind and another tough field to navigate. Andressa Giurau was in the world finals last year against Mia and has been steadily leveling up since returning from having a child. Vitoria Assis and Maria Luiza are both new to this division, down from feather, and offer experience and power that I don't think Ashlee can match. It remains to be seen if that is enough though.

Women's Feather

#3 at light-feather Mia Funegra
#10 Gabriela Pereira
#12 Giovanah Oliveira

Mia, rather than enter the same division as Ashlee, is moving up to feather for this weekend and looks like the favorite again for gold (provided the size difference is manageable). The real question comes after the tournament; what do Ashlee and Mia do for Worlds? The closeouts there are heavily discouraged and they are both natural light-feathers. Will we see these two in the world finals against each other?

Women's Light

#1 Sarah Galvao
#7 Vitoria Vieira
#10 Stephanie Caroline Faure
Randyrely Silva
Giovanna Parmisano

Sarah Galvão enters Brasileiros with all eyes on her after double gold at IBJJF Pans. Sarah is only in her third official black belt major but is already an overwhelming favorite for lightweight gold. Vitoria Vieira is the two-seed here and very tough, but it seems like Sarah is on a rocket ship to the top of this division here. Her potential open class run will be the most interesting angle for fans at the event as another showdown with Gabi Pessanha looms.

Women's Middle

#2 Lillian Marchand
#3 Elisabeth Clay
#5 Larissa Martins
#8 Gisele Tavares
#10 Vitoria Gabriela
Kamilla Kelly
Alexia Arantes
Angela Correira

Another great division, this time with half of the top-10 in attendance in the bracket. Lillian Marchand was the story at Pans, winning from the last seed after taking gold at no-gi Worlds in December. There she was able to beat Lis Clay in the finals, though Clay was obviously dealing with a knee injury. Now they could meet again in the finals, this time hopefully with more fan attention and more of a showcase of their full skills. To get there, Lillian will have a very tough one against Larissa Martins of DreamArt who beat her in Lisbon on a controversial sweep. While we are talking about rematches, Lis is 1-1 with Gisele Tavares at IBJJF majors and could see her in a rubber match in her own semifinal.

Women's Medium-Heavy

#4 Ingridd Alves
#5 Maria Carolina Vicentini
#7 Sabatha Lais
Giovanna Carniero

Small bracket here with only 8, but plenty of world class black belts in the mix. Maca of AOJ leads as the one seed but she's had issues against Ingridd Alves in the past. I thought Alves and Maca would be the final in Lisbon but both were eventually upset by Denise Krahn - now we could see it finally in São Paulo. Also watch out for Sabatha Lais who has some of the best pressure passing in the women's field.

Women's Heavy

#2 Yara Soares
#3 Tamiris SIlva

We have two of Brazil's best upper weight women in the bracket, with Tamiris Silva and Yara Soares as the likely final here at heavyweight. Soares for a few seasons was stuck behind Gabi at super heavy and has had even better results at heavyweight. I feel like these two and Larissa Dias are the top contenders for the weight heading into Worlds - making this match critical for momentum and seeding in the Pyramid.

Women's Super-Heavy

#1 Gabi Pessanha
#7 Mariana Carraro
Luane Carvalho
Kauany Ramos

The Gabi Pessanha invitational continues at super heavy, with five more women taking their shot at upsetting one of the most dominant athletes in IBJJF history. The big story will be Gabi's potential rebound match against Sarah Galvão in the open class after her loss at Pans. In both matches, it has been decided by a late exchange. I think controlling and scoring early will be key to improving Gabi's odds - but knowing Pessanha she may just come out and win by all submissions double gold again.

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