The black belts had a historic first day at the 2026 IBJJF World Championship, with dozens of incredible matches and performances worth appreciating. Fans who tuned in or attended live were treated to one of the most action-packed, dramatic days in Worlds history - only fitting for the 30th Anniversary edition of the tournament. We have open class finals set, women's divisional finals set, and men's divisional semifinals set as well - with everything on the line tomorrow in Long Beach, CA.
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The open class finals will feature Erich Munis taking on Marcus 'Scooby' and Gabi Pessanha taking on Tayane Porfirio. Erich is seeking his third straight open class finals championship, though by random chance both of his prior titles have come by injury forfeit. Marcus Scooby seeks his first world title and is very hungry in this match. Gabi and Tayane have both won open class World titles before, and though Tayane is one of a handful of women who have beaten Gabi she comes in still as an underdog. Tayane knocked off Sarah Galvao in the semifinal. Gabi will be hunting her 11th and 12th world titles tomorrow, a record for the women's divisions. If she wins the open class, she ties Buchecha's record of six World absolute championships.
Big favorites like Tainan Dalpra, Diego Pato, and Jansen Gomes all cruised in their divisions on day one, though there was a surprising DQ at medium-heavy that led to Gustavo Batista losing - meaning no trilogy match between him and Gomes this year. Men's feather got really shaken up by the withdrawals of Kennedy Maciel and Meyram Maquine, but Cole Abate, Joao Bisnaga, and Sam Nagai have all advanced to the podium with Yuta Shimada as an unexpected medalist having a brilliant run.
There's another big match set between Janaina Lebre and Sarah Galvão at lightweight after two strong runs through their sides of the bracket. One weight up, Lillian Marchand and Elisabeth Clay have both been on a warpath and now are set for their trilogy match in the World finals. Ashlee Funegra and Mayssa Bastos of AOJ both cruised to the finals, although Ashlee's sister Mia lost a spirited match to Sabrina Gondim.
It was a day packed with upsets, including an early loss by #1 ranked Rerisson Gabriel to UAE Jiu-Jitsu team athlete Khaled Mohammad Alshehhi. #13 Tarcisio Santos, who has only been a black belt for six months, got a narrow victory over #2 Andy Murasaki and he has advanced to the medal rounds - incredible result from the young MAJJ student. Windson Torres was able to snatch a decision win from Nolan Stuart, the 2025 silver medalist, at super-heavy and is onto his first black belt podium. He's Six Blades's best kept secret (but maybe not such a secret now).
World Black Belt Open Class Finals
- Men's - Erich Munis vs Marcus 'Scooby' Ribeiro
- Women's - Gabi Pessanha vs Tayane Porfirio
World Black Belt Men's Semifinals
- Rooster
- Jalen Fonacier vs Yuri Hendrex
- Rodnei Barbosa vs Thalison Soares
- Light-Feather
- Diego Pato vs Seonghyeon Joo
- Gustavo Ogawa vs Khaled Mohammad Alshehhi
- Feather
- Cole Abate vs João Bisnaga
- Sam Nagai vs Yuta Shimada
- Light
- Matheus Gabriel vs Romulo Rocha
- Jackson Nagai vs Tarcisio Santos
- Middle
- Tainan Dalpra vs Matheus Luna
- Natan Chueng vs Jose Steve
- Medium-Heavy
- Jansen Gomes vs Gabriel Galvão
- Wallisson Oliveira vs Enderson Dias
- Heavy
- Luis Felipe vs Nico Maglicic
- Rider Zuchi vs Leo Ferreira
- Super-Heavy
- Harryson Pereira vs Erich Munis
- Windson Torres vs Vinicius Liberati
- Ultra-Heavy
- Seif-Eddine Houmine vs Anderson Gomes
- Marcus 'Scooby' Ribeiro vs Gutemberg Pereira
World Black Belt Women's Finals
- Rooster - Mayssa Bastos vs Jessica Caroline
- Light-Feather - Ashlee Funegra vs Vitoria Assis
- Feather - Sabrina Gondim vs Gabi McComb
- Light - Sarah Galvão vs Janaina Lebre
- Middle - Lillian Marchand vs Elisabeth Clay
- Medium-Heavy - Thamara Ferreira vs Ingridd Alves
- Heavy - Larissa Dias vs Maria Alencar
- Super-Heavy - Gabi Pessanha vs Tayane Porfirio
The black belts weren't the only ones in action today, the adult female purple belts were also in action and they delivered with some elite performances. Raika dos Santos Castro won double gold, capturing first place in both the heavy and open divisions. Two others who really brought the crowd to their feet today were Natalee Funegra and Alexa Herse, both champions in the lighter divisions. Agatha Nigro of DreamArt also won super-heavy, a division she has dominated this season.
With only the adult black belt points left to give out, Alliance has pulled into the lead for both adult male and adult female. The top-5's stand as follows;
Adult Male Team Points:
- Alliance - 85
- DreamArt - 54
- CheckMat - 36
- Atos Jiu-Jitsu - 25
- AOJ - 23
Adult Female Team Points:
- Alliance - 36
- DreamArt - 29
- Atos Jiu-Jitsu - 28
- Gracie Barra - 28
- AOJ - 22
Juvenile Team Points:
- Start Doing - 58
- Cicero Costha Internacional - 42
- Alliance - 39
- AOJ - 37
- Telari - 36
Tomorrow, fans should be looking out for;
- men's black belt semifinals, followed by all black belt finals - finishing with the open classes
Make sure to tune in to the FloGrappling YouTube channel where we will be going live every day at 8am PST.
How To Watch IBJJF Worlds 2026
FloGrappling subscribers can watch the full event live, including mat coverage, replays and archived matches from IBJJF Worlds 2026.
The 2026 World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship broadcast begins May 28 and runs through May 31.
Mundials Jiu Jitsu 2026
Follow along here for Mundials Jiu Jitsu 2026 results from the 2026 IBJJF World Championship in Long Beach, California. FloGrappling will update this page throughout the tournament with division winners and podium finishers as results become available.
When Is IBJJF Worlds 2026?
The 2026 World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship is May 28-31 in Long Beach, California.
The event begins Thursday, May 28, and continues through Sunday, May 31.
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