The black belt divisions are stacked this year, but not without surprises! Gianni Grippo will be in the mix, but at a weight class we’re not used to seeing him compete at: light featherweight. 

With guys like Paulo Miyao, Ary Farias, Mikey Musumeci, Milton Bastos, Daniel Beleza and Gabriel Moraes in the same category, Grippo is excited for what he said is the best time of the year. 

“I’m feeling really good for this tournament, and I guess that’s what I should say, but I am feeling good! It’s been a tough year for me, I had surgery and some tournaments where I didn’t perform as I wanted to," Grippo said. "But this is my most exciting time of the year. I’m out of school; I don’t have anything else to think of besides jiu-jitsu. This is a time that I really enjoy. 

“I’ve been competing since I was 10 years old. I jumped into the New York Open, and I fought Bruno Frazatto in a submission-only match for 15 minutes. I make sure I train a lot too, and the people I train with are only the best. 

“It was kind of upsetting not to do Europeans and Pans, but for this tournament I don’t feel like it’s going to make a difference. 

I signed up for light feather for the first time since I was a 17-year old purple belt. I was eating normally – I even had a steak/hash brown omelette at an IHOP in St. Louis – and was still well under weight so I thought I could make it.

"I think I'll be much stronger at this weight as well. This was something Cobrinha suggested to me a while back.

“It’s going to be really tough. I can’t say how it’s going to go but I’m going to take it one match at a time until I get to the end.” 

Watch Gianni Grippo in action at the 2016 IBJJF World Championships, live or on replay ONLY here on FloGrappling.