Every Belt, Every Major Team: The Ultimate Guide To IBJJF 2017 Pans Champs

To aid you in your viewing experience, we've drawn up an extensive list -- you could even call it the ultimate guide -- to who are the main medal prospects from each of the major teams at blue belt through to black belt.

Mar 16, 2017 by FloGrappling

Every Belt, Every Major Team: The Ultimate Guide To IBJJF 2017 Pans Champs

The IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship is one of the biggest tournaments in the world. To be crowned champion here is a title almost all athletes desire, and there will be many hungry competitors striving for gold from March 16-19 in Irvine, California.

To aid you in your viewing experience, we've drawn up an extensive list -- you could even call it the ultimate guide -- to who are the main medal prospects from each of the major teams at blue belt through to black belt.

These are the names you should look for from the eight biggest teams in jiu-jitsu.

With contributions from Andre Borges, Erin Herle, and Heather Raftery.

Alliance

Blue belt
Peter Yu from Memphis won white belt pans last year while Michael Roy Alvarez, a juvenile training at the Cobrinha BJJ affiliate in Las Vegas, Nevada, won the blue belt juvenile 1 world title last year and is now in the juvenile 2 light-feather division.

Halie Tucker, a recent addition to Marcelo Garcia's team has already found success at blue belt with two second-place finishes at Pans and Worlds last year.

Purple belt
Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles' son, Kennedy Maciel, is a projected winner of the purple belt featherweight division, having won the purple belt light-feather world title last year.

Winning Pans at blue belt in 2015 and placing second at the Worlds last year as a new purple belt Cobrinha's Erika Ontiveros can top the podium at light-featherweight this year. From Sao Paulo, Marcus Vinicius Siqueira has the 2016 blue belt heavyweight world title, so we'll see if his momentum can bring him into success at purple belt.

Brown belt
In the brown belt male division, Alliance Sao Paulo's Rafael Paganini and Vinicius "Trator" Ferreira are set for middle weight and heavyweight, respectively. Paganini has earned titles at IBJJF's city tournaments such as Floripa Open, Gramado Open, Belo Horizonte Open, and Sao Paulo Open while Trator gathered purple belt titles last year at Pans, Brazilian Nationals, and Worlds.

Rehan Muttalib is back on the scene, having moved from Cobrinha's to Marcelo Garcia's for his doctor's residency, and his No. 1 ranking at middleweight purple belt in 2013 should help him conquer this year at brown belt.

Black belt
There are a HUGE amount of potential champions in the black belt division. See our article here for a deeper look at that particular topic.

Atos

Blue belt
Conner DeAngelis (Heavy) - Among Atos HQ's squad of "up-and-coming" blue belts, DeAngelis has been on fire the past year, hitting double and quadruple golds at nearly every tournament he entered.

Sophia Maria Flores (Light Feather) - Formerly the AOJ's star female juvenile, Flores is now among the academy's star adult competitors, and has already been cleaning up in the adult divisions at local and international tournaments.

Purple belt
Kaynan Casemiro (Medium Heavy) - Casemiro made headlines when he qualified for ADCC with only six months of no-gi training. Needless to say, his gi game is that much better.

Meggie Ochoa (Rooster) - The pocket-sized Philipina won Worlds at white belt and twice at blue belt. This will be Ochoa's first ever Pans, and she's looking to make it her warm-up before hunting another World Championship.

Brown belt
Dominique Bell (Heavy) - Another double and quadruple gold medal chaser from the Atos camp, Bell is perfectly positioned in the heavy weight division to take home another double gold win.

Black belt
Lucas 'Hulk' Barbosa (medium heavyweight) - Coming off a fine performance at Five Grappling, the Andre Galvao black belt is carrying lots of momentum into this weekend. If he maintains his confidence, he could be one of the biggest threats in his division.

Bianca Basilio (Feather) - Due to the Almeida Jiu-Jitsu team joining forces with Atos, Basilio - one of Brazil's most exiting female jiu-jitsu phenoms - is now fighting under the Atos flag, and may challenge Mackenzie Dern's feather weight dominance.

Caio Terra Association

Blue belt
Andy Tomas Murasaki Pereira (Juvenile 2 Middle) - This juvenile blue belt could be topping the adult divisions, having already earned double gold titles at Europeans and Worlds and weight division golds at Pans, Abu Dhabi World Pro and Worlds Nogi.

Nicole Evangelista (Light) - After dominating the juvenile division and her adult division debut at Europeans this year, there are high hopes for this young champion who moved full-time to Caio's San Jose academy late last year.
Purple

Purple belt
Guthierry Barbosa (Middle) - After winning the blue belt gold in his first adult Pans and Worlds last year, this Sao Paulo native moved to Caio's academy after being awarded his purple belt and has seen success within IBJJF, UAEJJF, and Berkut.

Renato dos Santos Tagliari (Ultra Heavy) - Having already won the purple belt Pan title last year, Tagliari will be looking to add one more Pan title but this time in the weight division above.

Brown belt
Rudson Mateus Sarmento Teles (Middle) - This Caio Terra student already accomplished the Pan title as well as the European and World title at purple belt and now we're eagerly waiting to see him earn his first title at brown belt in the major gi season after missing the podium at Europeans.

Anna Salome (Feather) - Coming away with a gold at the Pans and a silver at the Worlds in 2014 as a purple belt, we didn't see much from her until winning double gold at the IBJJF Atlanta Pro late last year so we'll see if she can get back onto the podium this year.

Black belt
Mikey Musumeci (Light Feather) - Remarkably, this Musumeci sibling has earned a Pan title every year since 2012, at every consecutive belt including black belt, and this time he'll be going for the black belt light feather title instead of the rooster division that he competed in last year.

Kristina Barlaan (Light Feather) - An original Caio Terra student with three Pan titles in a row at brown belt, she earned her first major black belt title at Europeans last year and also placed second at the Worlds. Also Tammi Musumeci who is a more recent addition to CTA, will be vying for her first Pan title at black belt in the lightweight division to add to her many Pan and World titles at previous belts.

Checkmat

Blue belt
Thomas Standridge (Feather) - As a white belt, Standridge won silver at Worlds and bronze at Pans. Though a recent blue belt - in a huge division - he could hit the podium once again.

Purple belt
Matheus Gabriel (Feather) - One of Checkmat's top lighter weight competitors, Gabriel is no stranger to the podium, medaling 11 times at IBJJF events in 2016 alone. Undaunted by the open weight division, Gabriel even hit a double gold at the San Antonio Open last year.

Ashley Yoder (Feather) - A professional MMA fighter, Yoder is no slouch at jiu-jitsu. An armbar master, she is expected to bring the same ferocity to the mat as she does to the cage.

Brown belt
Philippe Pomaski (Medium-Heavy) - Consistently hitting the podium at both IBJFF and UAEJJF events, Swiss-born globetrotter Pomaski is one of Checkmat's toughest brown belts. Now settling into his second year at brown, expect him to turn it up this year at Pans.

Catherine Fuhro Perret (Light) - It's a rare sight when Checkmat's star female athlete doesn't hit the podium - in both her weight division and the open weight division - so expect Perret to defend her reputation at Pans with a double medal performance… if not a double gold.

Black belt
Felipe Bezerra (Super Heavy) - Though Bezerra faces a stacked division - with the likes of Mahamed Aly and Erberth Santos - the jiu-jitsu and judo black belt is riding the momentum of his ultra heavy weight World and Pan wins last year at brown belt, and could provide some exciting upsets.

Pati Fontes (Light-Feather) - Fontes is always an exciting competitor to watch, and facing one of the toughest female black belt divisions, you can expect her to turn up the intensity. Don't worry about missing her matches… her die-hard gaggle of young fans will announce when she's stepping on the mat.

GF Team

Blue belt
Israel de Sousa Almeida (Feather) - Already winning this title last year makes for a highly potential return champion but if you also consider the many titles he's earned since then within the IBJJF and UAEJJF, he is almost a sure bet for gold.

Rebecca Hughes (Light Feather) - Placing at the Worlds last year as a white belt, Hughes has potential to prove her new rank as an international representative of GFTeam from Canada.

Purple belt
Joao Victor de Oliveira Costa (Rooster) - This young Brazilian earned two world titles at juvenile blue belt and having already accrued multiple local gold medals at purple belt, he could be considered a favorite in the rooster division.

Sarah Stump (Light Feather) - A student of Vitor Oliveira in Columbus, Ohio, Stump took home the gold at the Pans last year in the blue belt division and will be defending her title at a new rank.

Brown belt
Dante Leon (Middle) - Leon accrued the most competition points out of every GF Team athlete in 2016 with titles at Pans, No-Gi Pans and Worlds, UAEJJF LA Grand Slam, which makes him a definite threat.

Mayssa Bastos (Light Feather) - Having won every major IBJJF grand slam tournament last year at purple belt, Bastos is already on her way to repeating the feat at brown belt this year since winning Europeans in January.

Black belt
Alexander Trans (Ultra Heavy) - Already holding a title at Pans along with other major titles, Trans can top the podium as well as close out with one of his GF Team teammates Ricardo Evangelista or Igor Silva, who both closed out the Europeans earlier this year.

Gracie Barra

Blue belt
Kaori Asela Hernandez (Rooster) - Rising out of the Gracie Barra Pasadena academy is Orlando Sanchez' outstanding student, Kaori Hernandez. There isn't much gold this young girl hasn't conquered in our sport, with consecutive double golds in the last two IBJJF World Championships, gold at the 2017 European Open and LA Grand Slam.

Purple belt
Matheus Lucas (Light) - A student of Cássio Francis in Belo Horizonte, Matheus "Cara de Pau" has been very successful in Brazil, holding national titles with and without the gi. Last year Lucas also conquered gold at the European Open and is expected to do well in California this weekend.

Leon Jackson (Super Heavy) - This vegan athlete is a force in the division, particularly without the gi, where he's conquered World and Pan American titles. Combining his athleticism with the technical skill of a Ricardo Almeida student, his game is not limited to the rashguard as he has also won two American Nationals gold medals.

Brown belt
André Almeida (Medium Heavy) - Flying under the radar has been the younger brother of Flávio and Ricardo Almeida, André who will be competing in one of the strongest divisions of the tournament. As a purple belt Almeida conquered a bronze medal at last year's Pan Ams, having stacked up some nice wins since then. This will be Almeida's strongest test since receiving his brown belt promotion.

Black belt
Otavio Sousa/Romulo Barral (Middle) - As hard as the middleweight division of the Pan Ams looks to be on paper, it is hard not to foresee these two seasoned veterans sharing the podium of this event. Sousa has been training regularly with Romulo in Northridge, an academy that is regarded by most as the unofficial Gracie Barra headquarters. They should both be the men to beat at the tournament, and maybe even at the absolute.

Gracie Humaita

Blue belt
Tyler Reyes (Light Feather) - Another tough juvenile who recently graduated into the adult division, Reyes swept the Juvenile 2 rooster division last year at Pans, and could do it again at adult.

Natalie Nibler (Medium Heavy) - Placing second at Pans last year in the middle weight division, Nibler has a chance to hit the podium this year at blue.

Purple belt
Meagan Curran (Light) - The Canadian light weight had a killer blue belt season, medaling at numerous IBJJF events, including silver at Pans and gold at Worlds last year. With less than a year at purple, Curran is already hitting the top of the podium at major events.

Brown belt
Paulo "Paulinho" Martins (Feather) - After winning everything at purple belt - Worlds, Pans, American Nationals - Martins didn't skip a beat when he was promoted to brown, securing the No-Gi Worlds feather weight championship soon after.

Gabrielle McComb (Feather) - While she was busy sweeping up gold medals at purple belt - in both her own weight and, amazingly, the open weight - McComb already had a few brown belts worried. Now a brown belt herself, expect her to be a real threat in the division.

Black belt
Yago Espindola (Middle) - Coming off of a lengthy break from the competition scene due to knee surgery, Espindola is making his black belt debut at Pans. Though he faces one of the toughest divisions of the entire event, his underdog status could make for some interesting upsets.

Beatriz Mesquita (Light) - It was tough choosing between Mesquita and Dern - both superstars in women's sport jiu-jitsu - but with Dern's recent focus on MMA, we think the 7x World Champ and 5x Pans Champ is tuned and ready to add to her impressive stats.

PSLPB Cicero Costha / Unity Jiu-Jitsu

Tough technically they are independent of each other, we have included them together due to their close relationship. Many athletes train at both gyms.

Blue belt
Isaac Rossi (Juvenile 2 Light Feather) - A medalist at a multitude of championships in Brazil and the US, the younger of the Rossi brothers will be making the trek to compete in the juvenile 2 division.

Chloe McNally (Heavy) - Fresh off winning the blue belt absolute division and travel package to the Abu Dhabi World Pro, this Unity Jiu-Jitsu representative has momentum to top the podium and even the absolute.
Purple

Purple belt
Thalison Soares (Rooster) - After conquering the blue belt juvenile divisions and then the adult blue belt division at the Europeans in January with his "little Miyao" jiu-jitsu game, Thalison will be joining his PSLPB counterparts Jonas Andrade and Italo Moara for his first tournament at purple belt and we're excited to see him perform.

No females but there are so many great male purple belts that we should use this to mention Devhonte as well. Devhonte Johnson (Super Heavy): One of the best purple belts in the world, this Murilo Santana student will be revisiting the purple belt division he already won last year, but two weight divisions up this time.

Brown belt
Rafael Babilonia Cristovam (Ultra Heavy) - A double gold champion at many tournaments in Brazil, Babilonia spends many months at Unity Jiu-Jitsu where he has found himself on the podium at nearly every tournament he enters and this could be his breakout performance.

PSLPB Cicero Costha and Unity Jiu-Jitsu do not have any female brown belt representatives this year.

Black belt
Joao Miyao (Light Feather) - An obvious choice is a Miyao whom has the Pan title already in the light-feather division having closed out the division with brother Paulo in 2014 and 2015, and earning the title on his own last year.

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