Atos black belt Josh Hinger will switch up his weight division for the 2017 IBJJF No-Gi World Championships.

Hinger, who won gold in the medium heavyweight division in 2016, will drop to middleweight for the upcoming tournament, which goes down in Los Angeles on Dec. 16-17. 

Picture taken December 6

Originally signed up for the medium heavyweight division (188.5lb), Hinger will drop to 175.5lb. 

“I’m going after what I believe to be the toughest division,” Hinger says. “The glory is to beat the best guys, not to find the easiest path to the gold medal.”

The middleweight division currently has 23 athletes signed up, while medium heavyweight has nine. Some of the top talent in the middleweight division includes Isaque Bahiense, Jon Satava, Felipe Silva, Dustin Akbari, Darragh O Conaill, Dante Leon, Victor Oliveira, Victor Silverio, Manuel Ribarmar, Mansher Khera, Diego Ramalho, and Lucas Rocha.