2018 European Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship

10 European Athletes You Need To Watch In Lisbon

Tthe ability to watch some of the 'old continent's' best talent compete on their home turf is what makes Euro's so fun.

Jan 6, 2018 by Chase Smith

10 European Athletes You Need To Watch In Lisbon

The IBJJF European Championships is an incredible event for many reasons, but one of the most compelling is the ability to watch some of the 'old continent's' best talent compete on their home turf.

Read on to see 10 European athletes we believe have an excellent chance of hitting the podium in Lisbon.

Emilia Tuukkanen - Gracie Barra

A Finnish athelte currently residing in Spain, Emilia Tukkanen was Awarded her black belt in August from longtime European Jiu-jitsu pioneer Lagarto. Tuukanen is a long-time stand out at the IBJJF European Championships. She took first place at Europeans as a purple belt in 2014, 2nd in 2016 at Brown, and 3rd last year - also at brown. She has a crafty spider guard, and can often be found working her way to the back from a variety of positions and scrambles.

Daniel Eklund – Atos

Hailing from Sweden but representing Atos HQ, Daniel Eklund is a purple belt in the middleweight division who is the superstar you haven’t seen yet. Explosive, athletic, and always hunting for the kill, the young man has an incredible guard and vicious top game. Don’t believe us? check the clip below for a small preview.

River Blue Dillon - Carlson Gracie

River Blue Dillon made headlines early in his jiu-jitsu career when he beat adult black belts as a juvenile blue belt in Rio back in 2014. Now a veteran of the game, River is still chasing medals as a brown belt heavyweight: He took 2nd last year European championships behind Atos Killer Dom Bell, a silver medal at the 2017 Abu Dhabi World Pro, and most recently, Dillon earned quadruple gold at British Nationals back in June.

Amal Amjahid – PAT Academy Belgium

Despite her size, Amal Amjahid is a force a nature on the mats. The featherweight brown belt regularly competes and wins in the absolute division – she took double gold last year at the European Championships, and she does it in style. Check out this nasty submission just two minutes into the absolute semi-final last year.

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Espen Mathiesen, Tommy Lilleskog Langaker, Vegard Randeberg - Kimura Norway + Roger Gracie Norway

Though these are three athletes with distinctly different styles and approaches to the game, it just doesn’t feel right to separate them. They are the Viking hoard from Norway, and they run as a pack, ransacking tournaments around the globe. But this time the event is in their backyard.

Epsen and Tommy were both awarded their black belts in July from Jose Carlos of Kimura, and the 2018 European Championships will be their first major event at the new rank. Espen and Tommy are both submission machines who like to outpace their opponents – will veterans of the game have the tools to slow them down?

Or will they get run through like everyone else?

Vegard, though a regular training partner of Espen and Tommys, represents Roger Gracie Adacemy Norway and will continue to test himself at brown belt. He took second last year to Gustavo Baptista after a hard-fought match

Espen, Vegard, And Tommy At Worlds.

Adam Wardzinski - Checkmat International

Impossible to leave off a list of European jiu-jitsu athletes, Adam Wardzinski is now a household name in the BJJ world. The Polish black belt completely dominated the European scene last year, taking double gold in nearly ever IBJJF event he competed and holding some big wins over names like Xande Ribeiro and Mahamed Aly. He is a strong contender for the podium this year in the black belt heavyweight division.

Samantha Cook - Checkmat London.

Samantha Cook was promoted to black by Marco Canha this summer after winning double silver at the 2017 World Championships. She ruled the brown belt medium-heavy division for ears with her creative guard, including a slick reverse DLR that exposes her opponents to back takes and ankle locks, as well as a strong wrestling and heavy top-game.

We're definitely excited to see Cook mix it up in the black belt division.

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Eric Bergmann - Gracie Barra Hamburg

Eric Bergmann is another European athlete that is a few gold medals away from being an internationally recognized player. He took 1st last year at Europeans, besting Unity monster Devhonte Johnson, and placed third at the World Championships later in 2017.