Only four Americans have ever won the adult black belt men's IBJJF World Championship title: BJ Penn, Rafael Lovato Jr., Robert Drysdale, and Michael Musumeci. However, that could all change next week at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.

The field of U.S. competitors at the 2018 IBJJF World Championship is one of the most talent-rich ever and don't be surprised if you see more Americans than ever before on the podium. Here are nine contenders, in particular, who we believe can rise above the rest this year.

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Mikey Musumeci – Light-Feather (Brasa CTA)

Mikey Musumeci is the fourth-ever male American black belt world champion. The Brasa CTA representative has only competed in select superfights since winning the title last year in order to focus on college, but make no mistake, Musumeci is absolutely the favorite coming into Worlds this year. 

Gianni Grippo – Featherweight (Alliance)

Gianni Grippo has been chasing Worlds gold for years. The Alliance black belt has ALWAYS been near the top of the featherweight heap, but the ultimate prize has eluded him thus far. However, with all-time greats like Cobrinha and Rafa Mendes refraining from competing this year, the door is wide open for a new legend to be born. Grippo recently placed second at Brazilian Nationals in a tightly contested bout with Rafael Mansur and is entering with the event with excellent momentum.  

AJ Agazarm – Featherweight (Gracie Barra)

Never count out the "Lion of Gracie Barra." Known for his headstrong style and aggressive wrestling, AJ Agazarm is one of the toughest men to beat in the featherweight division. He's excellent at wearing his opponents down via a war of attrition and keeping just enough in the tank to explode at the end of a match to come out the victor.  

Agazarm absolutely has the tools to beat anyone in the division and we'd be very surprised to see him leave without any hardware. 

Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor – Featherweight (TLI)

Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor is a Team Lloyd Irvin standout who narrowly missed a finals berth at Worlds last year after a hotly debated loss to Cobrinha. Since then, Hill-Taylor has placed second at Pan Championships and won numerous IBJJF Open events. With that said, featherweight division is PACKED with talent though, including rival Gianni Grippo, Brazilian National champion Rafael Mansur, and dark horse AJ Agazarm. 

JT Torres – Lightweight (Atos)

JT Torres has won nearly every major tournament available: He's an ADCC champion, Pan champion, European titleholder, and so on and so forth. Only one title remains—an IBJJF World Championship. Will this be Torres' year? Lucas Lepri, Edwin Najmi, and a slew of other elite lightweights stand in his way, and we're eager to see if Torres rises to the occasion. 

Michael Liera Jr. – Lightweight (Atos)

Michael Liera Jr. is another Atos all-star with an excellent track record in the competition. He closed out Pans with Torres earlier this year and has seen success at the highest level of competition for years. Anything less than a bronze medal for Liera would surely be unsatisfactory.

Edwin Najmi – Lightweight (Gracie Barra)

Edwin Najmi is a finisher. The Romulo Barral black belt has stated many times that he's not interested in winning fights by advantage—the mission is submissions. Najmi has been on a tear all year long with impressive performances at various events, both open and invitational. 

Tim Spriggs – Heavyweight (TLI)

Tim Spriggs moves pretty well for a fella who nearly left jiu-jitsu less than one year ago. A homegrown TLI athlete, Spriggs is easily one of the most exciting and explosive athletes in any division. There are plenty of matches we hope to see Spriggs in next weekend, including against Jackson Sousa, Dimitrius Souza, Adam Wadzinski, and of course, the next man on our list... 

Keenan Cornelius – Heavyweight (Atos)

Keenan Cornelius is one of the most widely studied and innovative athletes of the modern era. But he's missing one thing that would cement his legacy as one of the all-time greats: a black belt world championship title. 

His odds are looking good this year: Keenan holds wins over much of the division, and only one real threat stands out to us: Felipe Pena. The duo has split its all-time meetings and hasn't faced off since 2015.  The real question is this: who's improved the most in the last three years?

Watch the 2018 World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship live

May 31 to June 3 | Long Beach, CA