The absolute division starts on Saturday, June 4. Here’s what to expect from the black belt open class divisions at the at 2022 IBJJF World Championships. 

The absolute is open to competitors from any weight class. While suavely dominated by heavier athletes, it's not uncommon to see a light or middleweight competitor test themselves against a super or even ultra-heavyweight opponent. 

This year there are some real heavy hitters among the black belts who put their name forward for the open class. Here are a few standout names: 

Male black belts 

• Fellipe Andrew 
• Vinicius Ferreira 
• Kaynan Duarte
• Gustavo Batista
• Nicholas Meregali
• Erich Munis 
• Roosevelt Souza 
• Pedro Alex Pimenta
• Pedro Marinho
• Victor Hugo 
• Roberto Jimenez

Female black belts 

• Gabrielle McComb 
• Rafaela Guedes
• Ana Carolina Vieira 
• Yara Soares 
• Gabrieli Pessanha 
• Amy Campo

The brackets can be found here on the BJJcompsystem website (male / female). Here is a quick look at the how the bracket has shaped out this year along with the biggest matches we expect to happen. 

Male Black Belt Absolute

There is a BIG first round match– ultra-heavyweight Victor Hugo will face off with medium-heavyweight Roberto Jimenez. The winner can expect a quarterfinal against Gustavo Batista and a semifinal against Erich Munis. 

We can expect a semifinal on one side between Kaynan Duarte and Nicholas Meregali, with Kaynan most likely having Fellipe Andrew before that in a quarterfinal and Meregali taking on GF Team bruiser Wallace Costa. 

Female Black Belt Absolute

Returning absolute champ Gabi Pessanha will have to contend with Rafaela Guedes of Atos on her side of the bracket, while Ana Carolina Vieira and Yara Soares will probably battle it out in the semifinal on the other side. 

Click here to watch live

Start times

The absolute brackets start first thing on Saturday morning, June 4. Watch it live on FloGrappling. 

Adult / Male / BLACK / Open Class 

Start time: Saturday, 09:30 AM

Adult / Female / BLACK / Open Class 

Start time: Saturday, 09:30 AM