With some many great stories coming out of the black belt divisions from the 2019 IBJJF Pans, it is worth reminding ourselves that brown belts were equally compelling. 

Fans and followers of women’s jiu-jitsu were treated to a spectacular line-up at this year’s Pans. There were World, Pan and European champions in attendance and for the most part the divisions were– save for some extreme examples– hyper-competitive. If there is any criticism of the current state of affairs of women’s jiu-jitsu is that there are many black belts out there but only a handful tend to register for tournaments, and less so for significant events like Pans. That’s why were delighted to see some of the deepest divisions since last year’s Worlds. Nearly 40 women were signed up in the female adult black belt divisions, with an average fo 4.7 competitors per division. Roosterweight was the only division with less than four competitors, being a single match between Mayssa Bastos and Serena Gabrielli. Light-featherweight had a solid 7 entrants, but only six competed as Gabriela Fechter missed weight. 

It was a year of firsts at Pans. In total there were six rookie black belts who stood atop the podium at the 2019 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship, with three men and three women all taking gold in their first year competing alongside some of the biggest names of the sport. Before we say for sure that there is a changing of the guard underway it is worth pointing out many returning champions did not register for Pans this year. This left the door wide open for a new set of champions here, but it’s too soon to say if the entire sport is being overtaken by younger competitors. Four golds at Euros were won by rookies and now six at Pans– we’ll be keeping a close eye on this trend as Worlds approaches.

It's the final day of the 2019 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships and I'll be running live updates from matside. 

The first day of black belt competition at the 2019 Pan Championships delivered the kind action expected of such a high caliber event. 

The 2019 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship black belt absolute division will run on Mats 5-8, with men on 5 & 8 and women on 6 & 7. Watch the live stream here. 

Follow along as I recap the opening rounds of the male black belt weight divisions. The black belts start at 9.00am sharp with qualifying rounds and they'll work through to the quarterfinals (which go down tomorrow, Sunday March 23). 

The women’s black belt absolute has 14 competitors signed up and is remarkable for the fact that Gabi Garcia makes her return to gi jiu-jitsu. 

The brackets are out for the Pan black belt absolute division! Get a look at them right here.

The men’s purple belt divisions lit up the opening day of the 2019 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Irvine, CA. Of the 10 available gold medals, nine were claimed by Brazilians while the Japanese grappler Hiryu Niwa took top spot in the roosterweight division.