We are bringing back this weekly grappling bulletin, hopefully fans can use this as a way to catch up with all the little things going on in grappling and look ahead to what is coming up.
What’s Happening In Jiu-Jitsu
-The CJI Misfits Team for Australia/Asia has been set! Over the weekend, Lachlan Giles hosted the first ever CJI Trials in Melbourne, Australia. It saw Declan Moody and Belal Etiabari rise to the top and they will represent the region at -99kg and +99kg. Lachlan also announced that the team will feature IBJJF World Champion Fabricio Andrey as their wildcard pick at -66kg. Get full results from the event here.
-Next CJI Trials will be in two weeks as Europe Misfits coach Faris Benlamkadem hosts his own tournament for the open spots at -77kg, -88kg, and +99kg. See full CJI teams here, including known trials entries.
-Mica Galvão posted that he has signed a contract for the main event of WNO 28. Who will his opponent be? Announcement coming soon.
-Entries for IBJJF Worlds keep heating up, registration runs one more week. Full running entries are here. Some new names to watch out for include;
- Thalison Soares at rooster
- Fabricio Andrey at feather
- Cole Abate at feather
- Meyram up at light (bumping up, I assume trying to make more of an impact in the open)
- Elijah Dorsey at light (coming down from middle)
-Three people win the official IBJJF Grand Slam for the 2024-2025 season. IBJJF designates their competition season to begin at Worlds and run through Brasileiros. Gabi Pessanha, Diego Pato, and Adam Wardziński all win the honor. Gabi wins it for the fourth time, Adam becomes the first European to accomplish the feat.
-Polaris announced the lineups for their women’s squads event, with teams from Europe and America. It’s a team vs team event, but with a lot more matches than a quintet style. Those squads will be:
- Team Europe
- Coach – Ffion Davies
- Margot Ciccarelli
- Ane Svendsen
- Josefine Modig
- Sula-Mae Loewenthal
- Selma Vik
- Team USA
- Coach – Helena Crevar
- Brianna Ste-Marie
- Jasmine Rocha
- Taylor Hishaw
- Amanda Alequin
- Alanis Santiago
-PGF announced their 8th season, with some big changes including a longer season. Now, instead of bringing everyone in for tons of matches in only 5 days, the tournament will happen across 3 months. PGF founder Brandon McCaghren said;
“This was always the big vision. Jiu-Jitsu is the fastest-growing combat sport in the world. The athletes are ready. The fans are ready. And now, we’re building the league format they’ve all been waiting for.”
-Jay Rodriguez was dismissed from B-Team for inappropriate behavior that violated the gym’s zero tolerance policy. He has addressed the situation publicly and says he is seeking treatment for his actions.
-The defending AIGA Champion’s League team has rebranded from Team Modolfo to The Williams Elite Team and will now be sponsored by Williams Construction.
-ADCC Open went down in Atlanta and it was a really big one, with a lot of high-quality grapplers in the mix. The biggest takeaway is 13 year old Joselyn “Baby Shark” Molina won the adult open class. Also the Sainz brothers (the oldest Michael has been on WNO) put three in the finals with two champs. I believe they made Florida wrestling history this year by being the first family with three brothers in the same state finals.
-Professional grappling bon vivant Craig Jones helped coach Jack Della Maddalena to a UFC World Championship. Check out this cool John Wayne/giggler/knee lever he used to get up in a crucial moment.
-Canadian Jasmine Jasudavicius won by submission at UFC 315 and was promoted in the cage to BJJ black belt.
-Italian league Ocean BJJ hosted another Trials event, this time in Venice. Especially impressive was Germany’s Denise Krahn who won the +65kg women’s division.
Pro Grappling Rankings Updates
We have new rankings in gi and no-gi after Brazil’s busy week. Any IBJJF major brings significant shakeups and so did the Grand Prix at 185lbs. Some highlights;
Why did we make all these changes? Watch below.
What’s Coming Up In BJJ
- May 17th: F2W comes back to Washington, DC and ‘Big Breakfast’ Elijah Dorsey will be in the main event. I’ve called him the most underrated grappler in the world before but I may need to change that – people are catching on. He went to the wire with Mica under ADCC rules and then had a match of the year contender with Tainan in the Brasileiro gi finals only a week later. Plenty of solid talent in the area for the rest of the card as well.
- May 18th: Next Sunday, LIJJN debuts with FloGrappling with jiu-jitsu super fights coming from Long Island, NY. It’s cool to have a NY show back on the network and you can see some really promising up-and-comers on the show. 2pm CDT.
- May 24th: CJI Europe Trials, The Faradinho Trials. Misfits European Team coach Faris Benlamdakem will be holding the trials for his team at -77kg, -88kg, and +99kg. With Owen Jones as their -66kg, I assume the -99kg will either be the wildcard or Faris himself.
- May 29th: IBJJF Worlds begins, with colored belts during the week and Saturday & Sunday dedicated to black belts.
- May 29th: UFC FPI 11 features a really major main event, with top-2 pound-for-pound talents Adele Fornarino and Ffion Davies facing off in the main event.
- June 13th: WNO 28 is coming back to Costa Mesa, one of the most grappling loving areas in the world. The main event, featuring Mica, will be announced this week and we have more title fights coming.
What To Watch In BJJ
Cole Abate Carries The American Flag Through The Gauntlet Of Brasileiros
Legends Clash: Xande Ribeiro Takes On 10th Planet’s Boogeyman
Highlight: The Biggest Moments From WNO 27
From B-Team: The Full Giles Trials
From IBJJF; Ice Man José Steve Dominates!
From IBJJF: Jansen Gomes Returns In Style
Daisy Fresh’s Alejandro Wagner Shows Bernardo Faria The Duck Under
Watch BJJ On FloGrappling
FloGrappling is the streaming home to the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu events and news coverage. FloGrappling is the streaming home of:
