DECEMBER 15, 2024, Las Vegas Convention Center – Las Vegas. The show is over and so is this year’s jiu-jitsu season, a year that culminated at this weekend’s World No-Gi Championships – a tournament organized by one of grappling’s most respected governing bodies, the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF). The tournament was an outright success with 4272 athletes stepping on the mats (3253 male & 1019 female competitors), extremely healthy numbers for any sport.
Although most of the bigger names in the sport skipped this year’s No-Gi Worlds, possibly to focus on the upcoming pro-events on the schedule for early 2025, this year’s championship was a great opportunity to check the rising talents of which grappling has plenty.
The big story of the event in the adult black belt division was the inclusion of Gabrieli Pessanha in this year’s brackets. The Rio de Janeiro native is the most dominant gi player this sport has ever seen and was coming in with a 147-match winning streak and a 65% submission win ratio. This Gi Boogeywoman was able to live up to the hype, taking an open-weight gold medal and adding 4 more matches to her winning run, all by submission.
Staying in the female division, we witnessed many exciting new talents emerging at the No-Gi Worlds this year. Among them was the deadly trio consisting of Australia’s Nadia Frankland, Brazil’s Cassia Moura, and England’s Anabel Lopez, all extremely entertaining to watch throughout the event. Although all rookie black belts, neither showed any sign of jitters against the big names they faced. Anabel, in particular, came out with two medals (bronze in absolute and gold in her weight class) despite having been a black belt for less than six months and being only 19 years old.
Atos jiu-jitsu took the team title home with 60 points, nearly double of the #2. Still, the smaller hubs of AOJ and Pedigo Submission Fighting gave an excellent account of themselves by taking second and third place with 37 points. AOJ in particular, at the professional level (adult black belt) placed 5 athletes in the finals, including Mayssa Bastos (gold), Zach Kaina (gold), Marcos Gomes (silver), Cole Abate (gold), Fabyury Khrysthyan (silver), an incredible achievement for one single club with no satellite affiliations.
MATCHES BY NUMBERS:
– Male Matches: 178 (12 more than 2023)
– Female Matches: 59 (7 more than 2023)
– Male Div Submissions: 86 (39% sub rate)
– Female Div Submissions: 33 (56% sub rate)
2024 WORLD NOGI CHAMPIONS:
55KG: Everton Souza (BRA)
61KG: Zach Kaina (USA)
67KG: Cole Abate (USA)
73KG: Lucas Valente (BRA)
79KG: Alexandre Jesus (BRA)
85KG: Wallisson Oliveira (USA)
91KG: Felipe Costa (BRA)
97KG: Marcos Carrozzino (BRA)
+97KG: Lucas Montalvao (BRA)
ABS: Elder Cruz (HON)
46KG: Jhenifer Aquino (BRA)
51KG: Mayssa Bastos (BRA)
56KG: Cassia Moura (BRA)
61KG: Brianna Ste-Marie (CAN)
66KG: Elisabeth Clay (USA)
71KG: Salla Simola (FIN)
76KG: Anabel Lopez (SPA/UK)
+76KG: Gabrieli Pessanha won without an opponent (default medal)
ABS: Gabrieli Pessanha (BRA)
BLACK BELT MOST COMMON SUBS:
– RNC: 25
– Heel hook: 20
– Armbar: 10
– Toe Hold: 7
– Straight ankle lock & Guillotine: 6
ROOSTERWEIGHT, MALE
Semi-finals:
– Everton Souza def. Nobuhiro Sawada via 4×2
– Lucas Castro def. Chris Tran via advantages (0x0 pts)
Final:
– Everton Souza def. Lucas Castro via Inside heel hook
LIGHT-FEATHERWEIGHT, MALE
Semi-finals:
– Marcos Gomes def. Rodnei Barbosa via 2×0
– Zach Kaina def. Shoya Ishiguro via decision (2×2 pts)
Final:
– Zach Kaina def. Marcos Gomes via 4×2
FEATHERWEIGHT, MALE
Semi-finals:
– Cole Abate def. Marco Mendes via Inside heel hook
– Julian Espinosa def. Sam McNally via Straight ankle lock
Final:
– Cole Abate def. Julian Espinosa via 6×0
LIGHTWEIGHT, MALE
Semi-finals:
– Lucas Valente def. Carlos Henrique via advantage (0x0 pts)
– Gianni Grippo def. Yigit Hanay via penalty (2×2 pts)
Final:
– Lucas Valente def. Gianni Grippo via Short choke (RNC)
MIDDLEWEIGHT, MALE
Semi-finals:
– Alexandre Jesus def. Mateus Moraes via advantage (0x0 pts)
– Fabyury Khrysthyan def. Arley Pacheco via 6×4
Final:
– Alexandre Jesus def. Fabyury Khrysthyan via advantage
MEDIUM-HEAVYWEIGHT, MALE
Semi-finals:
– Francisco Lo def. Gabriel Castro via 3×0
– Wallisson Oliveira def. Sebastian Rodriguez via 7×2
Final:
– Wallisson Oliveira def. Francisco Lo via Inside heel hook
HEAVYWEIGHT, MALE
Semi-finals:
– Faris Lamkadem def. Jose Jurema via decision (0x0 pts)
– Felipe Costa def. Calon Sabino via 2×0
Final:
– Felipe Costa def. Faris Lamkadem via Katagatame
SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT, MALE
Semi-finals:
– Marcos Carrozzino def. Gabriel Oliveira via 4×0
– Elder Cruz def. Marcin Maciulewicz via advantages (0x0 pts)
Final:
– Marcos Carrozzino def. Elder Cruz via 6×0
ULTRA-HEAVYWEIGHT, MALE
Semi-finals:
– Lucas Montalvao def. Roosevelt Sousa via advantages (0x0 pts)
– Anderson Kauan def. Heikki Jussila via decision
Final:
– Lucas Montalvao def. Anderson Kauan via decision
OPEN WEIGHT, FEMALE
Semi-finals:
– Elder Cruz def. Joao Nicolite via 6×0
– Devhonte Johnson def. Gabriel Oliveira via 8×0
Final:
– Elder Cruz def. Devhonte Johnson via advantages (0x0 pts)
ROOSTERWEIGHT, FEMALE
Semi-finals:
– Jhenifer Aquino def. Amber Freitas via Outside heel hook
– Mariana Rolszt def. Thais Loureiro via 4×2
Final:
– Jhenifer Aquino def. Mariana Rolszt via Armbar
LIGHT-FEATHERWEIGHT, FEMALE
Semi-finals:
– Sophia Cassaella def. Jessica Crane via 2×0
– Mayssa Bastos def. Thamires Aquino via Katagatame
Final:
– Mayssa Bastos def. Sophia Cassaella via 20×0
FEATHERWEIGHT, FEMALE
Semi-finals:
– Amanda Monteiro def. Ana Garcia via decision (2×2 pts)
– Cassia Moura def. Emily Nicholson via RNC
Final:
– Cassia Moura def. Amanda Monteiro via 2×0
LIGHTWEIGHT, FEMALE
Semi-finals:
– Brianna Ste-Marie def. Jaine Fragoso via Darce choke
– Morgan Black def. Amanda Bruse via RNC
Final:
Brianna Ste-Marie def. Morgan Black via Guillotine
MIDDLEWEIGHT, FEMALE
Semi-finals:
– Elisabeth Clay def. Gabriele Schuck via Toe hold
– Nadia Frankland def. Julia Boscher via Triangle
Final:
– Elisabeth Clay def. Nadia Frankland via 2×0
MEDIUM-HEAVYWEIGHT, FEMALE
Semi-finals:
– Caitlin Huggins def. Nia Blackman via 2×0
– Salla Simola def. Kennedy Paige via Straight ankle lock
Final:
– Salla Simola def. Caitlin Huggins via DQ (for stalling)
HEAVYWEIGHT, FEMALE
Semi-finals:
– Anabel Lopez Maria Ruffatto via 3×0
– Paige Ivette Elizabeth Mitrovic via 3×0
Final:
– Anabel Lopez def. Paige Ivette via advantage (0x0 pts)
SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT, FEMALE
– Gabrieli Pessanha via WO
OPEN WEIGHT, FEMALE
Semi-finals:
– Gabrieli Pessanha def. Maria Ruffatto via Straight ankle lock
– Brianna Ste-Marie def. Anabel Lopez via 9×5
Final:
– Gabrieli Pessanha def. Brianna Ste-Marie via Straight ankle lock
