Top BJJ Fighters, April 2015 Rankings

Following up on our last month‘s rankings, we present to you the April 2015 edition of the BJJH jiu jitsu sporting rankings. Much has happened in the grappling world in April, including one of our main competitions, the Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu Jitsu Championship (UAEJJ) which accounts for a fair share of points on our board. With this important tournament taking place, a few new faces have risen above as competitors start gearing up towards the world championship later on this year.

As we usually do, below this text you will find a scoring explanation for the BJJ Heroes rank, as we base them on the competition results.

The Best in Jiu Jitsu Today?

This list gathers data from the top competitions on Brazilian the Jiu Jitsu calendar and adds up all the medallists to create an unbiased list of the top BJJ competitors out there today. The BJJ Heroes ranking collects information from the following competitions:

Galo/Rooster: 57kg/126lbs

In the rooster division, all remains the same. The Abu Dhabi World Pro does starts their weight class at 65KG (weigh ins are done the previous day), leaving the roosters a small chance to succeed against larger opposition.

Pluma/Light Feather: 64kg/141lbs

Much like the rooster weights, the light “peso Pena” are at the lower end of the scale of UAEJJ’s under 65kg division, so not many points collected by the light featherweights at this year’s tournament. The division remains with the following:

Pena/Feather: 70kg/154lbs

The featherweight division is where we start seeing the real influence the World Pro had in April’s jiu jitsu rankings. Gianni Grippo and Isaque Paiva both had a great tournament scoring heavy, a scoring that allowed Gianni to reach the top of the division, while Isaque climbed up to the 3rd spot.

Leve/Lightweight: 76kg/167lbs

Though Lepri’s top spot remains secure, the ranking has a newly ranked competitor, Gabriel Rollo. The famous “Palito” from the Checkmat academy in Santos has been in great form this year, winning the ADCC trials, reaching the final of the European Open and last weekend placing 2nd in the World Pro.

Medio/Middle: 82kg/181lbs

The top 2 posts in the middleweight division remain secure, but Victor Estima’s performance at the World Pro did not pass by unnoticed. Having defeated two top level grapplers in Claudio Calasans and Keenan Cornelius, Estima climbed his way up to 3rd place.

Meio Pesado/Medium Heavy: 88kg/194lbs

April has shaked down the medium heavyweight tree and although the two top spots remain secure, there are a couple of newcommers to the 3rd place, and they may be here to stay.

Pesado/Heavy 94kg/207lbs

A division that remains stagnant in April, seems as though Felipe Pena has the 94kg (207lbs) division on a lockdown for now.

Super Pesado/Super Heavy: 100kg/221lbs

With Rodolfo Vieira out of action since the World Championship last year, the division has slowly started to slip away from the GF Team grappler, and into the the hands of the powerful Bernardo Faria. The Alliance stud was in top form at the last Pan American Championship‘s edition, and those points have placed him at the top of the division. This opens up a great deal of expectation as to what will happen at the World Championship next month if Bernardo and Rodolfo meet.

Pesadíssimo/Ultra Heavy: over 100kg/221lbs

Not a lot of people can match Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida in this division, the current absolute World and Abu Dhabi World Pro champion is closely followed by his Alexander Trans. The powerful Dane has been in top form this year and it seems like being a full time coach in the UAE has not phased his performances.

Banner picture by Callum Medcaft of Jiu Jitsu Style