BJJ Heroes returns with another end-of-year ranking of jiu-jitsu’s kimono season, our attempt to find the best and most consistent athletes in our sport, at the pro level, without resourcing to social media popularity or personal bias, using solely a point scoring ranking system based on the athletes’ performances throughout the year.
Having played with different ideas on how to dig up the fairest results since we started these studies in 2011, we believe we have found the closest thing to an optimal ranking formula by combining tournament medals with head-to-head clashes to produce the fairest results.
This year we have returned to that same formula with a little update – for a more complete explanation of the BJJ Heroes ranking method, please read below, otherwise, click on the desired weight class link.
- Under 64KG / 141.60LB (male rooster & light feather)
- Under 76KG / 168.00 LB (male feather & light)
- Under 88KG / 195.00 LB (male middle & medium-heavy)
- Over 88KG / 195.00 LB (male heavy to ultra-heavy)
- Under 53.50KG / 117.94 LB (female rooster & light feather)
- Under 64KG / 141.60 LB (female feather & light)
- Under 74.2KG / 163.60 LB (female middle & medium-heavy)
- Over 74.2KG / 163.60 LB (female heavy to ultra-heavy)
THE BJJ HEROES RANKING METHOD
The BJJ Heroes method is simple, we gather data from the most respected tournaments on the BJJ calendar and add up all the podium placers to create an unbiased shortlist of the top BJJ competitors. The tournament ranking used by us collects points from the following events:
We gather the results from direct matches between top-ranked competitors from this shortlist*. If two of these ranked black belts meet at any tournament throughout the year, whoever wins the head-to-head clash will receive extra points. Those extra points work the following way: If the winner of the bout is lower ranked than the loser he will receive 3 points, if the opposite occurs 1 point will be attributed.
Examples:
– Competitor A won the Mundial = 6pts
– Competitor B won the Pans = 4pts
Tournament Ranking
#1 Competitor A 6pts
#2 Competitor B 4pts
If the two go against each other at any given 2024 event – Example 1 in case Competitor A beats Competitor B, we will add 1 point to A. Example 2 if Competitor B beats Competitor A, we will add 3 points for B as he was lower ranked.
Overall Ranking (Example 1)
#1 Competitor A 7pts
#2 Competitor B 4pts
Overall Ranking (Example 2)
#1 Competitor B 7pts
#2 Competitor A 6pts
This measure was idealized to prevent successful athletes who only compete once or twice per year from missing our standings. This year we added another rule to the points system where, in case of a draw in points between two players, we will check head-to-head clashes in 2024 to check who has the lead. If there is a draw there as well, we will define the winner based on the value of the medals conquered this season, with gold at IBJJF Worlds being the most valuable & silver at AJP World Pro being the least.
Without further ado, here are this year’s top performers according to our ranking.
* This rule only applies to the male division.
ROOSTER & LIGHT-FEATHER (UNDER 64KG / 141.60LB)
TOP 5 RANKED
#1. Thalison Soares (AOJ)- 15 pts
#2. Diego Pato Oliveira (AOJ) – 14 pts
#3. Andrew Soares (Vision) – 14 pts
#4. Khaled Alshehi (Al Ain) – 9 pts
#5. Carlos Oliveira (GFT) – 6 pts
FEATHER & LIGHTWEIGHT (UNDER 76KG / 168.00 LB)
TOP 5 RANKED
#1. Meyram Maquine (Fratres) – 19 pts
#2. Kennedy Maciel (Alliance) – 14 pts
#3. Fabricio Andrey – 14 pts
#4. Alex Sodre (Nova União) – 11 pts
#5. Ademir Barreto (GFT) – 10 pts
MEDIUM & MEDIUM HEAVYWEIGHTS (UNDER 88KG / 195.00 LB)
TOP 5 RANKED
#1. Mica Galvão (Escola Melqui Galvão) – 23 pts
#2. Jackson Nagai (Checkmat) – 13 pts
#3. Andy Murasaki (Atos) – 11 pts
#4. Jansen Gomes (Checkmat) – 9 pts
#5. Uanderson Ferreira (Commando Group) – 9 pts
HEAVY, SUPER-HEAVY & ULTRA-HEAVYWEIGHTS (OVER 88KG / 195.00 LB)
TOP 5 RANKED
#1. Erich Munis (Fratres) – 18 pts
#2. Gutemberg Pereira (AOJ) – 17 pts
#3. Adam Wardzinski (Checkmat) – 16 pts
#4. Pedro Machado (Atos) – 16 pts
#5. Fellipe Andrew (AOJ) – 14 pts
ROOSTER & LIGHT-FEATHER (UNDER 53.50KG / 117.94 LB)
TOP 5 RANKED
#1. Mayssa Bastos (AOJ) – 19 pts
#2. Shelby Murphey (AOJ) – 11 pts
#3. Jessica Caroline (Fratres) – 9 pts
#4. Thamires Aquino (GFT) – 6 pts
#5. Amanda Canuto (GFT) – 6 pts
FEATHER & LIGHTWEIGHT (UNDER 64KG / 141.60 LB)
TOP 5 RANKED
#1. Maria Luiza (Almeida JJ) – 7 pts
#2. Anna Rodrigues (Dream Art) – 7 pts
#3. Brianna Ste-Marie (BTT) – 7 pts
#4. Luiza Monteiro & Nathalie Ribeiro – 6 pts
#5. Vitoria Vieira (GFT) – 6 pts
MEDIUM & MEDIUM HEAVYWEIGHTS (UNDER 74.2KG / 163.60 LB)
TOP 5 RANKED
#1. Thalyta Silva (Fratres) – 13 pts
#2. Thamara Ferreira (N/A) – 9 pts
#3. Ingridd Alves (Dream Art) – 8 pts
#4. Andressa Cintra (Gracie Barra) – 6 pts
#5. Sabatha Lais (Fratres) – 6 pts
HEAVY, SUPER-HEAVY & ULTRA-HEAVYWEIGHTS (OVER 74.2KG / 163.60 LB)
TOP 5 RANKED
#1 Gabrieli Pessanha (InFight) – 34 pts
#2. Yara Soares (Fratres) – 16 pts
#3. Melissa Cueto (Alliance) – 10 pts
#4. Amanda Magda (Fratres) – 8 pts
#5. Izadora Cristina (Dream Art) – 7 pts
