BJJ Heroes returns with another end-of-year ranking of submission-wrestling & no-gi jiu-jitsu’s 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, we believe to 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 complete explanation of the BJJ Heroes ranking method, be sure to read below, otherwise, click on the desired weight class link.
– Under 67.5KG / 141.60LB (Rooster, Light-Feather & Featherweight)
– Under 79.6KG / 175.60 LB (Light & Middle-Weight)
– Under 91.6KG / 202.00 LB (Medium-Heavy & Heavyweight)
– Over 91.6KG / 202.00 LB (Medium-Heavy & Heavyweight)
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:
From this shortlist of medalists, we gather the results from direct matches between top-ranked competitors*. This means that if two of these medaled athletes 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 ADCC = 6pts
– Competitor B won the No-Gi Pans = 4pts
Tournament Ranking
#1 Competitor A 6pts
#2 Competitor B 4pts
If the two go against each other at any given 2023 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 assess 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.
MALE, UNDER 149.00 LB
Rooster, Light-Feather & Featherweight
Two very exciting new prospects who blew their competition out of the water in their second year at black belt. After suffering an injury that forced him to miss a large portion of the season, America’s Cole Abate came in like a Bat Out Of Hell, crushing through the featherweight division and amassing a 22-win streak, most of those victories coming via submission.
Everton Souza Teixeira was doing the same in the roosterweight division where he conquered his second consecutive no-gi world title while maintaining his undefeated record in this weight class in the no-gi ruleset.
TOP 5 RANKED
#1 Cole Abate (AOJ) & Everton Teixeira (Atos) – 13 pts
#2 Diogo Reis (Escola Melqui Galvao) – 12 pts
#3 Zach Kaina (AOJ) – 8 pts
#4 Diego Oliveira “Pato” (AOJ) – 8 pts
#5 Deandre Corbe (Standard JJ) – 7 pts
MALE, UNDER 175.60 LB
Light & Middle-Weight
A terrific year for Alexandre Jesus, AKA “Robinho”, in a very competitive division. Jesus was able to hold on to his Best of 2024 position in the ranking by maintaining an incredible pace while medaling in every single no-gi event he participated in this year, except for the ADCC. That means two Brazilian ADCC Trials, one Brazilian National Championship (IBJJF), and the World No-Gi Championship.
Dropping from the #1 spot in 2023 to #2 this year is Kade Ruotolo. The exciting grappler did not win any point-scoring event but he did defeat an array of the top-ranked athletes in the division in other professional grappling events, amassing enough points to secure the #2 spot.
TOP 5 RANKED
#1 Alexandre Jesus (Calasans) – 16 pts
#2 Kade Ruotolo (Atos) – 12 pts
#3 Mica Galvão (Escola Melqui Galvao) – 10 pts
#4 Gianni Grippo (Bodega JJ) – 9 pts
#5 Oliver Taza (New Wave) – 8 pts
MALE UNDER 202.00 LB
Medium-Heavy & Heavyweight
One of the smoothest grapplers on the planet, Mr. Bodoni keeps stepping towards that P4P best player ranking. Not a fast and acrobatic style of grappling, Bodoni brings a simmering yet relentless pace to his matches, being solid in every aspect of the game and a masterful tactician, which tends to produce the best results with the ADCC ruleset.
This was the most challenging division of the year to assess as so many athletes ended the year with similar points, forcing us to apply the Head-to-Head and Medal Ranking rules, a sign of how many great matches are there to be made in 2025.
TOP 5 RANKED
#1 Giancarlo Bodoni (New Wave) – 10 pts
#2 Pedro Marinho (Gracie Barra) – 9 pts
#3 Jay Rodriguez (B-Team) – 8 pts
#4 Alehander Mariano (Atos) – 8 pts
#5 Ryan Aitken (10th Planet) – 8 pts
MALE OVER 202.00 LB
Kaynan’s epic ADCC, double gold, performance was more than enough to steal this ranking, the least competitive weight class of the year with regards to Duarte’s dominance over the rest of the division.
For everyone below the #1 spot, this was particularly tight with many athletes getting close to that #2 spot, including newcomer Lucas Montalvão, arguably the biggest upsetter of the season with two big no-gi titles in the IBJJF. We didn’t see too much of Mr. Montalvão in his rookie year as a black belt (2023) but he sure made a statement in 2024.
TOP 5 RANKED
#1 Kaynan Duarte (Atos) – 22 pts
#2 Devhonte Johnson (Unity) – 12 pts
#3 Lucas Montalvão (GFT) – 11 pts
#4 Elder Cruz (Checkmat) – 11 pts
#5 Marcos Carrozzino (GFT) – 10 pts
FEMALE, POUND-4-POUND
What an epic year for Elizabeth Clay. The Ares athlete spent much of the year with a child on the way, which stopped her from competing in the Gi section of the season. She made up for lost time in the second half of 2024 by winning double gold at the No-Gi Pan Championships, weeks after giving birth (!) and returned for the World No-Gi Championship in December to win the middleweight crown and settle in the #1 stand of the female Pound-4-Pound ranking.
Other big changes in these rankings are the additions of black belt rookies Nadia Frankland and purple belt Helena Crevar. All three looked incredible in the professional division this year and set the pavement for a terrific 2025.
#1 Elisabeth Clay (Ares) – 10 pts
#2 Brianna Ste-Marie – 10 pts
#3 Salla Simola (Hilti BJJ) – 10 pts
#4 Nadia Frankland (Absolute MMA) – 9 pts
#5 Helena Crevar (New Wave) & Amanda Leve – 8 pts
When tied in points, the female ranking was decided firstly by the number of gold medals, if still at a tie by the relevance of the medals on the international circuit with gold being the most valued and bronze the least. If the draw persists we will look at the tournaments and their importance, wth the ranking being as follows: #1 ADCC World, #2 IBJJF World, #3 IBJJF Pan, #4 Trials.
