One of the 4-men participating in Friday's Tezos IBJJF Flograppling lightweight Grand Prix, Andy Murasaki, is on a hot streak to start 2023.

Murasaki may be in the best form of his career. The Atos lightweight put up strong showings in 2022, but he failed to capitalize in finals. He took silver at Pans, falling to Johnatha Alves, and silver at Worlds, falling to Tainan Dalpra.

Headed into the Grand Prix, Murasaki is coming off winning performances at the IBJJF Europeans and the CHAANCE Spyder Invitational, looking dominant in both. At Euros he defeated Elijah Dorsey and Natan Chueng, among others. He doubled down at CHAANCE with wins over Marcio Andre, and a 19-0 trampling of Chueng.

The biggest threat for Andy in the GP is Johnatha Alves. The two athletes have fought each other on three different occasions since Murasaki’s black belt debut in 2021. Alves won all three matches.

It is safe to assume that Alves will be the favorite in the GP. But with Murasaki’s current momentum, this may be his best opportunity to overcome his rival with $10,000 on the line at one of the biggest gi events of the year.