The 2024 IBJJF gi season is set to set this weekend on Saturday, Jan. 20 in Paris, France, when the athletes take the mats at the European Championships. 

Euros is the first of four major gi tournaments IBJJF calendar, and marks the beginning of the Grand Slam circuit. To achieve a grand slam — winning Euros, Pans, Brasileiros and Worlds in the same seaon — is a rare feat. In the 2022 and 2023 seasons, only two athletes accomplished that milestone; it was the same two athletes in both seasons: Mayssa Bastos and Gabrieli Pessanha (in 2022 and 2023, Pessanha won the double grand slam, winning her weight category and the absolute division in each of the four majors.)

Euros attracts athletes from across the globe. It's a significant opportunity for the best of Europe to show out in front of a home crowd, while athletes from the US, Brazil, and beyond will make the voyage to look for a strong start to the gi season.

This year, Euros is an eight-day tournament which will feature athletes from all belt levels and age divisions.

Here's what you need to know ahead of the championships, which begin at 9:30am local time (GMT) on Sautrday, Jan. 20.

Related links

• The IBJJF No-Gi Grand Prix roster is heating up
• Mica Galvao enters Euros at middleweight
• WNO 22 main event: Nicky Rod vs Victor Hugo
• The Queen of the Gi Collects Her Crown

Watch the 2024 IBJJF European Championships all week long on FloGrappling

2024 IBJJF Euros Schedule

Saturday, Jan 20

• All juvenile, adult and master white belts
• Juvenile 1 male blue belts

Sunday, Jan. 21

• All juvenile 2 blue belts
• All female adult blue belts
• Adult male roosterweight and light featherweight blue belts
• All master 1 and master 2 blue belts

Monday, Jan. 22

• Adult male blue belts featherweight through ultra heavyweight
• All master 3 through master 7 blue belts

Tuesday, Jan. 23

• All adult male purple belts
• All master 1 black belts
• Adult female purple belts roosterweight through middleweight
• All female master 2 black belts

Wednesday, Jan. 24

• Adult female purple belts medium heavyweight through super heavyweight
• All adult brown belts
• All female master 3 black belts
• All male master 2 and master 3 black belts

Thursday, Jan. 25

• All female master purple belts
• All master 2 through master 7 male purple belts
• Master 1 male purple belts roosterweight through lightweight
• All master 4 through master 7 black belts

Friday, Jan. 26

• All adult black belts (through semifinals)
• Male master 1 purple belts middleweight through ultra heavyweight
• All female master brown belts
• Master 3 through master 7 male brown belts
• Master 2 male brown belts roosterweight through middleweight

Saturday, Jan. 27

• male and female adult black belt finals
• All male adult brown belts
• Master 2 male brown belts medium heavyweight through ultra heavyweight

(For the division-by-division schedule click here)

Returning black belt champions

• Thalisson Soares (2023 roosterweight champion)
• Malachi Edmond (2023 light featherweight champion)
• Andy Murasaki (2023 lightweight champion; registered at middleweight in 2024)
• Fellipe Andrew (2023 heavyweight champion)
• Jessica Dantas (2023 roosterweight champion; registered at light featherweight in 2024)
• Mayssa Bastos (2023 light featherweight champion)
• Thalyta Lima (2023 middleweight champion)
• Maria Malyjasiak (2023 medium heavyweight champion)
• Amanda Magda de Oliviera (2023 heavyweight champion)
• Gabrieli Pessanha (2023 super heavyweight & absolute champion)

Euros 2024 viewing guide: What to watch for

Come Friday, Jan.26, when the black belts take the mats in Paris, it will have been 599 days since the last time Mica Galvao competed at an IBJJF major. That was the 2022 World Championships, which Mica won, but was later stripped of the title for a USADA violation.

Mica is back now for his first time competing on European soil as a black belt. He'll take on the middleweight division, where he has decided to move this year, and where — later in the season — he's expected to share a mat with division frontrunners such as Jansen Gomes, Tainan Dalpra and Tye Ruotolo.

His biggest challenge at Euros, however, will be Andy Murasaki, the 2023 lightweight European champion who bumped up to medium heavyweight at 2023 Worlds for silver, and is now moving down to middleweight for a try at his second consecutive European title. 

That leaves the lightweight division for a pack of hopeful champions, including Elijah Dorsey, 2022 European champ Espen Mathiesen, Natan Chueng and Pablo Lavaselli.

Dorsey had a fiery start to Euros in 2023, taking out veteran Marcio Andrey before falling to Murasaki. Mathiesen, meanwhile, fell hard in his attempt at a second consecutive gold, getting double-DQ'd in the quarters.

Lavaselli is looking for his first major gold since joining AOJ. Before the switch, he took gold at Brasileiro in 2022, then lost to teamate Johntaha Alves in the final of the 2023 Pan Championships. Chueng is looking for his first major title, but has earned a reputation as a force in the division, and made it to the lightweight final at Euros in 2023.

Dorsey's teammate, Malachi Edmond will return to Paris as the reigning champion in a dangerous division. Light featherweight is setup for Edmond to try to defend his position against the reigning world champ Diego Pato (who he defeated in the final in 2023) and the 2022 world champ Meyram Alves, who has a back and forth rivalry with Pato.

Speaking of back and forth rivalries, Adam Wardzinski and Fellipe Andrew are the favorites in the heavyweight division, where they could face off in yet another division final. Last year, Andrew won the European title in a crushing defeat over Wardzinski. He was set up to win by another large margin in the Pans final, but Wardzinski earned a dynamic nine-point comeback victory, one of the most impressive matches of the year.

Andrew finished the season with his first victory in a worlds final, securing his second IBJJF Worlds gold.

Rayron Gracie is set to make his black belt debut in Europe, following up a tremendous performance in his final brown belt appearance at Worlds, where he won the absolute title. Gracie has often had mixed results at Euros, but he relocated to London in the 2023 season, now training full time with Roger Gracie. The change could give him an advantage against a decorated field of traveling opponents in the super heavyweight division, including Erich and Anderson Munis and Harryson Pereira.

Isaac Doederlein is on the hunt for his second European title, last competing at Euros when it was hosted in Portugal in 2020. He'll face a stacked division at featherweight, which includes rivals Diego and Alex Sodre, Sam McNally, teammate Kennedy Maciel, and a pack of up-and-comers.

Gutemberg Pereira is set to compete for the first time representing his new home at Art of Jiu-Jitsu. His biggest challenges here will be Alliance's former super heavyweight standout Marcus Scooby, Frontline's Kjetil Lydov and 2022 European champ Yatan Bueno. But the big story for Pereira will be the open weight division, which will likely feature the aforementioned world champion Erich Munis. If Pereira he can push through to double gold at Euros, it will mark a sign of change for AOJ, which has produced several world champs at the lower weight categories, but has not yet had a contender for Worlds double gold. Pereira's presence on the team could mark a new era, and a strong Euro's showing would be the dawn of that era.

Pereira's two AOJ teammates are the favorites of their respective divisions. Mayssa Bastos is back for her try at a fifth Euros title, this time in the light featherweight division, to kick off a season which, if victorious, would mark her third consecutive grand slam. She's undefeated at IBJJF majors since Pans 2021, when she lost a narrow defeat to Ana Rodrigues. While Bastos looks to hold down the light featherweight bracket, her teammate, Shelby Murphey, will enter her first major as a black belt, after landing brown belt gold at Worlds to end her colored belt career.

At super heavyweight, Gabrieli Pessanha is back in action, and, like Bastos, is looking to continue on a historic run. Pessanha has won back to back double grand slams — a feat never accomplished before — and she could add a third to that run in 2024.

Pessanha is undefeated in her last 104 matches, adding up to 18 consecutive major black belt titles since her last loss. In the 2023 season she focused on increasing her submission rate, and she did it to historic effect, becoming the first ever female competitor to win double gold at a World Championships with all submissions.

European native black belts to watch

• Espen Mathiesen | lightweight | Norway
• Adam Wardzinski | heavyweight | Poland
• Maria Malyjasiak | medium heavyweight | Poland
• Sam McNally | featherweight | Ireland
• Margot Ciccarelli | featherweight | Italy
• Rose El-Sharouni | light featherweight | Nederlands
• Kjetil Lydov | ultra heavyweight | Norway
• Seif-Eddine Houmine | ultra heavyweight | France
• Shane Fishman | medium heavyweight | Ireland
• Bradley Hill | middleweight | England
• Tarik Hopstok | middleweight | Norway
• Max Lindblad | middleweight |Sweden
• Leon Larman | lightweight | France
• Shay Montague | roosterweight | Scotland

Rookie radar: the first year black belts at Euros

Shelby Murphey

The AOJ roosterweight was promoted at the top of the podium at the 2023 World Championships, and made a successful debut weeks later at the Asia Open. Now entering Euros for the first time as a black belt, Murphey has a history of victory at this event, winning juvenile titles in 2019 and 2020 before securing an adult purple belt title in 2022.

Fabyury Khrystyan

The GFTeam representative is coming off an impressive performance at No-Gi Worlds in 2023, winning middleweight gold before being promoted to black belt. He's a perennial threat at Euros, with a 2022 purple belt title and a 2023 brown belt title to show for it.

Rayron Gracie

The contemporary generation of the Gracie clan was promoted to black belt after winning a world title last year in June at the hands of Roger and Kyra Gracie. Now training in London at the Roger Gracie Academy, Rayron is set to make his black belt debut at Euros, and is likely to try for absolute gold as well.

Karl Pegers

The Swedish black belt representing Stark Jiu-Jitsu is one of the most talented European prospects today. Pegers hit the podium at Worlds in 2023 to wrap up his brown belt career, and looks to pick up where he left off at Euros, an event where he's been successful througout the colored belt ranks.

Eduardo Dudu Granzotto

Checkmat's "Dudu" won in Paris at Euros 2023 as a brown belt, and is looking to follow up that performance with a run in the black belt ranks this year. Dudu's black belt debut was in a superfight agaisnt Cole Abate at the IBJJF Absolute GP, but this will be his first attempt at a major black belt bracket.

Kevin Alencar

After finding gold at Brasileiro, Pans and Worlds as a brown belt in 2023, Dream Art's Kevin Alencar is looking to kick off his black belt career at Euros.

Shay Montague

The Scottish roosterweight with a flare on and off the mat, Shay Montague will continue his rookie black belt year at Euros after a hard welcome to the rank at No-Gi Worlds. Montague has won big in years prior: in 2022 he won Euros, Pans and Brasileiro as a brown belt before winning Worlds at the rank in 2023. As a black belt, he's a No-Gi European and No-Gi Brazilian National champion.

Helder Junior

The Fratres black belt put himself on the radar in 2023, winning brown belt titles at Worlds and Brasileiro. In his early black belt career, he's already made his mark as a footlock specialist, winning more than half of his black belt bouts by ankle lock or toe hold.

Brown belt prospects to watch

• Kleber Alves | Dream Art | Roosterweight
• Mourece Ramirez | Nova Uniao | Light Featherweight
• Damien Hosokawa | Nova Uniao | Light Featherweight
• Gustavo Ogawa | Art of Jiu-Jitsu | Featherweight 
• Enzo Azara | Fratres | Lightweight
• SeongHyeon Joo | Roots BJJ | Lightweight
• Rafael Borges | Fratres | Middleweight
• Corey Dorsey | Team Lloyd Irvin | Middleweight
• Pawel Jaworski | Gorila | Medium Heavyweight
• Ian Kaleo | Checkmat | Medium Heavyweight
• Joao Gabriel Galvao da Silva Fratres | Medium Heavyweight
• Yasmyn Castro | Nova Uniao | Roosterweight
• Josefine Modig | Checkmat | Light Featherweight
• Lauren Sognefest | Art of Jiu-Jitsu | Light Featherweight
• Thaynara Victoria | Dream Art | Light Featherweight
• Abbie O'Toole | Roger Gracie Academy | Light Featherweight
• Sula-Mae Lowenthal | Gracie Barra | Lightweight
• Emilia Pakulski | Unity | Lightweight
• Amanda Schurtz | ECJJA | Middleweight
• Nia Blackman | Checkmat | Medium Heavyweight

When are the IBJJF majors in 2024?

• 2024 IBJJF European Championships | Jan.20 through Jan.27 | Paris, France
• 2024 IBJJF Pan Championships | Mar. 19 through Mar. 28 | Kissimmee, Florida
• 2024 IBJJF Brasileiro | April 20 through April 28 | Barueri, São Paulo, Brazil
• 2024 IBJJF World Championships | TBD - late May / early June | Long Beach, California

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