The 2024 IBJJF Worlds are here and the best of the best have gathered in Long Beach, CA to test themselves and earn the glory of being World Champion. Each weight class has its own storylines and intrigue, but no division is bigger and more important than the absolute. Each year, whoever wins that bracket has the right to call themselves the best in the world at any weight class and it is the most coveted gold medal in all of jiu-jitsu.

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For the women, Gabi Pessanha returns to continue her dominant run. She's won her last 122 matches, including 13 straight major event double golds. Even against such a deep field, it is hard to see Gabi losing to anyone. Should anyone dethrone the queen and beat Gabi, it will rank as one of the biggest upsets in all of jiu-jitsu history. For this reason, I currently consider Gabi Pessanha to be the lone contender worth considering for the women's open class title.

On the men's side, things are much more open. There is no former or defending open class champion in the field, meaning we are guaranteed a first time open class champion regardless of who does it. We have narrowed down our list of contenders to the top athletes who can win the absolute, after their performances in the IBJJF over the last year.

• Gutemberg Pereira

Gutemberg kicked off his 2024 very strong, winning double gold at Euros and the absolute at Pans. His move to Art of Jiu Jitsu has already paid dividends and he is having the best year of his career so far. Very few can match Gutemberg's blend of size, movement, and tactical understanding. Can he cap it with an open class title? He will be the likely favorite coming in to win both the ultra-heavy class and the open.

• Yatan Bueno

Yatan Bueno has been steadily rising as an ultra-heavyweight contender and he finally broke through to win big at Pans this year, defeating Gutemberg in the finals. His style is powerful, aggressive, and he uses strong judo to get to dominant top positions. It was the biggest win and title of his career and he gets to roll with that momentum to Worlds. He may just focus on ultra-heavy but if he does enter the open he will become one of the favorites.

• Erich Munis

The Fratres black belt Erich Munis is another big favorite to win the absolute. He's very lanky and uses a flexible, modern guard to play a tactical game. He's incredibly hard to beat and has already won a handful of world titles. Last year, he took silver in this same bracket (his second time doing so) and with Fratres all-in on winning the team title it's a lot of motivation for Erich to finally earn his open class gold.

• Gustavo Batista

Gustavo Batista has quietly been putting together a hall of fame resume, with two world titles already to his credit to go along with four Pan titles and more impressive accolades. Batista has some very tough contenders in his own medium-heavy division (including Uanderson Ferreira, Jansen Gomes, and Isaque Bahiense who have all beaten him since Worlds last year) so he may focus on that, but he has entered absolutes before so don't be surprised if Brauginha focuses on that.

• Pedro Machado

Pedro Machado is another Atos black belt who has entered into absolutes in the past, including medaling at Euros and Brasileiros this year. He has been a consistent presence on the podium the last few years and he seems like an obvious choice to make a deep run in the open class using his lethal closed guard and back taking.

• Roberto Jimenez

Roberto Jimenez is one of the wildest competitors in the world and he can win any bracket he enters. In fact, he won the absolute at the No-Gi Worlds in December! With his prodigious back taking ability and ultra-aggressive attitude, he's a factor against anyone. However, he's yet to have as much success in the gi so this will need to be a big performance from the South American phenom if he wants to be one of the medalists here.

• Rayron Gracie

Rayron is an interesting case. He's a rookie black belt who has yet to medal in the absolute at any major event as a black belt. However, he did win the brown belt open class last year and has won some really big matches in 2024 - including an ADXC victory over Fellipe Andrew. I think his inclusion is warranted as a dark horse contender.

• Mica Galvao

Mica seems destined to one day compete in the open class at Worlds, and with his level of jiu-jitsu it seems like he'd have a lot of success. However, I don't know if 2024 will be that year. After an injury at Pans that he has had to reschedule matches for, and with pressure to bring home the lightweight gold, it seems like the goal for Mica will remain on his weight class and not the absolute. Still, should he enter? He'd be a contender, immediately.

• Diego Pato

Pato is the smallest man on the list but this light-feather champion medaled at Brasileiros's open class just last month so clearly he has an eye on absolutes. While he may just focus on his division here, seeing someone Pato's size enter into the land of giants is always exciting - especially since he can defeat most if not all of the field.

How To Watch IBJJF Worlds 2024 On FloGrappling 

The 2024 IBJJF World Championships are streaming on FloGrappling and the FloSports app starting on May 30 and ends on June 2. Every match replay, highlight and breaking news will be on both platforms. 

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In May 2024, FloGrappling is streaming the fourth and final Grand Slam event on the IBJJF Calendar in California.  

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