What a wild day one of black belt Worlds! The semifinals of the men's adult and the finals of the women's adult are set and a whopping NINE one-seeds went down today! Things are only heating up heading into day two, all going down on Sunday starting 9:30am PST, streaming exclusively on FloGrappling.

Want to catch up with some of the most unexpected upsets from day one? Let's take a look at twelve of them (and there's plenty we had to leave out) in no particular order, including four broken Grand Slam runs.

Before we do though, let's be clear - all of these results are only so notable because of the incredible talent that these people show. We can continue to expect a high level of performance from those athletes who suffered a setback in the toughest gi tournament on Earth.

1. Tainan Dalpra gets DQ'ed For Reap
   In maybe the most suprising result of the day, Tainan Dalpra got disqualified for an illegal action against the knee, ending his run in the quarterfinals against Francisco Lo. The 2-time IBJJF champion has now lost in consecutive years in the pyramid, this time without making the podium. There was plenty of supporters in the arena who wanted to see Tainan continue in the event but ultimately his run is over just like that.
2. Kennedy Loses Chance At Grand Slam
   Kennedy Maciel won Euros, Pans, and Brasileiros - but won't medal at Worlds. Cobrinha Jr. has had a stellar 2024, rising to the top of a very talented crew, but it was Alex Sodre who was able to knock off Kennedy in their rematch in the quarters by late advantage.
3. Returning World Champion Sam Nagai Drops Early Match
   Sam Nagai brought the Pyramid to their feet last year in his run to World gold, but like so many featherweight champions before him he was unable to repeat. In fact, no one since Rafa Mendes has been able to win a title in back to back years at featherweight. This year, Nagai lost his second round matchup to Sebastian Serpa in what is Serpa's biggest win of his career.
4. DreamArt's Larissa Martins Beats Thalyta Lima
   Thalyta won Euros, won Pans, and won Brasileiros in her best season ever. She has been the dominant force at women's middle all year long. That is, until she hit the quarterfinals against Larissa Martins. The lanky DreamArt black belt was able to snatch the win against Thalyta and knock her out of the tournament.
5. Cole Abate Loses First Round In Black Belt Worlds Debut
   Expectations from fans were very high for Cole Abate, but after a season marked by adversity he wasn't able to cash in on his first opportunity at black belt Worlds. Cole lost first round against Leo Vilela, a relatively unheralded black belt, and as a result will have to wait until next year and beyond to show what he can do.
6. Featherweight Meyram Beats Roberto Jimenez
   Meyram was on fire today! While the featherweight (and former light-feather champ) has always had a world class game, not many would have picked him to advance far in the absolute. Then he went and made the podium, including a win over South American star Roberto Jimenez. Meyram is still alive for gold in his weight class as well.
7. Amy Campo Drops Her Semifinal
   The one-seed at women's medium-heavy was unable to repeat championships, as this year the Zenith BJJ star Amy Campo lost in her semifinal to Thamara Ferreira. Ferreira, the 5 seed, faces Maria Vincenti, only the 6 seed, in the finals for World gold.
8. Janaina DQ'ed First Round To End Her 2024 Run
   That same rule that got Tainan also ended Janaina's run here after such a great 2024. She won all the majors leading up and looked poised to win and establish herself on top of the mountain at feather. Instead, she is left watching from the stands and waiting for next year again.
9. 2023 Champ Mel Cueto Loses Close Semifinal
   It wasn't as dramatic as some of the other upsets but Mel Cueto - the IBJJF's second rated black belt after Pessanha - is left with bronze after a loss to Tamiris Silva. Now those finals will be Tamiris against Amanda Magda, herself the 3-seed, in a finals match no one expected.
10. Thalison's Dominant Run Ends With 1st Round Decision
    Thalison has won all the 2024 majors in crazy dominant fashion, regularly putting up 25+ points before submitting world class opponents. Not at Worlds tho. Here, first round he got stuck in lapel closed guard and held for ten minutes before dropping the decision and ending his tournament early.
11. Featherweight Was Brutal - Former Champ Doederlein Won't Podium
    We had three former feather World champions entered this year - none will even medal. Isaac, the 2022 World Champion, has had a rough 2024 season and unfortunately wasn't able to right the ship in the Pyramid. He dropped a match by points to Meyram after getting his guard passed.
12. Gutemberg Loses Twice In Surprising Fashion
    Gutemberg was a common pick for double gold and with good reason - the new AOJ competitor had won the absolute at Euros and Pans and had seemed to really turn a corner. Those hopes ended in the absolute quarters when Jansen Gomes was able to take him down, pass, and mount in the final minute. Gutemberg later that same day lost his weight class quarterfinal, this time being submitted by a lapel choke. Considering the expectations, two quarterfinal losses here was a very surprising result for Big Berg.