The IBJJF Pan Championships kick off this week and there's always a lot to enjoy. There are many top black belts ready to compete on Saturday and Sunday but we will also get a good look at the colored belt divisions. These blue, purple, and brown belt divisions are packed with young talented competitors who will one day be the top black belts in the game. Every once in a while, though, a class comes through that stands as more impressive than usual.

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This year's crop of women brown belts are already competing at a genuinely world class level and, I believe, will be at the top of the black belt competition game in short order. There are genuine stars in this class who will likely enter black belt after Worlds this year and begin sterling careers - even potentially hall of fame careers. That's certainly all very easy to say before their journeys have even truly begun - but that's the level of prospect I feel like we are looking at, and not just in one athlete.

These brackets go down this Friday, including the absolute. All of the action from the IBJJF Pans will be streamed exclusively on FloGrappling, so make sure to come back to catch every moment.

Weight Class Intrigue

The first person worth talking about is the European double gold medalist at brown belt, Sarah Galvão. The Atos rising star was sterling in Lisbon, winning all of her matches dominantly using a dynamic guard game and some incredible back attacking skills. She's entered here at lightweight, and the way the bracket broke down is favorable to her - the three grapplers I'd really like to see her against (teammate Tamara Toros, Laylah Watkins, and Zara DiTofano) are all on the other side. Sarah has yet to lose as an adult in IBJJF competition and she's already picked up major wins on the AJP circuit - like Julia Alves.

Sarah is the 'team captain' of the Atos 'Dream Team', a group of up-and-coming colored belt women who are all competing at a very high level already. They include Lillian Marchand, Jadeya Reber, Emily Leyva, Leticia Teixeira, Alexa Herse, and Bia Alves (sorry if I forgot anyone). As this group gets promoted and matures, they will be a significant force at the adult black belt level. Expect Sarah to be competitive with the world level adults as soon as she receives her black belt (likely at Worlds) - the results are already there.

The single most anticipated match coming in is going to be at medium-heavy, where Helena Crevar takes on CheckMat's Aghata Fernandes (who won Worlds at purple belt middle last year). That bracket Agatha won was deep, with Jadeya Reber, Luandra Barbosa, and Eliza Nascimento all medaliing - all three are very bright up-and-comers. Aghata is a very respectable young colored belt but more eyes will likely be on Crevar, given her rise to stardom in no-gi.

Helena was 2024's ADCC runner-up at -65kg, the youngest ADCC medalist in history. She has become known as a no-gi grappler with a lethal guard, especially her leg locks. Now she makes her biggest jump yet into gi competition. She grew up doing both and has stayed active in the IBJJF juvenile circuit. Unfortunately, that usually meant she was stuck facing only a few opponents that had trouble keeping up with her so we never saw her pushed into deeper waters. After that kind of stunning dominance at juvenile, the expectations are high.

Helena is a top-5 pound-for-pound no-gi grappler and the number one in the world at 155lbs. This is all before she turns 19 or gets her black belt. All that is left to do for her in the gi is prove her level, because I think she's already capable of competing against the very best. While she lacks some of the same experience as the elite black belts, it will take someone world class to even push her meaningfully at this point.

The Funegras also stand out as two brown belts who will likely be competing for World titles nearly immediately once they get their black belts. They have had sterling colored belt careers, with both winning World titles at purple belt after closing out together at juvenile blue belt. They have that prototypical AOJ-style game down to the details, with berimbolos, leg drags, crab rides, and more all in the arsenal. Really the biggest issue is their biggest advantage - there are two of them, meaning they always have to end up closing out these finals because they are both the same size. Since Mia won in Lisbon, I would expect Ashlee takes the nominal gold here but it's all practice for the Pyramid.

Absolute Division

The absolute division is going to be really, really worth watching here. In the field of top prospects, who will become that top of the top heading into Worlds? I think it's safe to assume that Helena will enter - in fact, I can't think of an IBJJF tournament she attended and didn't do the absolute. Since she's already in the semifinals, you can probably book that now (provided she isn't injured in the weight class run).

You can probably expect the usual crop of champions and medalists from heavy and super-heavy, potentially including Raniele Alencar of Fratres, Ana Vyrginnia Rocha of CheckMat, and Luane Carvalho Correia of Vision. I think it's unlikely the Funegras enter, as they are just not very big and typically don't do absolutes.

The real question is... who enters from Atos? Who represents the Dream Team in this major absolute bracket? This is of course assuming everyone medals and is therefore eligible - I think it won't be Sarah Galvão this time. I think even if she's having a great day, every academy only gets a few spots and (after Sarah took Euros) the Atos spots may very well go to two other brown belts to watch: Lillian Marchand and Letícia Teixeira.

I left both off the list in the divisions because I wanted to talk about them here. Lillian Marchand is another brown belt who will be very competitive at black belt very quickly, as the Canadian has already shown flashes of that in AJP competition. She won Euros in exciting fashion, including a submission in the finals using a nifty lock that she has been developing. She's entered at medium-heavy here, the same weight she won at Euros. If she and Crevar meet up, that's a major match between up-and-coming champions.

Letícia Teixeira is also someone to watch but we have less data on her. She's newer to the Dream Team but has been very successful in her colored belt career as well. She won the heavyweight world title last year under Fratres; now we get to see this year as an Atos transplant. With her experience and size, an absolute run with her could be very telling on her potential against some of these other prospects.

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