With less than a month to the IBJJF World Championships in Long Beach, California, we took a look at the plans of some of the top black belts in the world to see how they were getting ready for the most important tournament of the year. 

A number of elite black belts are using the final weeks before Worlds to fine tune their competition games in smaller tournaments around the USA and the world. 

Everybody will already have gained enough points to qualify for Worlds, so these tournaments are more for the competitors to get back into the rhythm of being on the competition mat – fine-tuning their strategies, working out any kinks in their game and testing their physical preparedness. 

The three major IBJJF tournaments between now and the Worlds (which begins June 1) are: 

• Las Vegas International Open Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship (May 7)
  
• Miami Spring International Open Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship (May 14) 
  
• Curitiba International Open Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship (May 21-22) 
  

Let’s take a look at a few of the best-known black belts who are signed up to compete. 

Las Vegas International Open Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship

Light Featherweight 
Michael Musumeci
Rafael Freitas

Featherweight 
Rafael Mendes 
Ary Farias 
Samir Chantre 

Light​weight 
Osvaldo ‘Queixinho’ Moizinho 

Middleweight 
Luca Anacoreta 
Jaime Canuto 

Medium Heavyweight 
Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa
Diogo Araujo 

Female Lightweight 
Tammi Musumeci 

Female Middleweight 
Ida Floisvik (first tournament at black belt) 

Full list of sign-ups here 

Miami Spring International Open Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship

Middleweight
AJ Sousa 
Jaime Canuto 

Ultra Heavyweight 
Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu 

Full list of sign-ups here

Curitiba International Open Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship

Featherweight 
Rafael Mansur 

Lightweight 
Caio Almeida 

Middleweight
Claudio ‘Caloquinha’ Cardoso 

Super Heavyweight 
Erberth Santos 
Alexandro Ceconi 

Full list of sign-ups here