The brackets for the IBJJF 2017 Pan black belt absolute division are out, and there are explosive! Alliance's lightweight world champion Lucas Lepri has signed up, as has 2016 featherweight World silver medalist Marcio Andre. 

Nicholas Meregali faces a tough test for his first IBJJF match as black belt, when he faces ultra heavyweight Otavio Nalati. 


The male black belt absolute division has 31 entrants and is predictably dominated by bigger guys. The athletes who have signed up for the absolute are: 

João Paulo de Fatima Alves Ferreira, Alliance (lightweight) 
Marcio Andre, Nova Uniao (lightweight) 
Lucas Lepri, Alliance (lightweight) 
Marcus Cole Wilson, Grappling Unlimited (lightweight) 

Yago de Souza, NS Brotherhood (middleweight) 

Lucas Rocha de Freitas, ZR Team (medium heavyweight) 
Esdras Barbosa da Silva Mendes, Checkmat (medium heavyweight) 
Arnaldo Maidana de Oliveira, Checkmat (medium heavyweight) 
Diego Dias Ramalho, ZR Team (medium heavyweight) 

Joshua Lee Bowlin, Gracie Barra (heavyweight)  
Matheus Diniz, Alliance (heavyweight)  
Leandro Lo, NS Brotherhood (heavyweight) 
Nicholas Meregali, Alliance (heavyweight) 
Tanner Rice, Soul Fighters (heavyweight) 

Mahamed Aly, Team Lloyd Irvin (super heavyweight) 
Felipe Bezerra, Checkmat (super heavyweight) 
Alexandro Ceconi, Ceconi KMKZ (super heavyweight) 
Jared Dopp, Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu (super heavyweight) 
Dany Gerard, Atos (super heavyweight) 
Eduardo Alves de Inojosa, Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu (super heavyweight) 
Eliot Kelly, Yemaso (super heavyweight) 
Wellington Modena Peroto, One Jiu-Jitsu (super heavyweight) 
Erberth Santos, Atos (super heavyweight) 

Ricardo Evangelista, GF Team (ultra heavyweight) 
Carlos Farias, Brasa CTA (ultra heavyweight) 
Admilson Gobi Junior, Team Lloyd Irvin (ultra heavyweight) 
Joseph Moku, Beyond Jiu-Jitsu (ultra heavyweight)
Joao Gabriel Rocha, Soul Fighters (ultra heavyweight) 
Raphael Gustavo S. Andrade de Souza, Gordo Jiu-Jitsu (ultra heavyweight) 
Alexander Trans, GF Team (ultra heavyweight) 

Here are some stats:
4 lightweights 
1 middleweight 
4 medium heavyweights 
5 heavyweights 
9 super heavyweights 
7 ultra heavyweights 

Looking at the brackets, we're predicting some explosive showdowns: 
• If Lucas Lepri and Joao Gabriel Rocha both advance, they will meet in the quarterfinals 
• Erberth Santos looks set to face either Matheus Diniz or Joseph Moku in his second match. 
• Nicholas Meregali will face Otavio Nalati in his first match, and should he win his second match will be either Mahamed Aly or new Checkmat black belt ultra heavyweight Felipe Bezerra. His next match after that would be could be either Alexander Trans!
• Marcio Andre has a lightweight in his first match but a guaranteed super heavyweight in his second. He already holds a win over Alexandro Ceconi from the 2016 European absolute division. 
• Leandro Lo could face any one of number of people on his way through to the final, but showdowns with Marcio Andre, Nicholas Meregali or Alexander Trans are possible. 

Click here for the interactive brackets

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