We’re on the final countdown to the first major IBJJF tournament of the year, as the 2018 European Championships are now just days away. 

Registrations for the 2018 Euros — a huge seven-day tournament which runs from Jan. 15-21 in Lisbon, Portugal, and streams LIVE on FloGrappling — will come to a close in a few days. While we should always expect a few last-minute additions, we can already get an idea of what the divisions will look like at the tournament. 

A cursory look at the list of entrants (available on the IBJJF website) tells us the following: 

• Seven of the 19 champions from 2017 will return, although only four will defend the titles they won last year.
• Fourteen silver and bronze medalists from 2017 will return to compete.

2017 European champions who are signed up to compete include: 

• Roosterweight Koji Shibamoto
• Lightweight Marcio Andre (signed up as featherweight) 
• Middleweight Marcos Tinoco (signed up for Masters 1 division) 
• Female roosterweight Serena Gabrielli
• Female lightweight Beatriz Mesquita 
• Female heavyweight Claudia Do Val (signed up for medium heavyweight) 
• Super heavyweight and absolute Tayane Porfirio 

2017 champions who are (so far) not signed up to compete include:

• Michael Musemeci Jr. (light featherweight) 
• Cobrinha (featherweight) 
• Rodrigo Fajardo (medium heavyweight) 
• Leandro Lo (heavyweight and absolute champ) 
• Mahamed Aly (super heavyweight) 
• Igor Silva (ultra heavyweight) 
• Gezary Matuda (light featherweight) 
• Mackenzie Dern (featherweight) 
• Ana Carolina Vieira (middleweight) 
• Nathiely de Jesus (medium heavyweight)

Points of interest 

The male black belt middleweight division is the only category in which every podium finisher of 2017 will return — except last year’s champ, Marcus Tinoco, will compete in the Masters 1 division instead. Silver medalist Alec Baulding and bronze finishers Isaque Bahiense and Jaime Canuto are all back. 

Aside from Cobrinha, every podium finisher from the featherweight division will return, which includes Gianni Grippo, Gabriel Marangoni, and Isaque Paiva. 

So far, none of the 2017 podium finishers from the male medium heavyweight, super heavyweight, female featherweight, female middleweight, or absolute divisions (both sexes) are signed up to compete. 

What does this mean? 

In a nutshell, many of the divisions are wide open, and we’re going to see a whole bunch of new champions, including first timers. 

The above information can change at any time — competitors have until Jan. 6 to enter their names, although due to corrections and division changes they may not appear on the list until as late as Jan 9. 

Watch the IBJJF 2018 European Championships LIVE or On Demand on FloGrappling