The registrations are closed and the divisions are set. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the 2018 IBJJF European Championships in Lisbon, Portugal, next week. 

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The Schedule

The IBJJF confirmed that the tournament will begin on Tuesday, Jan. 16, and will conclude on Sunday, Jan. 21. 

The most recent pre-schedule was released on Jan. 7 and the final order of the event will come out on Jan. 14. 

We can say for sure that the adult black and brown belts will compete next Saturday and Sunday. Saturday will see the black belt adult absolute division (open class) for men and women, with the weight divisions taking place on Sunday. The absolute final will also take place on Sunday.

The Numbers

Ninety-three male black belts are signed up to compete, and there are 25 female black belts. 

Beginning this year the IBJJF requires that all adult black belts have 20 ranking points to qualify. The exceptions to this rule who do not require points to enter include former adult world champions and any black belt who placed first in an adult brown belt division during the 2017 World Championships.

The breakdown of entrants by division is as below: 

Male black belt

• Rooster: 11
• Light-feather: 5
• Feather: 14
• Light: 16 
• Middle: 13
• Medium-heavy: 14 
• Heavy: 7
• Super-heavy: 6 
• Utra-heavy: 7
• Total: 93

Female black belt

• Rooster: 2
• Light-feather: 4
• Feather: 5
• Light: 4
• Middle: 4
• Medium-heavy: 2
• Heavy: 2
• Super-heavy: 2
• Total: 25 

In the male black belt division there are four world champions registered to compete, which includes: 

• Caio Terra (roosterweight) 
• Michael Langhi (lightweight) 
• Leandro Lo (medium heavyweight) 
• Erberth Santos (super-heavyweight) 

In the female black belt divisions there are also four world champions registered, including: 

• Talita Alencar (light-feather)
• Beatriz Mesquita (lightweight) 
• Claudia do Val (medium-heavy) 
• Tayane Porfirio (super-heavy) 

Of the 2017 European champions, the following will return to defend their titles in the same divisions from last year:

• Roosterweight: Koji Shibamoto
• Middleweight: Marcos Tinoco 
• Female roosterweight: Serena Gabrielli
• Female lightweight: Beatriz Mesquita 
• Female super heavyweight and openweight: Tayane Porfirio 

Notable Points:

Caio Terra was among the last names to appear in the stacked roosterweight division. There are new black belts such as Alliance’s Hiago Gama and Pedro Dias of Cantagalo Team and veterans including European medalists Koji Shibamoto (who has twice faced Terra in the finals), Vincent Nguyen, and Rodnei Barbosa. 

Reigning European lightweight champ Marcio Andre has dropped back down to featherweight and will compete in a division that also contains Gianni Grippo, Isaac Doederlein, Kevin and Brian Mahecha, and Isaque Paiva. 

Lightweight looks to be competitive as ever, with the appearance of a number of recently promoted names in the division to shake things up. Espen Mathiesen, Hugo Marques, and Renato Canuto will all make their European black belt debuts and compete alongside big names Michael Langhi, Edwin Najmi, Jake Mackenzie, and John Combs. 

Middleweight has no less than five athletes from Alliance signed up to compete, among them 2017’s gold and silver medalists Marcos Tinoco and and Alec Baulding. Isaque Bahiense backs them up. Jaime Canuto of GF Team was signed up but will miss the tournament after suffering problems with his travel arrangements. 

The medium-heavyweight division is among the most intriguing and packs serious firepower: the combined presence of Leandro Lo, Patrick Gaudio, Lucas Barbosa, Renato Cardoso, Horlando Monteiro, Charles Negromonte, Matheus Spirandelli, Luca Anacoreta, and Rudson Matheus make this 14-man bracket a must-see. 

Keenan Cornelius is back in Portugal for this first time since he was a brown belt, and he’ll compete at heavyweight. Jackson Sousa and Adam Wardzinksi of Checkmat are also in this division. 

Erberth Santos is in at super-heavy, while ultra-heavy will see three GF Team black belts in the mix in the form of Ricardo Evangelista, Victor Honorio, and Antonio Nasicmento. 

Three of the five female featherweights will make their European black belt debuts, as Heather Raftery of Atos, Amanda Monteiro of GF Team, and Emilia Tuukkanen of Gracie Barra all step up. 

From the female divisions there are four 2017 Euro champs back to defend their title: 

Serena Gabrielli will once again face off with Outi Jarvilehto in a single match at roosterweight. 

Beatriz Mesquita returns to defend her lightweight title. None of the other podium finishers from last year are back. 

Claudia Do Val won by WO as heavy last year — this year she’s signed up for medium-heavy. 

Tayane Porfirio won double gold last year and is back at super-heavy, where she’ll face Venla Luukkonen.