2018 World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship

IBJJF 2018 Worlds Betting Odds: Favorites & Underdogs

IBJJF 2018 Worlds Betting Odds: Favorites & Underdogs

Here are the the odds for each adult male black belt division, showing the favorite to win gold in each division and offering odds for every other entrant.

May 30, 2018 by FloGrappling
IBJJF 2018 Worlds Betting Odds: Favorites & Underdogs

Here are the the odds for each adult male black belt division, showing the favorite to win gold in each division and offering odds for every other entrant.

Online betting site BetDSI has released money lines for champion picks at the IBJJF 2018 World Championships. 

(Note: We do not encourage illegal gambling, please check the laws in your jurisdiction. Go here to learn about responsible gambling.) 

Below are the odds for each adult male black belt division. 

Roosterweight

  • Bruno Malfacine     -210 
  • Caio Terra     +165 (NOTE: Caio Terra has withdrawn from Worlds due to injury)
  • The Field    +700
  • Tomoyuki Hashimoto     +800
  • Lucas Pinheiro     +1200

It's no surprise nine-time World champion Malfacine is favorite, and with the announcement yesterday that his long-time rival Caio Terra is out with injury, Malfacine's path to gold just got a lot easier. 

Photo by Mike Anderson / Gameness

Light-Featherweight

  • Michael Musumeci     -140
  • Joao Miyao     +120 
  • The Field     +400 
  • Ary Farias     +800
  • Pablo Mantovani     +1000

The fourth American to ever win Worlds gold (and the youngest, at age 20), 2017 champ Musumeci returns to defend his title against a stacked field. The law student is still top dog among a list of tough names at -140. 

Featherweight

  • Leo Saggioro     +175 
  • Marcio Andre     +190 
  • Gianni Grippo     +220 
  • Shane Jamil-Hill Taylor     +400 
  • The Field     +600

For the first time in 12 years there is an opportunity for a new featherweight champ to be crowned (the title was shared between three men in that time, none of whom are competing this year – read more on that). 2017 silver medalist Leo Saggioro of BTT is the favorite, although the pack is evenly mixed with Euro champ Marcio Andre, Pan champ Gianni Grippo and more all in the running for gold. 

Lightweight

  • Lucas Lepri     -140 
  • JT Torres     +250 
  • Michael Langhi     +325 
  • Edwin Najmi     +800 
  • The Field     +800

2017 champ Lucas Lepri is 5-1 in the gi against his biggest challenger, JT Torres. The American does have a total of three career wins against Lepri, but two of those were no-gi matches in ADCC. 

Middleweight

  • Gabriel Arges     -160 
  • Marcos Tinoco     +320 
  • The Field     +400 
  • Otavio Sousa     +450 
  • Isaque Bahiense     +500

Returning World champ Arges has only lost once in the gi since his gold medal last year, and that was a points loss in a superfight against Leandro Lo. Champ at Pans in March, Arges beat Marcos Tinoco via decision there. 

Medium-Heavyweight

  • Lucas Barbosa     +125 
  • Rudson Matheus     +185 
  • Gustavo Batista     +220 
  • The Field     +500
  • Renato Cardoso     +1000

Each of the three major IBJJF championship events this year (Euros, Pans and Brazilian Nationals) had a different champion, making this a tightly contested division with little room between the contestants. Lucas "Hulk" Barbosa has a narrow edge thanks to his performance in the absolute divisions, where he took gold at Euros and Brazilian Nationals. 

Heavyweight

  • Felipe Pena     +125 
  • Keenan Cornelius     +150 
  • Felipe Andrew +275 
  • Dimitrius Souza     +600 
  • The Field     +1300

One of the top pound-for-pound grapplers in the game, Felipe Pena will have a tough route to the final and need to face the likes of Adam Wardzinski and Xande Ribeiro and more before even meeting Keenan Cornelius. Still, his overall position as one of the best in the game makes him a narrow favorite. 

Super-Heavyweight

  • Leandro Lo     -120 
  • Nicholas Meregali     +105 
  • Gutemberg Pereira     +600 
  • Mahamed Aly     +900 
  • The Field     +1500

Pan double gold medalist Leandro Lo looked unstoppable in beating the likes of Keenan, Gutemberg Pereira and others but he will need to contend with 2017 World champ Nicholas Meregali, who beat him in the final last year for gold. Meregali returned in amazing form at Brazilian Nationals to win super-heavyweight gold and looked as sharp as ever. 

Ultra-Heavyweight

Marcus Buchecha Almeida     -300 

Joao Gabriel Rocha     +275 

Yuri Simoes     +450 

Ricardo Evangelista     +1200 

The Field     +1500

Defeated only once in the gi in three years, Marcus "Buchecha" is the kind of grappler you would always describe as a safe bet. Ultra-heavyweight is deeper this year than it's ever been, but the 10-time World champ still stands heads and shoulders above the rest and is heavy favorite for a reason. 


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