In the wake of the 2018 IBJJF World Championships, one thing that is obvious is the emergence of recent juvenile division athletes at the adult level. 

With Michael Musumeci winning his second black belt World title at just 21-years-old, alongside Jamil Hill-Taylor and Gustavo Batista becoming World champs at 22, it’s evident that the champs are getting younger and younger every year. 

The blue, purple and brown belt divisions at Worlds were dominated by athletes under the age of 21, most with just a few years training and waiting to be promoted as soon as they reach the next IBJJF minimum amount of time at their current rank.

2018 brown belt World champion Mauricio Oliveira. Photo: Michael Sears

Rising Stars: Brown and Purple Belts 

Kaynan Duarte of Atos and Mauricio Oliveira of GFTeam completed incredible years at brown belt and were awarded their black belts post-Worlds at just 20-years-old. Both Duarte and Oliveira have now won Worlds at blue, purple and brown belts in three consecutive years. 

Kaynan was the open class champion at brown belt this year, after winning the open at Pans and Euros earlier in the year. Oliveira– who in 2016 and 2017 submitted his opponents in the World finals– looked untouchable this past Worlds, not conceding a single point in the medium-heavyweight division.

The purple belt open divisions were both conquered by 18-year-olds in their first year competing as adults. Rio de Janeiro native Gabrieli Pessanha of Infight JJ completed the IBJJF double grand slam, winning her weight and the open at Worlds, Euros, Pans and the Brasileiros. Gabrieli was then awarded her brown belt on the podium. 

Roberto Jimenez gets gold. Photo: Michael Sears

American/Ecuadorian Roberto Jimenez of Alliance put on possibly the most dominant performance of anyone at this years Worlds, submitting 10 out of 10 opponents on his way to purple belt  double gold. Jimenez has been making waves tapping adults for years, but this is his first year eligble to compete as an adult in the IBJJF.

Thalison Soares. Photo: Michael Sears

Cicero Costha prodigy Thalison Soares just turned 19 on May 21st, yet won Worlds at purple for a second straight year. Soares was promoted to purple while still 17 after winning the 2017 Euros and is still not even eligible to complete at brown belt, needing to complete the required 18 months at purple. Since his promotion to purple, Thalison has won Worlds, Euros, Pans and the Abu Dhabi World Pro two times each and also the 2018 Euros while never losing a match in his weight. 

Samuel Nagai. Photo: Michael Sears

Igor Tanabe and Samuel Nagai won the purple medium-heavyweight and lightweight divisions less than a month after their 18th birthdays. In fact, four out of ten male purple adult divisions were won by first-year adult competitors.

Blue Belt Standouts 

At blue belt, AOJ athletes Mateus Rodrigues and Tainan Dalpra closed out the open division like they did at Pans in 2018. Also first year adults, Dalpra is still 17 years old while Rodrigues recently turned 18. 

Tainan Dalpra of AOJ (blue). Photo: Michael Sears

Dalpra submitted all seven opponents on his way to winning the blue belt middleweight division, meanwhile Rodrigues came out on top of the medium-heavyweight bracket. Both Dalpra and Rodrigues moved to California from Brazil to train at AOJ as teenagers as part of the Believe & Achieve program. 

Lis Clay on top. Photo: Michael Sears

18-year-old Elisabeth Clay from Ares BJJ in Anchorage, Alaska took home the gold in the female blue belt open, though she was still 17 when she won, having turned 18 since (June 10). 

Lucas Protasio (blue). Photo: Michael Sears

Lucas Protasio of ZR Team, also 18 years old, completed an epic year in which he won Worlds, Pans and the World Pro along with double gold at the Brasileiros. 

Who’s next? 

2019 will no doubt see some of this years juvenile 2 champs burst onto the adult scene, and its proven that some of them will be elite black belts in a very short time. 

In the male juvenile 2 open divisions this year, Elijah Dorsey of Team Lloyd Irvin won the light open while Jansen Gomes of Checkmat won the heavy open. Meanwhile with the females, Jessica Crane of LEAD BJJ won the light bracket and Azanaa Hutchison of Team Lloyd Irvin won heavy. 

A year from now be on the lookout for these four open class champs in the adult divisions plus possibly current juveniles like Jhonathan Marques, Gabriel Bello, Rayron Gracie, Daniel Sathler and Jessa Khan.