From June 28-30 the IBJJF American National Jiu-Jitsu Championship will take place at the Las Vegas convention center. The three-day long tournament will stream on FloGrappling and features gi, no-gi and kids divisions. 

Being so close in time to Worlds, American Nationals is often the first tournament at a new belt for those who were promoted on the podium at the World Championships. Here’s an idea on who to look out for this weekend in Las Vegas.

Women Champs Out in Force 

Two 2018 World champions are registered in the female black belt divisions in Karen Antunes (Checkmat) and Nathiely de Jesus (Unity). The light-featherweight division will see the black belt debut of Mayssa Bastos (GFTeam), who will have to get through Patricia Fontes (Checkmat) in her first official black belt tournament. 

Karen Antunes, 2018 World Champ 

Bastos is however no stranger to competing against black belts, as she has dominated her weight in the UAEJJF over the past couple years (where brown and black belt females compete in the same division). Former World runner-up and Pan champion Tammi Musumeci (Caio Terra) should be a heavy favorite in the lightweight bracket.

Big Name Male Black Belts 

Over on the male side there are no current World champs but a number of active competitors that should make the weights and open class interesting. Horlando Monteiro (Gustavo Dantas, pictured top) and Rafael Vasconcelos (Atos) could potentially meet in the finals at heavy and in the absolute. Manuel Ribamar (Unity), Joseph Moku (Beyond Jiu-Jitsu) and James Puopolo (Ribeiro) should also be contenders in their weight and the open.

Lighter Weights Offer Variety of Talent 

An interesting middleweight division contains the returning Sean Roberts (Checkmat) and former UFC champion Ben Henderson (JCBJJ). The ten-man lightweight bracket is a pretty level playing field, with Rodrigo Freitas (RFBJJ), Lucas Valente (Gracie Barra), Herbert Burns (Oriente), Alexandre Molinaro (Carlson Gracie) and Piter Frank (Alliance) all in the mix. 

GFTeam prospect Carlos Oliveira will make his black belt debut at rooster, matched up with Nobuhiro Sawada (Tri-Force) in a two-man bracket. Atos has two hammers in the light-featherweight bracket with Lucas Pinheiro and Pablo Mantovani. The featherweight division will most likely be fought out between Thiago Macedo (Rodrigo Pinheiro), Richar Nogueira (Cicero Costha), and Kevin and Brian Mahecha (ATT).

Brown Belt 

At brown belt, the medium-heavyweight division could see a showdown between 2018 World medalists in Jonnatas Gracie (Atos) and Gabriel Almeida (Checkmat). Jake Watson (Maracaba) is another name to watch at medium-heavy. 

Jonnatas Gracie

The middleweight bracket contains three new brown belts in 2018 purple belt middleweight World champ Ronaldo Junior (Atos), featherweight World champ Mathias Luna (Checkmat) and Pan/Brasileiro champ Guthierry Barbosa (Carlson Gracie). The other Luna brother, Matheus, is a 2018 World bronze medalist and registered at lightweight.

Purple Belt 

The purple belt heavyweight division could see a rematch of the World finals at medium-heavyweight, with champ Igor Tanabe (Brasa CTA) and runner-up Adam Bradley (Atos) both registered. 

ZR Team prodigy Lucas Protasio will make his purple belt debut at lightweight after a dominant 2018 as a blue belt in which he won Worlds, Euros, the Brasileiro and Abu Dhabi World Pro. Diego Oliveira (Cicero Costha), Daniel Amorim Junior (Atos) and Liam Moss (Atos) are some big name prospects in the lighter weights who will be competing in Vegas.

Watch the 2018 IBJJF American National Jiu-Jitsu Championship– every mat and every match– LIVE or On Demand only on FloGrappling.