They may be "rookies", but standout first-year black belts are usually some of the most promising and capable competitors in the game. 

To become a standout name as a new black belt, an athlete will have had to impress us by winning major titles in the colored belt ranks. Don't think for a second that they arrive at black belt as a fully-formed podium finisher. 

They will have honed their craft in the lower ranks over a number of years, they will have sharpened their skills at events big and small, and they will have collected significant titles  along the way. 

The black belt divisions at the upcoming IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship contain a number of promising names that we have identified for their potential to not just perform well, but to potentially win gold. Read on to see the list.

4. Kennedy Maciel 

2019 didn't see Maciel start quite as successful as he'd hoped. Hot off a big win at the 2018 World No-Gi Championships in December, Maciel dropped to light-feather for the European Championship in Portugal and suffered a shock first-round submission loss.

Pans promises to be different for Maciel. He's back at featherweight, a division for which he still needs to cut over 15lb, but nowhere near the draining effort of dropping another 13lb all the way down to light-feather. He won't have to deal with the 13+ hour flight to Portugal either, simply driving 2 hours south to Irvine from his father's gym in Los Angeles. 

With all that said, featherweight is still one of the deepest and most difficult of all the black belt weight divisions. His chance of winning is by means guaranteed. But don't count out "Cobrinha Jr." – the motivation to come back from failure can be a powerful thing. 

3. Levi Jones-Leary 

Much has been said of the Australian Levi Jones-Leary's European Championship performance, where he beat Lucas Lepri in the final for gold. But don't overlook the fact he had to go through 2018 Pan champ Gianni Grippo in the earlier rounds of that division. 

That's not the only person the Aussie has taken out. In a very short space of time Jones-Leary has beaten a number of highly-ranked competitors, including 2017 World silver medalist Roberto Satoshi and 2013 World champion Augusto "Tanquinho" Mendes. 

The 25-man strong lightweight division at Pans has some of the most challenging opponents possible; 2018 World silver medalist Renato Canuto and 2018 World bronze medalist Vitor Oliveira stand out, as does Osvaldo "Queixinho" Moizinho, who took bronze at both Worlds and Pans last year. Jones-Leary dropped a close decision to Queixinho at the Spyder BJJ Invitational just last month, which demonstrates just how close the gap between these athletes really is. 

Jones-Leary has embraced the attention that came with his Euro gold, and has told us how instead adding any pressure it only motivates him to go even further, meaning we can expect Jones-Leary to make a solid run at the top spot of the podium. 

2. Kaynan Duarte 

2019 European champion, 2018 World No-Gi champion, champion at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slams in Rio de Janeiro and London, winner of the Spyder Invitational, New York BJJ Pro winner... Pretty soon we're going to run out of room for Kaynan Duarte's list of accomplishments, which is astounding given the fact he's only been competing as a black belt since mid-2018. 

Kaynan is one of the most promising competitors of the modern generation, a multi-talented and disciplined athlete who immediately arrived on the black belt scene as a serious contender. 

Anybody who follows the competition scene would agree that Kaynan is among the frontrunners for gold at Pans. What complicates matters is the fact that he's signed up in the dangerous heavyweight division alongside Patrick Gaudio, Tim Spriggs, Tex Johnson, Vinicius Ferreira, and– of course– Leandro Lo. 

Kaynan Duarte has the ability to win at Pans, but how the bracket takes shape will be a huge factor in how big a challenge he faces. Still, consider him a solid bet for going far. 

1. Ffion Davies 

British black belt Ffion Davies told us recently in London that a change in attitude has helped her turn a corner. It was no secret that she had the skills to hang with the best in the world– she just needed to believe it herself.

Davies only got her black belt in November of 2018, and since then she has claimed titles such as that of European champion, World No-Gi champion and ADGS London champion, not to mention the fact she blew three-time IBJJF World champion Gezary Matuda out of the water with a submission in less than three minutes in a recent no-gi superfight on Polaris. 

The featherweight division at Pans is– as with most women's divisions– small but mighty. Davies' greatest challenge will be Karen Antunes of Checkmat, who stormed to the gold medal in 2018. 

Davies has kept a breakneck pace these last months, and this will be her third major competition in three weeks. If she can keep the momentum going and mitigate the effects of the long-haul flight from Europe then she stands to add another title to her already-impressive resume. 

Watch the 2019 Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship LIVE or On Demand ONLY on FloGrappling from Mar 21-24.

Watch 2019 IBJJF Pans LIVE on FloGrappling

Mar 21-24 | LIVE or On Demand