There is a 100% chance we will see a new face take gold in the 2019 IBJJF Pan lightweight division, and the race boils down to three front runners. Watch it live or on demand only on FloGrappling.com this weekend. 

Renato Canuto at 2018 IBJJF Worlds

Renato Canuto (Checkmat) finished in second place at the 2018 World championships. Since Worlds, Canuto has been mostly focused on No-Gi competitions in the KASAI circuit but will be back in the gi and should be one of the favorites in the lightweight division at Pans. Canuto has never won Pans at any belt, and this is a title he hopes to add to his resume. 

Levi Jones-Leary

2018 World champ at brown belt, Levi Jones-Leary (Unity) shocked the jiu-jitsu world in January when he defeated six-time lightweight World champion Lucas Lepri in the European final. The 21-year-old Australian also holds victories over Gianni Grippo, Roberto Satoshi and Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes in his first ten matches at black belt.

Queixinho

Osvaldo “Queixinho” Moizinho (Ares) is one of only two people to have beaten Jones-Leary so far, winning via decision at the Spyder Invitational in Korea. Normally a featherweight, Queixinho has made the move up to lightweight in 2019. Incredibly he has yet to win Pans but has made it to the podium at this event five years in a row as a black belt, taking silver in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and bronze medals in 2014 and 2018.

European bronze-medalist Alexandre Molinaro (Carlson Gracie), John Combs (Easton), Gabriel Rollo (Checkmat), Rodrigo Freitas (Rodrigo Freitas), Johnny Tama (Alliance) and Kevin Mahecha (A-Force) add to a stacked lightweight division that should be exciting from the early rounds on.

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