As registration comes to a close and the last few names slide in, we take a look at who's in, what's new and what's different at the 2019 IBJJF World Championships.

Below we'll highlight the big news from the key divisions– please note that these are subject to change, as the competitors still have another 24 hours to change their weight class so it's possible they won't settle down for a day or so. But we believe these to be mostly final, save for maybe a handful of minor changes. 

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Rooster: Bruno Malfacine is back, Caio Terra is in

Not satisfied with 10 IBJJF World Championship gold medals, Malfacine has signed up for a crack at his 11th. The roosterweight king said he was done with jiu-jitsu and would focus on MMA but as we've seen so many times before, retirement doesn't mean much in jiu-jitsu. 

After a series of career-threatening injuries over the last two years Caio returns and is signed up at roosterweight. Could we see him and Bruno face off in the final again? 

Light-feather: Michael Musumeci moves up, Miyaos in together  

After registering as a roosterweight, Mikey moves back up to the weight class where he has twice won gold: light-featherweight. He's always had a hard time making rooster and it's not a surprise to see him back up at LFW, but the division is stacked and there's a strong possibility he'd have to fight both Miyao brothers in the same day! Which leads us to... 

This is Paulo Miyao's first World Championships since 2016 when he was suspended for a doping violation. He's back and registered at light-feather, the same division as his twin brother Joao. Also in the mix is their Cicero Costha teammate Hiago George, which makes the 21-man division extra challenging. 

Fully-loaded featherweight division wide open 

Isaac Doederlein, Kennedy Maciel, Gianni Grippo, Osvaldo “Queixinho” Moizinho, Rafael Mansur, Leo Saggioro, Matheus Gabriel, Marcio Andre, Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor and more… Maybe the hardest division to pick a favorite. 

Levi and Lucas to rematch at lightweight?

The biggest black belt division with 32 competitors. Fingers crossed we see Levi Jones-Leary and Lucas Lepri tussle one more time in a replay fo the European final. Lepri is aiming for an incredible sixth-straight gold medal. Keep an eye on Pans silver medalist Renato Canuto and Brazilian national champ Ygor Rodrigues among others to shake things up. 

No Espen Mathiesen though, who is out injured apparently, which leaves Pedro Ramalho and Tommi Pulkkanen as the only European athletes. 

High chance of closeout in monster middleweight division 

Marcos Tinoco and Isaque Bahiense of Alliance, Otavio Sousa and Gabriel Arges of Gracie Barra, Michael Liera Jr and JT Torres of Atos, Dante Leon and Jaime Canuto of GF Team... There are some real power couples at middleweight. 

There are a lot of dark horses in this division, including the likes of Yago de Souza, Manuel Ribamar and Hugo Marques. Alexandre Joaquim de Jesus, who burst onto our radar and impressed us at Pans, is also a name to keep an eye on. 2018 silver medalist Tommy Langaker will no doubt be looking to better his result too, making middleweight a free-for-all.

Pena debuts at "new" old weight class

It's been a few years since we saw Felipe Pena at medium-heavyweight, with the Gracie Barra black belt last hitting the podium at 88kg / 195lb in 2017 when he took third. Heavyweight champ in 2018, Pena drops down and will compete along with Atos studs Lucas Barbosa and Gustavo Batista, who closed out MHW last year. Euro and Brazilian national champ Rudson Mateus is a good bet to hit the podium too. 

Heavyweight to go hard af

Keenan Cornelius begins his post-Atos comeptition career with a tough task: the heavyweight division at Worlds. A possible showdown with former teammate Kaynan Duarte is on the cards, not to mention Patrick Gaudio, who handed Keenan the controversial los last year in the semifinal. 

Leandro Lo drops back down after two years spent chasing super-heavyweight gold but coming up short. To get back to the top of the podium he'll need to go through Adam Wardzinski among others, the Polish black belt who tapped him out at Pans. 

Who can stop Meregali?

Super-heavyweight champ in 2017 and bronze in 2018, Nicholas Meregali is back and if his Brazilian Nationals performance is anything to go by then he's about as close to a favorite as you can get. 

That's not to say it's a lock. Luiz Panza, Gutemberg Pereira, Fellipe Andrew Silva and, of course, 2018 World champ Mahamed Aly will be doing their hardest to seize gold.

Buchecha back for record attempt

Not satisfied with 11 gold medals, Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida will look to add another two to his collection. The biggest obstacle in his way is Joao Gabriel Rocha, who took his first win over the Checkmat giant in February, and promises a new edge to his mindset that will see a repeat and his first World Championship black belt gold medal. 

For an up to date list of confirmed names click here.