Kaynan Duarte just had the best rookie year as a black belt the sport has ever seen. 

IBJJF World gi and no-gi champion, European and Pan champion, Abu Dhabi World Pro champion, KASAI Pro champion... all at only 21 years of age and in his first full year as a black belt.

Just 12 months ago Kaynan was promoted to black belt by his mentor Andre Galvao after winning the World Championships as a brown belt. There were already signs greatness– he qualified for ADCC in 2017 while still a purple belt and won double gold at Worlds and Pans as a brown belt. 

As good as he already was, Andre Galvao had complete faith that Duarte could be even better and the last 12 months have seemed like an exercise in proving that. 

Duarte kept up a breakneck pace competing all over the world in practically every major event you can think of. Record-keeping site BJJ Heroes says Kaynan has had 80 matches in the last year, winning 70 of them. 

Duding that time he's gone head-to-head with Gordon Ryan at No-Gi Pans, won the Spyder Invitational in Korea, he dominated the Abu Dhabi Grand Slams in Rio de Janeiro and London, won No-Gi Worlds in December, came back weeks later to do the same at Europeans. 

March and April saw him win Pans, KASAI Pro 5 and the Abu Dhabi World Pro. A week after his win in Abu Dhabi he was in Sao Paulo and took a bronze medal in the absolute at Brazilian Nationals. He erased the defeat with a superfight on Fight 2 Win 113 two weeks later and ran through the opposition at Worlds. 

Look at some of the names Kaynan has beaten in that time: 

• Fellipe Andrew 
• Tim Spriggs 
• Murilo Santana 
• Tarsis Humphreys 
• Gustavo Elias 
• Manuel Ribamar
• Dustin Akbari
• Dante Leon  
• Jackson Sousa 
• Victor Hugo 
• Fellipe Trovo 
• Arnaldo Maidana 
• Vinicius Ferreira 
• Rudson Mateus 
• Adam Wardzinski 
• James Puopolo 
• Patrick Gaudio 
• Craig Jones
• Tex Johnson 
• Renato Cardoso 
• Erberth Santos 
• Tanner Rice 
• Dimitrius Souza 
• Leandro Lo 

It's been an incredible run for Duarte, who will compete in the 2019 ADCC World Championships in September. 

His win in the heavyweight final over Leandro Lo signaled there is a changing of the guard underway. Lo is now 30 years of age and hasn't managed to win a gold at Worlds since 2017, whereas Kaynan is emerging as one of the most successful competitors on the current competition scene. 

The sky is the limit for this 21-year-old, who earned the title of black belt World champion in style. This could be the beginning of the Kaynan Duarte era. 

Watch Kaynan Duarte's gold medal winning run at the 2019 IBJJF World Championships

• Kaynan Duarte vs Danilo Borovic 
• Quarter-final: Kaynan Duarte vs Adam Wardzinski 
• Semi-Final: Kaynan Duarte vs Dimitrius Souza
• Final: Kaynan Duarte vs Leandro Lo

Kaynan Duarte On Beating A 'Legend' And Winning Worlds His First Year At Black Belt

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