The COVID-19 coronavirus has shut down sporting events and seen the cancelation of leagues and seasons. Here's a timeline of how it affected the jiu-jitsu world.

Jiu-Jitsu Events In Asia First Affected 

Back in early March, we started tracking the effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus on the jiu-jitsu community. We first looked to Asia, the source of the outbreak, and found that South Korea and Japan had seen a serious and immediate impact on the tournament scene. 

In Japan the eighth Tokyo Open and the 14th All-Japan Master Championships– scheduled for February 28 and 29, respectively– were both canceled, as was the Copa Bull Terrier, to take place on March 7. 

The League Royale 13.2 jiu-jitsu competition, which was scheduled to be held in Busan, South Korea, on Saturday, March 14, was canceled. 

The Asian Sports Jiu-Jitsu Federation has announced the cancellation of the ASJJF Taiwan International Jiu-Jitsu Championship, which was scheduled for Sunday, March 15, 2020.

Abu Dhabi World Pro Postponed

The first major event to announce a change in plans was the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, scheduled for April 11-17. On March 5, organizers said they would need to postpone the event until further notice, possibly later in the year. 

The Middle East, particularly Kuwait and Iran, were two nations hit hard and early by the spread of coronavirus. Though few cases were registered in the United Arab Emirates, authorities stepped in to mitigate the spread of the disease by shutting down major sports events and music festivals. 

"UAEJJF Postpones All Sport Activities and Events

To support international efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19, the UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF) has decided to postpone all remaining sport events and activities until further notice to support effective preventative and precautionary efforts."

The event would have drawn thousands of athletes from over 100 different countries.

European Jiu-Jitsu Competition Scene Gets Shut Down

Before the national lockdown came into effect and public gatherings were suspended, there were a number of tournaments to be organized by the UIJJ (Unione Italiana Jiu-Jitsu). The Bologna Jiu-Jitsu Challenge was scheduled for Feb 29, and the Venezia Challenge in Venice on March 15. Both were canceled and it is not known when jiu-jitsu events will resume in the country. 

In Portugal, the FPJJB (Federação Portuguesa Jiu-Jitsu Brasileiro) announced on March 11 the cancelation of the Portuguese National Championships, which would have been held on April 3. They also communicated to all Portuguese jiu-jitsu gyms advising to suspend training and close until further notice. 

IBJJF Cancel Their Worldwide Calendar of Events

On March 11, the IBJJF announced the cancelation of the 2020 Pan Championship, one of the most important tournaments of the year. Usually attended by over 2500 competitors, it ranks as one of the biggest events on their annual calendar 

IBJJF started by announcing rolling cancelations of events through to the end of April, with the biggest event by far the 2020 Pan Championship. The affected events included tournaments in the USA, Poland, Australia and Israel. 

• March 18-22: Pan IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 
• March 28: Poznań International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 
• March 29: Sydney International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 
• April 4-5: Chicago Spring International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 
• April 4: Washington D.C. Spring International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 
• April 18: Tel Aviv International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 
• April 18-19: New York Spring International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 
• Apr 25: Detroit International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship 
• Apr 25-26: Dallas Spring International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship  

Numerous other smaller jiu-jitsu tournaments also canceled or postponed their events, including: 

• March 14: BJJ Tour, Santa Cruz CA – postponed 
• March 14: Next Generation BJJ, Niagara Falls Canada – canceled
• March 29: Dream BJJ Kids Tournament, Orange, CA – canceled
• Marcy 28: Jiu-Jitsu World League San Jose 2020 Gi Adults and Masters – postponed
• April 4: Jiu-Jitsu World League San Diego 2020 Gi Adults and Masters – postponed

Superfight Events Slowly Cancel

The mid-March Third Coast Grappling and Fight to Win events were both canceled as a result of coronavirus measures. Both promotions did their best to go ahead but were shut down at the 11th hour. 

On March 6, Houston-based 3CG had announced the cancelation of the main event submission-only superfight between Gordon Ryan and Patrick Gaudio along with the removal of all non-Texas based talent. The greatly reduced card was called off on March 13. 

Fight to Win were supposed to host their 138th event in Dallas, TX on March 14. They announced the cancelation of the event a little over 24 hours out after the venue decided to close for a minimum of a week.

BJJ Stars, which was scheduled for April 25 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, announced on March 16 that it would attempt to reschedule the same line-up of superfights for later in the year. 

Coronavirus Concerns Arrive in Brazil

The FJJ Rio, the Rio de Janeiro state federation and the oldest governing body of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the world, announced on March 16 that the 2020 Copa Helio Gracie would not take place on March 28 as scheduled and would be rescheduled at another time. 

WNO: Mikey vs Erberth

Our own Who's Number One event (WNO) has also been canceled for now. The FloGrappling event WNO: Mikey Musumeci vs Erberth Santos was due to take place on March 28 in Austin, TX. Hopefully the much-anticipated superfight will still take place later this year.