IBJJF Worlds is back for the first time since 2019, with the 2021 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship going down from December 9th to 12th. The black belts will be going on the weekend, with male divisions going up to the quarters on Saturday and then doing the final three rounds on Sunday.

The absolute will run on Saturday up to the finals. Of course we don't know yet who is entered in the absolute, but I will put the weight divisions along with seeds here. Remember that because of the need to split teammates up, the seeds are not always reflected in where athletes end up in the final bracket.

Rooster

14 athletes here, with Mikey Musumeci and Bruno Malfacine receiving byes and starting on Sunday.

Here are the seeds:

1 Mikey Musumeci (Pedigo Submission Fighting)

2 Bruno Malfacine (Alliance)

3 Rodnei Barbosa (Qatar BJJ)

4 Tomoyuki Hashimoto (Brasa CTA)

5 Livio Ribeiro (Ares BJJ)

6 Jonas Andrade (PSPLB Cicero Costha)

7 Thalison Soares (PSPLB Cicero Costha)

8 Carlos Oliveira (GF Team)

9 Roiter Lima (Gracie Barra)

10 Juan Lopes (Carlson Gracie)

11 Estevan Martinez (ZR Team)

12 Marko Oikarainen (Hilti BJJ Turku)

13 Andrea Verdemare (Flow)

14 Igor Mancebo (Renato Canuto)

The Bracket:

Mikey vs Bruno 2?

The big news in this bracket is a rematch between ten time world champion Bruno Malfacine and Thalison Soares in the quarterfinals. Thalison won their only meeting, at Euros in 2019, but both guys have been extremely inactive over the last couple of years. Whoever wins that match should be the favorite to meet Mikey in the finals.

My Podium:

1 Mikey Musumeci

2 Thalison Soares

3 Livio Ribeiro

3 Jonas Andrade

Light-Feather

Not a very stacked weight, with the Miyao brothers who ran this division for years, moved on to the masters divisions. Their teammate Hiago George gets the top seed, here is how the seeds look: 

1 Hiago George (PSPLB Cicero Costha)

2 Diego Pato (PSPLB Cicero Costha)

3 Meyram Alves (Dream Art)

4 Pedro Dias (Carlson Gracie)

5 Daniel Amorim (Double Five)

6 Jordan Vaisman (Gracie Barra)

7 Joao Mendes (Atos)

8 Rene Lopez (Jiu-Jitsu Methods)

9 Willis Nunes (Checkmat)

10 Joao Figueredo (Gracie Barra)

11 Yuta Shimada (Alliance)

12 Luis Felipe Ninja (Kronos BJJ)

13 Malachi Edmond (Team Lloyd Irvin)

14 Vincent Saenz (Six Blades)

15 Takuto Kako (Grappling Shoot Boxers)

16 Ram Ananda (Alliance)

17 Huthayfah Penney (Carlson Gracie)

18 Matheus Onda (Barbosa)

19 Keven Carrasco (Ares BJJ)

20 Dennis Pressey Jr (Atos International)

The Bracket:

 Another Cicero Close Out?

Even with the Miyao brothers out, Cicero Costha still has the top two seeds at light-feather with veteran Hiago George and newcomer Diego Pato. Standing in the way is Meyram Alves, but should Pato get through Mey it should be yet another Cicero close out. I love Pato, but I hate close outs with a passion, so here is my podium:

1 Meyram Alves

2 Hiago George

3 Diego Pato

3 Malachi Edmond

Feather

The champ at this weight in 2019, Matheus Gabriel, has moved up to lightweight. 2018 world champion Jamil Hill-Taylor is the one seed, and there are a ton of contenders at this weight.

The seeds:

1 Jamil Hill-Taylor (Team Lloyd Irvin)

2 Isaac Doederlein (Alliance)

3 Fabricio Andrey (Fight Sports)

4 Thiago Macedo (Rodrigo Piheiro)

5 Gabriel Souza (ZR Team) 

6 Osvaldo Queixinho (Ares BJJ)

7 Alex Sodre (Nova Uniao)

8 Samuel Nagai (Checkmat)

9 Richar Nogueira (Rodrigo Pinheiro)

10 Emilio Hernandez (Zenith)

11 Kennedy Maciel (Alliance) 

12 Danilo Moreira (Ares BJJ)

13 Felipe Arruda (Alliance International)

14 Jonata Gomes (Checkmat)

15 Nicholas Salles (Jiu-Jitsu Methods)

16 Gabriel Marangoni (Brasa CTA)

17 Thiago 

18 Damion Oranday (Alliance International)

19 Sam Mcnally (ECJJA)

20 Brandon Walensky (Gracie Allegiance)

21 Daniel Maira (Jiu-Jitsu Methods)

22 Diego Sodre (Nova Uniao)

23 Brian Mahecha (Winners Training Center)

The Bracket:

Crazy Matches Early At Feather

Kennedy Maciel is going against Samuel Nagai first round. Insane. Then the winner most likely has Jamil in the quarters. 

Here is my podium:

1 Jamil Hill-Taylor

2 Fabricio Andrey

3 Isaac Doederlein

3 Queixinho

Light

Lucas Lepri ran this division for years, but he is not registered for 2021 Worlds. The top seed is Matheus Gabriel, who won Worlds in 2019 at fatherweight.

The seeds:

1 Matheus Gabriel (Checkmat)

2 Johnatha Alves (Art of Jiu Jitsu)

3 Levi Jones-Leary (Unity)

4 Lucas Valente (Gracie Barra)

5 Renato Canuto (Checkmat)

6 Marcio Andre (Nova Uniao)

7 Rodrigo Freitas (Rodrigo Freitas BJJ)

8 Michael Liera (Atos)

9 Espen Mathiesen (Nova Uniao)

10 Hugo Marques (617 BJJ)

11 Pablo Lavaselli (Renzo Gracie Orlando)

12 Johnny Tama (Alliance)

13 Leon Larman (Brasa CTA France)

14 Leonardo Silva (GF Team)

15 Guilherme Rocha (ZR Team)

16 Kevin Mahecha (Winners Training Center) 

17 Fabricio Barbarotti (PSPLB Cicero Costha)

18 Daniel Aquino (Checkmat International)

19 Murilo Amaral (Alliance)

20 Adriano Araujo (Carlson Gracie)

21 Wellington "Megaton" Dias (Gracie Humaita)

22 Andy Murasaki (Atos)

23 Jonas Campos (Atos International)

24 AJ Agazarm (Gracie Barra)

The bracket:

Crazy Matches On Saturday At Lightweight

Really there are about 10 people who could take this division. The big names meet early, with Renato Canuto vs Espen Mathiesen, Johnatha Alves vs Andy Murasaki and Levi Jones-Leary vs AJ Agazarm all possibly meeting on Saturday.

My podium:

1 Johnatha Alves

2 Matheus Gabriel

3 Lucas Valente

3 Espen Mathiesen

Middle

Another weight where the returning champ is not registered, with Gabriel Arges sitting out Worlds this time around. 

The seeds:

1 Isaque Bahiensa (Dream Art)

2 Tommy Langaker (Nova Uniao)

3 Tainan Dalpra (Art of Jiu Jitsu)

4 Leo Lara (Atos International)

5 Ronaldo Junior (Atos)

6 Jonnatas Gracie (Atos)

7 Jaime Canuto (GF Team)

8 Jackson Nagai (Checkmat)

9 Guthierry Barbosa (Carlson Gracie)

10 Alexandre Joaquim de Jesus (Fight Sports)

11 Felipe Cesar Silva (Unity Brasil)

12 Lucas Valle (R1NG)

13 Eduardo Carvalho (Double Five)

14 Italo Moura (Unity)

15 Mathias Luna (Checkmat)

16 Rehan Muttalib (Alliance International)

17 Lucas Gualberto (Dream Art)

18 Andre Nascimento (Alliance International)

19 Servio Tulio (Gracie Barra)

20 Piter Frank (Alliance)

21 Jeferson Guaresi (Unity)

22 Magid Hage (Gracie Barra)

23 Rafael Dos Anjos (Alliance)

24 Thiago Aso (Gracie Barra BJJ)

25 Carlos Souza (Gracie Barra)

26 Damien Nitkin (Las Vegas Atlas Grappling)

The bracket: 

More Wild Early Matches At Middle

There is one particular quarterfinal in which five of the six guys are Tainan Dalpra, Ronaldo Junior, Jeferson Guaresi, Lucas Gualberto and Guthierry Barbosa. Just absolutely bonkers. Isaque's side of the backet is wayyyyy easier than the other side, which has the winner of that Tainan/Ronaldo quarter most likely up against Tommy Langaker in the semi.

My Podium:

1 Tommy Langaker

2 Isaque Bahiense

3 Jonnatas Gracie

3 Tainan Dalpra

Medium-Heavy

Leandro Lo returns to this weight class for the first time in several years, and has declared that he will sit out the absolute and focus on winning his weight. In order to win yet another world title, Leandro will probably have to get through the Atos duo of Lucas "Hulk" Barbosa and Gustavo Batista.

The seeds:

1 Lucas Barbosa (Atos)

2 Gustavo Batista (Atos)

3 Leandro Lo (Unity)

4 Manuel Ribamar (Rodrigo Pinheiro)

5 Otavio Sousa (Gracie Barra)

6 Andre Porfirio (Fight Sports)

7 Mauricio Oliveira (Dream Art)

8 Gabriel Almeida (Checkmat)

9 Matheus Diniz (Alliance)

10 Matheus Luna (Checkmat)

11 Matheus Spirandeli (Alliance)

12 Leon Britto (Brazilian Top Team)

13 Murilo Santana (Unity)

14 Nathan Mendelsohn (Coalition 95)

15 Jake Watson (Maracaba BJJ)

16 Vinicius Garcia (Richardson BJJ)

17 Bruno Matias (Gracie Barra)

18 Juan Souza (Atos International)

19 Nathan Dos Santos (Jiu-Jitsu For Life Team)

20 Joshua Mckinney (TAC Team BJJ)

21 Alex Munis (Dream Art)

22 Diego Nogueira (Brazilian Top Team)

23 Wellington Luis (Unity International)

24 Lucas Lisboa (PSPLB Cicero Costha)

25 Ruan Marques (Double Five Tijuca)

26 Fabio Alano (Alliance International)

The bracket:

Leandro Lo vs Atos

Leandro has to be nearing the end of his career in the adult division, but I'm saying he pulls this one off and beats Hulk and Braguinha back to back to win his 8th world title.

My podium:

1 Leandro Lo

2 Lucas Barbosa

3 Gustavo Batista

3 Murilo Santana

Heavy

Kaynan Duarte initially won this weight in 2019, before being stripped of his gold medal by USADA for failing a drug test. His suspension is over though and he is the strong favorite to win heavyweight this time around.

The seeds: 

1 Dimitrius Souza (Alliance)

2 Kaynan Duarte (Atos)

3 Patrick Gaudio (Dream Art)

4 Gabriel Oliveira (Alliance)

5 Adam Wardzinski (Checkmat)

6 Rider Zuchi (NS Brotherhood)

7 Dominique Bell (Atos)

8 Helton Jose Junior (NS Brotherhood)

9 Christopher Passerre (Tony Passos Jiu-Jitsu)

10 Vitor Mello (Gracie Barra)

11 Rafael Vasconcellos (Atos)

12 Felipe Pinheiro (Qatar BJJ / Vision Brasil)

13 Matheus Godoy (Gracie Barra BJJ)

14 Luan Azevedo (PSPLB Cicero Costha)

15 Marlon Kenjiro (NS Brotherhood International)

16 Gustavo Andrade (Nova Uniao)

17 Alika Angerman (TABJJ / Honeybadger)

18 Victor Silva (Gracie Barra)

The bracket:

Kaynan Is The Guy To Beat At Heavy

There is no doubt about it, Kaynan Duarte is the big time favorite here. He has beaten just about everyone in this bracket, some of them multiple times, and should cruise to what would be his first black belt world title after losing his previous gold medal.

My podium:

1 Kaynan Duarte

2 Adam Wardzinski

3 Dimitrius Souza

3 Patrick Gaudio

Super-Heavy

The battle of the Felipe/Fellipe's at super-heavyweight, as 2019 world champion Felipe "Preguica" Pena bumps up two weight classes and will potentially meet Euros and Pans absolute champ Fellipe Andrew. 

The seeds:

1 Fellipe Andrew (Alliance)

2 Erich Munis (Dream Art)

3 Felipe Pena (Gracie Barra)

4 Fellipe Trovo (Atos)

5 Arnaldo Maidana (Checkmat)

6 Devhonte Johnson (Unity)

7 Gerard Labinski (NS Brotherhood International)

8 Davi Cabral (GF Team)

9 Harryson Pereira (Ataque Duplo)

10 Lucas Norat (Gracie Barra BJJ)

11 Jackson Douglas (Checkmat)

12 Marcelo Gomide (Gracie Barra)

13 Guilherme Wilson (GF Team

14 Joshua Guerra (Nova Uniao)

15 Diogo Silveira (NS Brotherhood)

16 Jae Mcintosh (Killer Bees BJJ College)

17 Brian Girogio (Alliance)

18 Anderson Munis (Dream Art)

19 Matheus Felipe Xavier (Checkmat International)

20 Richard Turner (GF Team)

Preguica and Fellipe Andrew vs The Munis Brothers

Do not sleep on rookie black belts Anderson and Erich Munis. They could very well close this thing out, but I've gotta go with Preguica taking it.

My podium:

1 Felipe Pena

2 Anderson Munis

3 Fellipe Andrew

3 Erich Munis

Ultra-Heavy

Buchecha ran this weight class for a decade, nut has moved on to MMA and really left this division wide open.

The seeds:

1 Nicholas Meregali (Dream Art)

2 Igor Schnieder (Dream Art)

3 Max Gimenis (GF Team)

4 Victor Hugo (Six Blades)

5 Luiz Panza (Checkmat)

6 Wallace Costa (GF Team)

7 Cyborg Abreu (Fight Sports)

8 Thomas McMahon (Alliance)

9 Antonio Zuazo (Alliance)

The bracket:

Dream Art Closeout?

As much as I hate closeouts, I think if Meregali beats Victor Hugo in the semis we will see a Dream Art closeout at ultra-heavyweight. Meregali vs Victor Hugo is the real final here.

My podium:

1 Nicholas Meregali

2 Igor Schneider 

3 Victor Hugo 

3 Luiz Panza

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