If there’s a jiu-jitsu title worth winning, Mayssa Bastos has won it.

In her four-year career as a black belt, the Unity roosterweight has captured three IBJJF world titles, two IBJJF No-Gi Worlds titles, two Pans titles, two No-Gi Pans titles, a Brazilian Nationals title, three European titles, an EBI title and the first-ever WNO strawweight belt.

As if that resume wasn’t enough, Bastos recently earned her spot in the upcoming, biggest ever submission fighting tournament in history, the 2022 ADCC World Championships. There, she’ll have an opportunity to earn the only title missing from her mantle.

Bastos, who generally competes at or below 125 lbs, competed in the 60 kg (132 lbs) division at the 2nd ADCC South America Trials in February, where she submitted three of her four larger opponents, with a display of grappling that has come to be expected of her. She used her unthinkable pressure to grind from top pressure, and her heat-seeking abilities to find her opponents’ backs, or to collect a submission in transition.

Bastos, afterall, is undefeated in no-gi competition since earning her black belt in 2018. That puts her at 24-0 with ten submission victories.

By record alone, she would be one of the favorites to win the 60 kg division at ADCC in her debut appearance under the lights in Las Vegas. But she’ll be entering into a division of larger, more experienced opponents who have demonstrated two skills which Bastos has not yet shown: wrestling abilities, and knowledge of the complex ADCC ruleset.

First, there’s the reigning ADCC Champion Bianca Basilio. The 2019 gold medalist and 2017 runner-up has utilized her takedown skills often in recent years, and she shines in ADCC competition. Her footlock and armbar are equally feared, and the meanstreak in her jiu-jitsu shines on the ADCC mats.

WNO Flyweight Champ, IBJJF No-Gi World Champ and 2019 ADCC runner-up Ffion Davies would also put Bastos’ undefeated run to the test. Davies surprised everyone with her submission win over Beatriz Mesquita in 2019, and has not been overlooked since. Her wrestling abilities match those of Basilio’s and her pressure game may be the best in the 60 kg division. Now training with two-time ADCC Champ JT Torres, as well as ADCC invitees Jon Blank and Sam McNally, Davies looks maximally prepared to make her run for the first-ever Welsh gold at ADCC.

Don’t forget about one of the most successful female grapplers of all time, Beatriz Mesauita, who’s looking to bounce back to the top of the podium which she climbed in 2017, before finishing fourth in 2019. Mesquita is as dialed in, aggressive, and flat-out dominant as anyone alive when she takes the mat.

Those three returning competitors will be joined by 2019 bronze medalist Elvira Karppinen as the probable top-four seeds. 

Bastos is, after all, a trials winner, which means she’ll likely find herself against one of the four returning veterans in the first round of the tournament. She may find herself alongside Canadian standout Brianna Ste-Marie, Adele Fornario and Julia Maela in the bottom four of the 8-woman seeding chart.

If that’s the case, will Bastos’ unbeaten streak come to an end in the first round at ADCC, or does she have a path to victory?

Bastos’ game is not designed for ADCC. She’s a guard player, a guard puller; and her apparent lack of wrestling will be a target for schooled ADCC competitors, against whom she’ll find herself early in the division. But Bastos is — perhaps foremost — a tactician. And if she can rely on strategy, pulling guard at the appropriate times, or allowing herself to get taken down so as not to concede a negative point, she can freely implement her A-game.

That task will not be easy in a field as decorated as this. Her opponents will be wise to her game, and try to capitalize on it. 

Still, Bastos hasn’t been stopped before. Gi or no-gi, she has never lost via submission. Mayssa Bastos has found a way to win no matter the challenge. And if she’s able to punch through this division — featuring some of the most dominant female grapplers in the world (Basilio, Mesquita, Davies & Ste-Marie), in a division well above her normal weight class, in a ruleset somewhat foreign to her and largely designed against her style of grappling — Mayssa Bastos will have to be considered one of the most successful grapplers in history.