The IBJJF has released the official brackets for the 2016 World Jiu-Jitsu championship.
The event is scheduled June 2-5, at the Long Beach Pyramid, in California.
A quick look at the brackets allows us to imagine the pathway each athlete will have to travel on their way to the gold medal in each division.
Take a look with us.
Roosterweight: As expected, seven-times world champion Bruno Malfacine is on one side of the bracket while the two other most important names in the division are on the other side. Caio Terra and João Miyao could face each other in one semifinal, which would be the first time Terra fights a Miyao. Bruno could face Rafael Freitas or Jose Thiago Barros, or even Ivaniel Cavalcanti on the other semifinal. If Caio and Malfa meet in the final once again, it will be their 6th final since 2009. If Malfa and Miyao meet again, it will be their 3rd straight final since 2014.
Lightfeather: 2015 champion Paulo Miyao tops one side of the bracket and could face either Mikey Musumeci, Luis Felipe Pinto, Daniel Beleza or Isaac Doerderlein in one semifinal. On the other side of the bracket, Ary Farias and Gianni Grippo could meet in the semifinal, but Hiago George, Milton Bastos and Gabriel Moraes want to bud in as well.
Feather: Naturally, Rafael Mendes and Rubens Cobrinha are on opposite sides of the brackets and could only meet in the final. To get there, Cobrinha could have Megaton, Samir Chantre, Bruno Frazzatto or Marcio Andre. Rafa, on the other side, could have to face Leo Saggioro, Brian Mahecha, Osvaldo Moizinho or Isaque Paiva. If they meet in the final, Rafa and Cobra will have their 5th battle for the gold medal at the Worlds. Augusto Tanquinho was the only other athlete to be able to make to the featherweight final since 2010.
Lightweight: Michael Langhi and Lucas Lepri are once again on opposite sides of the bracket. Langhi could face Kevin Mahecha, Gabriel Rollo, Rafael Barbosa or Rodrigo Freitas on his way to the semifinal. His opponent in the semifinal could be Michael Liera or Edwin Najmi. Lepri could face Mansher Khera or AJ Agazarm, Roberto Satoshi or Thiago Abreu for his spot in the semifinal. JT Torres could face Renan Borges, Luan Carvalho, Marcelo Mafra or Francisco Iturralde before facing Lepri for a spot in the final.
Yago Souza
Middleweight: The most populated division has four brackets and the champion of each one will qualify for the semifinals. Otavio Sousa, Jon Satava, Dillon Danis, Victor Silverio and Guto Campos will most probably fight for one spot. One of them will face the winner of bracket 2, a mix of Yago Souza, Magid Hage, Alan Nascimento, Vitor Oliveira and Johnny Souza. Bracket 3 features 2015 champion Claudio Calasans, Celsinho Venicius, AJ Souza and Gabriel Arges. One of them will most probably face the winner of bracket 4, featuring Victor Estima, Marcus Tinoco, Ricardo Rezende and Vinicius Marinho, among others.
Medium-heavy: Leandro Lo earned a by and could face Matheus Diniz on his way to the semifinal. Keenan Cornelius could meet Lo in the semis after possibly facing Gregor Gracie and Renato Cardoso. The other side of the bracket features Romulo Barral, who could face Murilo Santana or Lucas Barbosa on his way to the semifinal. Tarsis Humphreys could face Inacio Neto and Patrick Gaudio before facing Barral.
Heavyweight: André Galvão is on one side of the bracket and could face Felipe Mota, Lucas Rocha and Cassio Francis on his way to the final. On the other side, Felipe Pena could face Jackson Sousa and then battle Erberth Santos for a spot in the final.
Superheavy: If Bernardo Faria wants to meet friend and teammate Leo Nogueira in the final once again, he’ll have to face Alex Cecconi and then Igor Silva or Rodrigo Cavaca. Leo, on his side, could face Vitor Toledo and then Lucio lagarto, Guybson Sá or Luiz Panza.
Ultraheavy: 2015 champion Gabriel Lyrio could face Mahamed Aly and then Roberto Cyborg or Ricardo Evangelista on his way to a new final. On the other side, three-time champion Marcus Almeida could face Dany Guy or Gustavo Elias and then most probably Alex Trans or João Gabriel Rocha to get to the final.
FEMALE
Dominyka Obelenyte at the 2015 Worlds
Roosterweight: 2015 light-feather Rikako Yuasa wants her second gold medal, this time as a roosterweight. She could face Marcela Lawton or Sofia Amarante on her way to the final. Kanako Inaba could face Serena Gabrielli and then Bruna Nascimento for the final.
Light-feather: Gezary Matuda could face Ariadne Oliveira in the semifinal. On the other side, Patricia Fontes and Kristina Barlaan could battle for the second spot in the final.
Feather: 2015 champion Mackenzie Dern could face Karen Antunes in one semifinal while Michelle Nicolini and Tammi Musumeci could battle for the other spot in the final.
Light: Bia Mesquita could face Marilia Conceição or Laurah Hallock on her way to the final. Sarah Black could face Jena Bishop or Gegi Walker for her spot on the final.
Middle: Luiza Monteiro could face Amanda Loewen or Rossie Snow and then Megan Nevill or Leticia Lalli for a spot in the final. Monique Elias has Caitlin Hughins and then Shanti Abelha or Barbara Gomes for her spot in the final.
Medium-heavy: Andresa Correa could face Monique Carvalho or Gretchen Zoeller for her spot in the final. Sijarah Eubanks, Charlenne Coats, Leanna Ditrich and Leah Taylor will battle for the other spot.
Heavy: Fernanda Mazzelli is after her third world title and she could face Fabiana Santos or Samela Leite for a spot in the final. On the other side, Vanessa Oliveira will battle Alison Tremblay for the right to fight for gold.
Superheavy: Dominyka Obelenyte will fight Hillary Vanornum for a spot in the final against the winner of Talita Nogueira vs. Venla Luukkonen.
Click here for all the brackets.
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