For the IBJJF European Championships 2020 women’s competitor list and preview, click here.
The first big tournament of the year is nearly upon us. The IBJJF European Championships have always represented a strong signal for who’s likely to make a big impact on the rest of the year. With the brackets finally announced, here we take a look at the full competitor lists and predictions for each division.
Roosterweight
Competitors – Bruno Malfacine, Cleber Sousa, Thalison Soares, Tomoyuki Hashimoto, Koji Shibamoto, Juan Lopes, Nobuhiro Sawada, Lucas Goncalves & Kristian Woodmansee.
Discussion – With Mikey Musumeci moving up in weight, this has opened up the Roosterweight division a little. Bruno Malfacine and Thalison Soares stand as the favorites here and provided Soares makes it past Kristian Woodmansee first, they’re set to meet in the second round. This should be the deciding match for who walks away with gold this year and I think the advantage goes to the veteran competitor here.
Prediction: Bruno Malfacine.
Light-Featherweight
Competitors – Diego Oliveira, Hiago George, Mikey Musumeci, Jonas Andrade, Pedro Dias, Rene Lopez, Wesley Sousa, Carlos Oliveira, Suraj Budhram, Alejandro Lecoq & Lucas Nascimento.
Discussion – Cicero Costha’s team are heavily represented in this division and should come away with at least one medal with Andrade, George, Nascimento and Diego Oliveira all in different corners of the bracket. There’s one man likely to beat all of them however, reigning Roosterweight champion Mikey Musumeci.
Prediction: Mikey Musumeci.
Featherweight
Competitors – Leo Saggioro, Isaac Doederlin, Gianna Grippo, Israel Sousa, Gabriel Marangoni, Guilherme Rocha, Alex Sodre, Gabriel Sousa, Rodrigo Barbosa, Ariel Tabak, Jobson Apolinario, Diego Henrique, Max De Been, Brian Mahecha, Sergio Calderon, Sam McNally, Lee Renaut, John Leno Melo Dantas, Antonio Felix & Deandre Corbe.
Discussion – This is one of the hardest brackets to call, genuinely packed with grapplers who could be European Champion on any given day. Leo Saggioro and Isaac Doederlin are on opposite sides of the bracket and both men have excellent chances of winning a medal here. Gianni Grippo is always a front-runner and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some combination of these three men on the podium. I’m going to have to go with my heart here and say that Grippo gets it done in one of the toughest divisions this year.
Prediction: Gianni Grippo.
Lightweight
Competitors – Vitor Oliveira, Natan Cheung, Alexandre Molinaro, Italo Maura, Gabriel Alves, Guthierry Barbosa, Jonnatas Gracie, Marcus Phelan, Pedro Veras, Fabricio Barbarotti, Shinsuke Moribe, Bruno Borges, Jeremy Jackson, Leon Larman, Tommi Pulkkane & Luan Carvalho.
Discussion – It’s interesting that Vitor Oliveira is choosing to compete at Adult after multiple Masters World Championships and he’s a dark horse to get to the podium here. Guthierry Barbosa and Jonnatas Gracie are both cutting down from Middleweight and after a good showing at No Gi Worlds last year, this size difference could be the edge that Gracie needs to excel.
Prediction: Jonnatas Gracie.
Middleweight
Competitors – Ronaldo Junior, Tommy Langaker, Max Lindblad, Mathias Luna, Pedro Ramalho, Ayub Magomedov, Oliver Lovell, Rodrigo Caporal, Lars Friberg, Sean McDonagh, Bradley Hill, Sebastian Brosche, Alexandre Cavaliere, Lucas Valle, Igor Verissimo & Alexandre De Jesus.
Discussion – Tommy Langaker has looked phenomenal over the last few months and despite a tough opening match against Oliver Lovell, I think he’s got what it takes to walk away with gold here. Max Lindblad is on the opposite side of the bracket and has a slightly less difficult path but the potential for an all-Scandinavian final at Middleweight is exciting.
Prediction – Tommy Langaker.
Medium-Heavyweight
Competitors – Rudson Mateus, Gabriel Almeida, Rafael Paganini, Bruno Lima, Manuel Ribamar, Max Bickerton, Espen Mathieson, Filipe Pinheiro, Rodrigo Miguel, Yan Cabral, Sean Coates, Angel Cicero, Jacopo Pasquini, Thomas Trintignac, Santeri Lilius, Jakub Zajkowski, Nathan Albrecht, Alec Baulding & Henrique Moreira.
Discussion – Alec Baulding has looked great last year and along with Espen Mathiesen, represents the outside chances to take gold. With both of last year’s finalists, Mateus and Almeida, returning and Manuel Ribamar moving up in weight, the competition might be too strong. Ribamar meets Mathiesen in his first match and provided he gets past him, I can see him overcoming the size advantage the other competitors will have.
Prediction – Manuel Ribamar.
Heavyweight
Competitors – Keenan Cornelius, Dimitrius Souza, Adam Wardzinski, Jackson Souza, Dom Bell, Pedro Elias, Phillipe Pomaski, Fabio Alano, Felipe Mauricio, Guilherme Jardim, Gabriel Volante, Hygor Da Silva & Rafael De Lima.
Discussion – Checkmat have got an excellent chance of getting at least one medal here with Adam Wardzinski and Jackson Souza on opposite sides of the bracket. I can see Wardzinski making it as far as the final but with Keenan Cornelius most likely waiting for him, the worm guard king should be able to take gold back to his new gym.
Prediction: Keenan Cornelius.
Super-Heavyweight
Competitors – Fellipe Andrew, Helton Junior, Patrick Gaudio, Fellipe Trovo, Gerard Labinski, Lukasz Michalec & Stanislav Varshavskiy.
Discussion – The smallest division with some of the biggest competitors should still produce a bunch of quality matches. Last year’s finalists, Fellipe Andrew and Helton Junior, look set to repeat that match in the final this year and if they do, I expect Andrew to win again. That being said, Patrick Gaudio is waiting in the wings to upset either one or both of these men and that’s definitely a possibility.
Prediction – Fellipe Andrew.
Ultra-Heavyweight
Competitors – Renan Vieira, Matheus Felipe, Seif Eddine-Houmine, Mahamed Aly, Igor Schneider, Tanner Rice, Igor Marques, Gabriel Lucas & Rodrigo Ribeiro.
Discussion – There are some genuinely terrifying competitors at this weight, no weight limit encourages some of these guys to be as huge as possible. Despite moving up in weight and likely giving up some size to most of these competitors, Mahamed Aly should find this a relatively comfortable division to take gold in.
Prediction: Mahamed Aly.
Brackets for every age and belt category for the IBJJF European Championships 2020 can be found on the IBJJF website here.
This article is part of our coverage of the IBJJF European Championships 2020, click here for the latest news.
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