IBJJF rankings reveal top ten athletes for male and female; Gabi & Buchecha reign

It is no surprise that both Marcus Buchecha Almeida and Gabi Garcia are leading their respective packs in the IBJJF rankings. The new numbers have been released with added points from their past performances, set for the 2014 season.

The points are earned based on rank, year earned, place, whether it is the weight division or open weight division and which tournament. The most important is the gi World Championship, which will multiply points by seven compared to the Europeans and the Pan Ams which are multiplied by four and so on.

The more prestigious the tournament, the more heavily weighted the points. Also, each year that passes gives a title less importance. Last year, 2013, will mean that a point total is multiplied by three while the same title earned in 2012 will only be multiplied by two. In this way, athletes can make their way to the top while their predecessors can lose their top spots should they not maintain a winning streak throughout the year.

Perhaps one of the most interesting factors is the type of athlete who competes only in the largest tournaments but does well enough to gather a lot of points at one time versus the athlete who chooses to compete in the IBJJF city tournaments throughout the U.S. and even internationally to rack up points every other weekend.

For lighter athletes, their likelihood of entering the open weight division at the main tournaments is rare so their wins, mostly coming from earning gold in their weight division at those tournaments, also come from the smaller tournaments around the country and sometimes even winning the open weights in those as well.

Anyway, check out the full results below:

MALE

1. Marcus Vinícius Oliveira de Almeida – CheckMat USA – 706.5 points

2. Bernardo Augusto Rocha de Faria – Alliance SP – 403.5 points

3. Caio Terra – Caio Terra Association – 393 points

4. Leonardo Pires Nogueira – Alliance SP – 358.5 points

5. Otavio Ferreira de Sousa – Gracie Barra America – 346.5 points

6. Rodolfo Vieira Srour – GF Team – 342 points

7. Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira – GF Team – 314.5 points

8. Rômulo Claudio Barral – Gracie Barra Northridge – 312.5 points

9. Leandro Lo Pereira do Nascimento – PSLPB Cicero Costha – 297 points

10. Rafael Mendes Godoy – Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy – 240 points

FEMALE

1. Gabrielle Lemos Garcia – Alliance SP – 658.5 points

2. Luanna Alzuguir Marton Moraes – Alliance SP – 589.5 points

3. Michelle Zonato Nicolini – CheckMat – 451.5 points

4. Beatriz de Oliveira Mesquita – Gracie Humaita – 367.5 points

5. Luiza Monteiro Moura da Costa – PSLPB Cicero Costha – 365.5 points

6. Mackenzie Lynne Dern – Gracie Humaita Phoenix – 356 points

7. Marina Soares de Araujo Ribeiro – CheckMat – 321 points

8. Luzia Carmem Santana P. Fernandes – Gracie Barra Rio de Janeiro – 327 points

9. Fernanda Mazzelli Almeida Maio – Striker JJ / Góes – 226.5 points

10. Talita Andrea Nogueira – Ryan Gracie Team – 201 points

In response to the published ranking, Gabi released a statement on Facebook:

“Thrilled! …  This title is ours! My training partners thank you thank you thank you!! You guys make me every day a person and athlete! This title, most importantly I dedicate to my master Fabio Gurgel for teaching me everything I know. The alliance [team] for giving me the best training in the world! To my fans by fans! Excited and happy! Elected by the public, by magazines and now by the ibjjf the best in the world!”

Also in response to the news, fellow Alliance member Bernardo Faria made a statement publicly as well:

“Final result of IBJJF Ranking of 2013! I ended up in second place… Who trains a lot and dedicate all the life for Jiu-Jitsu, never wants to be second, and I always dedicate myself to be first, but when I think that this ranking is about all fighters of all BJJ divisions in all [the] world, I see that this is a very good result, and I’m very happy about it! Thanks everybody who cheer and support me to do my best everyday…”

You can learn all about the rankings by going here: http://ibjjf.org/info/ranking-information/

Who do you think will move up in the next months based on Europeans happening this weekend (don’t forget to keep track of our coverage on social media) and in the oncoming months given that most, especially the girls, are close in numbers to each other? Let us know!