In this blog post we'll cover who the current Jiu Jitsu world champions are, as well as who held the world champion title in the past.
World Champion: Our Definition
First off, what is a Jiu Jitsu world champion? There are many different Jiu Jitsu tournaments and organizations. Each has their own unique ruleset and reigning champions. While sometimes the champion in one organization is the top dog in another, that's not always the case.
In our eyes, there is a clear definition of what the Jiu Jitsu community commonly accepts as the "world champion" title. It depends on if you're talking about competing in the gi or no-gi, and the answer is:
- The Gi World Champion is the winner of IBJJF Worlds in the Adult Black Belt Absolute division
- The No-Go World Champion is the winner of ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) World Championships in the Absolute division
Both of these events have both a men's and a women's field of athletes, so that gives us 4 total Jiu Jitsu world champions at any given time:
- Men's Gi Jiu Jitsu World Champion
- Men's No-Gi Jiu Jitsu World Champion
- Women's Gi Jiu Jitsu World Champion
- Women's No-Gi Jiu Jitsu World Champion
The Current Jiu Jitsu World Champions
Following the definition above, the current Jiu Jitsu world champions are:
- Men's Gi: Erich Munis dos Santos
- Men's No-Gi: Kaynan Duarte
- Women's Gi: Gabrieli Pessanha de Souza Marinho
- Women's No-Gi: Adele Fornarino
Erich Munis dos Santos and Gabrieli Pessanha de Souza Marinho both won gold in the Adult Black Belt division at IBJJF's 2024 World Championships. While Kaynanh Duarte and Adele Fornarino won gold in the Absolute division of the ADCC 2024 World Championships.
Previous Jiu Jitsu World Champions
IBJJF Worlds occurs every year, so each year there is a new world champion crowned (unless the previous year's winner wins again).
ADCC on the other hand occurs only every other year and they skipped a year in 2021. Also notably, ADCC did not have a womens' absolute division prior to 2024;
Previous Men's Gi Jiu Jitsu World Champions
- 2023: Victor Hugo
- 2022: Nicholas Meregali
- 2021: N/A
- 2020: Marcua Almeida
Previous Women's Gi Jiu Jitsu World Champions
- 2023: Gabrieli Pessanha de Souza Marinho
- 2022: Gabrieli Pessanha de Souza Marinho
- 2021: Gabrieli Pessanha de Souza Marinho
- 2020: Nathiely de Jesus
Previous Men's No-Gi Jiu Jitsu World Champions
- 2022: Yuri Simões
- 2019: Gordon Ryan
- 2017: Felipe Pena
- 2015: Claudio Calasans
- 2013: Roberto Abreu
- 2011: André Galvão
- 2009: Braulio Estima
- 2007: Robert Drysdale
- 2005: Roger Gracie
- 2003: Dean Lister
- 2001: Ricardo Arona
- 2000: Mark Kerr
- 1999: Roberto Traven
- 1998: Mario Sperry
