As much as everyone likes to hate on Gi Jiu-Jitsu from time to time, there are three events, at least, we all pay attention to, Those three are all IBJJF events in the form of the Europeans, the Pans, and the Mundials. The latest ones usually attract the most athletes, the most attention and provide us with the most entertainment. However, nothing can compare to the 2019 IBJJF worlds, which really exceeded all expectations we might have had. Now that the week-long event is over, let’s take a look at the complete IBJJF 2019 Worlds Results and all the memorable moments.
What happened at the 2019 BJJ Mundials is very simple to describe – history. Lots of records were broken, lots of new champions were crowned and some interesting claims were made. From anecdotes to controversies, to match analysis, we bring you all the black belt IBJJF 2019 worlds results play by play. Moreover, we’ll share some of the colored belts results as well, seeing as we’ll be seeing many of them push the black belt world champions sooner rather than later. All in all, this was one of the more entertaining BJJ events this year and would’ve probably been the best if not for the potential of the upcoming ADCC in September.
Expectations
Were expectations met at the IBJJF 2019 Worlds? I’d say they were exceeded in more ways than one! Leading up to the event there was much discussion on what would happen. This was a result of the incredibly stacked black belt adult brackets. What happened this year was a real clash of the new school and the old school streams of BJJ. Granted, lots of new school grapplers that prefer No-Gi were not there. That, however, doesn’t mean the event suffered in any way.
What we saw last week was high-level Jiu-jitsu at its best. And what makes me really happy is that we didn’t just see that at black belt. We saw some highly technical fighters that are going to ask all sorts of questions from black belts in the coming years. Granted, the referees had their say as well, causing some controversy. Still, the athlete did not shy to cause some of their owns even that aspect of the expectations was met. All in all, the IBJJF 2019 Worlds results were just as surprising as they were expected – just the way we love the outcome of a BJJ event to be!
The IBJJF 2019 Worlds Results
Let’s get to the straight down to the IBJJF 2019 Worlds results and highlight before we head off to explore some of the most memorable moments of the event. We’ll start off with the male black belt divisions, and progress towards their female counterparts. the focus is going to be on IBJJF 2019 Worlds results from the black belt adult divisions. If you’re interested in the results from the entire event, you can check them out HERE.
Adult / Male / Roosterweight
The winner here is Mikey Musumeci who managed to break several records in his journey to the title. In the finals, he made really quick work of Rodeni Barbosa, beating him via an ankle lock in just 12 seconds. He also beat Bruno Malfacine 10×8 in the semifinals, after Bruno took care of Caio Terra earlier in the 1/4 finals.
Adult / Male / Light-Featherweight
Adult / Male / Featherweight
One of the most surprising upsets in the entire event took place in the featherweight division. This division, with names like Gianni Grippo, Isaac Doederlein, Oswaldo Quexinho, and others was always going to be unpredictable. It turns out, the best of the featherweights are Matheus Gabriel. The Checkmat representative and black belt for less than a year sure caught everyone by surprise!
Adult / Male / Lightweight
At lightweight, no real surprises. After all, Mr. Lucas Lepri is in the division. Most people thought it would be Lepri to take the title, and they were right. Once again, the Brazilian made sure there were no real upsets in the IBJJF 2019 Worlds results in the lightweight bracket. Renato Canuto, Lucas Valente, Michale Langhi and Rodrigo Freitas were just some of the other grapplers in that division. In fact, Lepri met Valente in the finals, winning via a referee’s decision in a no points match.
Adult / Male / Middleweight
Middleweight is never a boring division, an how can it be, when JT Torres, Gabriel Arges, Marcos Tinoco, etc. in it? The 2019 world BJJ champion at middleweight is Gabriel Arges. Namely, the Gracie Barra representative edged out Isaque Bahiense via decision after 9 minutes of 50/50 stalemate.
Adult / Male / Medium-Heavy
Adult / Male / Heavyweight
Lots of excitement in this one! Of course, any division hosting Leandro Lo, Kaynan Duarte, Fernando Reis, Patric Gaudio, etc, pretty much guarantees that. That said, we saw Adam Wardzinski lose to Duarte in the quarters, then we saw Vinvicus Ferreira get DQed for a headbutt against Lo. Finally, Duarte took the title in nonstop action match against Leandro Lo. Two guard passes made sure he had enough to beat Lo’s takedown for a 5-2 victory.
Adult / Male / Super-Heavyweight
Mahamad Aly, Nicolas Meregali, Luiz Panza, Guilherme Augusto are just some of the names that made this diviso a joy to watch. Nicholas Meragali emerged victorious, eliminating the tough Mahamad Aly ina final. More specifically, he managed to execute a perfect bow and arrow choke, that came after a triangle-Omoplata combo attacks the left Aly no chance but to give up the back.
Adult / Male / Ultra-Heavyweight
The return of the GOAT. Suffice to say, nobody can say that Buchecha is not the best of all times now. In fact, Marcus “Bucheca” Almeida’s name is the one that rules in the IBJJF 2019 Worlds results, as you’ll soon see. In his division, Bucheccha didn’t take long to beat Thomas McMahon, Max Gimenis, and eventually Ricardo Evangelista in the final. he had 11 points over Evangelista before finding himself a route to a bow and arrow choke. A perfect showing from a true legend of BJJ!
Adult / Male / Open Weight
Remember when I said Buchecha’s name dominated the IBJJF 2019 Worlds results? Well, he pops up as winner once again, this time in the absolute, bringing his number of World titles to 13. WHo did he beat to get to the finals? the always tough Felipe Pena fell in the quarterfinals, while Felipe Andrews had to pull out due to injury in the semi-final. The final saw Bucheca face his great friend Leandro Lo, who went through Luis Panza and Keenan Cornelius earlier. This meant yet another closeout, with Buchecha taking the gold.
Adult / Female / Roosterweight
Among the ladies, it was Mayssa Bastos that kicked things off with a world title. The black belt newcomer is one of the surprises of the entire event. She managed to beat Riako Yuasa in the finals via a single advantage, with the score tied 6-6 at the end.
Adult / Female / Light-Featherweight
Mikey Musumeci was not the only member of his family to make history at the Mundials. As the IBJJF 2019 Worlds results demonstrate, his sister, Tammi, also added one more world title to her name. She got through a very tough bracket, beating Amanda Monteiro by advantage. The bronze medals went to Gezary Matuda and Kristina Barlaan, which shows how much quality there was in this bracket.
Adult / Female / Featherweight
Another really stacked division offering real fast-paced action. With Bianca Basilio and rising star Ffion Davis in the mix, there was a lot of challenges for Ana Carolina Schmit’s title. The outcome, however, was not unlike the previous year, with Ana taking home the gold. She got the better of the highly aggressive Basilio in the finals, winning by the smallest possible margin via a referee’s decision.
Adult / Female / Lightweight
Once again, a division with the same champion as last year. Not unexpected, when you take into account the number of tournaments Beatriz Mesquita won during the year. She did not have an easy road to the title, though, having to tough it out until the finals, where she went on cruise control with Charlotte Von Baumgarten. Bea got a comfortable win, amassing an 11 point advantage before finally completing a triangle choke.
Adult / Female / Middleweight
One more returning champion and one more Ana Carolina as a champion. However, this time it is Ana Carolina Vieira of GF Team. She managed to dispose of Laurah Hallock via an arm-in Ezekiel choke, cementing her place as a third-time world champion. Samantha Cook and Jessica Swanson complete the winning podium quartet.
Adult / Female / Medium-Heavy
Adult / Female / Heavyweight
No changes here as once again we have a returning champion. Nathiely De Jesus secured her third straight BJJ world title by dismantling Fernanda Mazzelli in the finals. Jesus won via a bow and arrow choke in the fourth minute, after looking nothing short of astonishing in the final.
Adult / Female / Super- Heavyweight
Adult / Female / Open Weight
In the female adult black belt open weight, once again the ladies put up an awesome show. In fact, once again it was Nathiely de Jesus that emerged victoriously. She denied Beatriz Mesquita a second open class world title by outpointing Mesquita 4-0. It was down to Nathiely guard tactics that she managed to hold of a very motivated Bea and grab the win.
Memorable Moments
Just like every year, there were many highlights and moments that are not included in the official IBJJF 2019 Worlds results. Some of them are really worth mentioning like for example, Keenan Cornelius’ situation. After many years spent with the Atos team, Keenan competed under the BJJ Globetrotters banner this year. Keenan managed to get a very impressive victory over Nicholas Meregali before meeting Lo in the semi-finals of the open weight. The fight went to Lo on a referee’s decision, which many people think was the wrong one. Whether Lo was stalling or not is beyond the point now, but this is the second time in a row that Keenan finds himself in a similar situation at the Mundials.
The female divisions also brought about some very memorable moments this year. Namely, there were thee black belt newcomers that managed to beat everyone else and make the best possible first impression on the grand stage of Jiu-Jitsu. Mayssa Bastos was the first one to announce that the times are changin’, with Andressa Cintra the following suit closely. Tammi Musumeci was the most impressive of all new champions, with the black belt standout finally grabbing the highest honor.
In the male divisions, a special mention has to go to the Cicero team. Namely, Although it was Paolo and Joao Miyao in the finals, there were actually four Cicero team members in the semifinals, which means they closed the division out just after the quarterfinals. That was a first at the Mundials for sure!
History Was Made
Speaking of memorable moments, lots of modern Jiu-Jitsu history was also written at the Worlds. Namely, Tammi Musumeci’s brother, Mikey, got himself not just a World title but also became the first American to win gold medals in two weight classes, as well the first non-Brazilian to win three world titles. A huge accomplishment for both siblings, giving that they are not professional Jiu-Jitsu competitors.
Lucas Lepri also got himself a page in the BJJ history books, getting the seventh world title. Buchecha, on the other hand, cemented his place as the GOAT by winning double gold. That brings his total number of titles up to 13 which is more than any other grappler ever!
There was another aspect to the Mundials this year, though. This has lots to do with the official IBJJF 2019 Worlds results, but not much to do with how the matches went. Namely, the 2019 Mundials is the first time the IBJJF introduced cash prizes for the adult black belt winners. The sum of the money is different for everyone, and it is based on how many athletes there were in the bracket. Nonetheless, it is a hefty sum and a great step forward for the IBJJF, which was often frowned upon for not awarding professional athletes with more than just a medal.
Grapplers To Watch Out For
After his impressive IBJJF 2019 Worlds Results, Matheus Gabriel is the one name we have to mention first. Thee brand new black belt managed to become a world champion in one of the toughest division in the whole tournament. Gabriel managed to win the featherweight division in the absence of Cobrinha and Rafa Mendes. last year’s brown belt champion proved that he is the best of the best and is going to be to look out for in the future.
At brown belt, despite not winning the title, Tarik Hopstock had a very impressive run. The inventor of the Tarikoplata and footlock enthusiast was certainly among the favorites. Even though he didn’t get the gold, he managed to medal, not just in his category but in the absolute as well. Tarick goes home with two bronze medals and a wealth of world-class experience. We can’t wait to see him on the mats again.
At purple belt, the future has never looked brighter. Namely, Jansen Gomes from Checkmat had the time of his life, winning six tough matches on his road to the middleweight title. The European and World Pro champion is certainly on a run, and we can’t wait to see more of him as he develops. Also at purple belt, Iasmim Casser proved she is a tough nut to crack. The Atos standout first disposed of everyone in the female adult heavyweight purple belt division, before doing the same in the absolute.
In Summary
The IBJJF 2019 Worlds results clearly paint the picture of one of the very best tournaments ever held. They do not, however, tell the full story. The event had it all: action, stalling, controversy, upsets, new records… All in all, it was a world championship worthy of the name, and one that finally saw its champions paid for their efforts. We certainly look to more of the same in the future, and we congratulate all winners on their impressive displays!
