By Philipp — Rollbook · Updated October 18, 2026
IBJJF Worlds 2026 Results: Every Black Belt Champion in Long Beach
Complete IBJJF Worlds 2026 results — every Adult Black Belt world champion, both genders, plus the open-class winners, the biggest upsets, and the team race from Long Beach (May 28–31).
On this page
Update (October 2026): On September 25, 2026, IBJJF revised three Adult Black Belt podiums and both adult team standings after two anti-doping cases handled by USADA, which IBJJF contracted to test at the event. Rider Zuchi accepted a three-year period of ineligibility and was disqualified from all his IBJJF results from August 23, 2024 onward, so Nicholas Maglicic is now the men's heavyweight world champion and Leonardo Ferreira moves up to silver. Tayane Porfírio accepted a three-month period of ineligibility for a violation that USADA says occurred out of competition and was unrelated to sport performance; her two silver medals now belong to Luane Carvalho (super-heavy) and Sarah Galvão (open class), and Galvão's added points lifted Atos past Alliance for the women's team title. The tables below show the official revised results (IBJJF announcement, official results).
The 30-second version
The 2026 IBJJF World Championship wrapped up Sunday, May 31 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California, closing out four days and the 30th edition of the sport's biggest gi tournament. Tainan Dalpra (middleweight, his 4th title), Gabi Pessanha (super-heavy + absolute double gold, her 12th title), Erich Munis (men's open class), Mayssa Bastos, Jalen Fonacier and Jansen Gomes all left as champions. The weekend's biggest headline: Diego "Pato" Batista won a record fifth light-feather world title and then retired on the mat. Below is every Adult Black Belt world champion, both genders, plus the open-class results and the team race (FloGrappling results).
Men's Adult Black Belt champions
All nine weight-class finals ran Sunday, May 31. Here is the full set of gold and silver medalists, as revised by IBJJF on September 25 (official IBJJF results; original reporting: FloGrappling, MMA Mania medalist list):
| Division | Champion (Team) | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Rooster | Jalen Fonacier (Alliance) | Thalison Soares |
| Light-Feather | Diego "Pato" Batista (AOJ) | Khaled Alshehhi |
| Feather | Cole Abate (AOJ) | Samuel Nagai |
| Light | Matheus Gabriel (CheckMat) | Jackson Nagai |
| Middle | Tainan Dalpra (AOJ) | Natan Chueng |
| Medium-Heavy | Jansen Gomes (CheckMat) | Enderson Dias |
| Heavy | Nicholas Maglicic (Atos) † | Leonardo Ferreira |
| Super-Heavy | Vinicius Liberati (Soldiers) | Erich Munis |
| Ultra-Heavy | Seif-Eddine Houmine (GF Team) | Gutemberg Pereira |
| Open Class | Erich Munis (Soldiers) | Marcus "Scooby" Ribeiro |
† Revised by IBJJF on September 25, 2026: Rider Zuchi (Team 6 BJJ) beat Maglicic in the final on the day but was later disqualified after an anti-doping sanction (see the update above).
Jalen Fonacier at rooster and Jansen Gomes at medium-heavy both defended their 2025 titles, while Tainan Dalpra collected his fourth. The super-heavy final produced the day's biggest divisional surprise: Vinicius Liberati beat his own Soldiers teammate Erich Munis, the reigning super-heavyweight and absolute world champion, to take gold. Munis answered by winning the open class — his seventh gi world title and third straight absolute crown.
Women's Adult Black Belt champions
The women's finals also ran Sunday after their semifinals on Saturday (official IBJJF results, MMA Mania medalist list):
| Division | Champion (Team) | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Rooster | Mayssa Bastos (AOJ) | Jessica Caroline |
| Light-Feather | Ashlee Funegra (AOJ) | Vitória Assis |
| Feather | Sabrina Gondim (Fight Sports) | Gabrielle McComb |
| Light | Janaina Lebre (Alliance) | Sarah Galvão |
| Middle | Lillian Marchand (Atos) | Elisabeth Clay |
| Medium-Heavy | Thamara Ferreira (UAE) | Ingridd Alves |
| Heavy | Larissa Dias (Elementum) | Maria Alencar |
| Super-Heavy | Gabi Pessanha (Infight) | Luane Carvalho † |
| Open Class | Gabi Pessanha (Infight) | Sarah Galvão † |
† Revised by IBJJF on September 25, 2026: Tayane Porfírio lost both finals to Pessanha and was later disqualified after an anti-doping sanction, so Carvalho and Galvão moved up to silver.
Mayssa Bastos won her seventh gi world title at rooster, rebounding from a 2026 season in which she'd been beaten at the Europeans. Janaina Lebre pulled off a close decision upset over the in-form Sarah Galvão at light. And Gabi Pessanha did what she has now done six years running — won both super-heavy and the absolute for double gold.
The open-class champions
The absolute divisions are the marquee of any Worlds, and both belonged to athletes who had already done damage in their weight classes:
- Men's Open Class — Erich Munis (Soldiers Jiu-Jitsu). After taking silver to teammate Liberati at super-heavy, Munis won the open class for the third year in a row, beating Marcus "Scooby" Ribeiro in the final. It was his seventh IBJJF gi world title.
- Women's Open Class — Gabi Pessanha (Infight Jiu-Jitsu). Pessanha beat Tayane Porfírio in both the super-heavy final and the absolute final, completing her sixth consecutive super-heavy + absolute double (Porfírio's two silvers were later reassigned; see the update above). The wins pushed her to 12 world titles, the most by any woman after she passed Beatriz Mesquita's record of 10 (IBJJF recap), and tied Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida's record of six World absolute championships (Yahoo/FloSports Day 3 recap).
Track every roll — log sessions and techniques for free
The headline stories
Diego "Pato" Batista wins a record fifth title — then retires
The most emotional moment of the weekend belonged to Diego "Pato" Batista. The AOJ light-feather won his fifth IBJJF gi world title, breaking the all-time light-featherweight record previously held by his own coach, four-time world champion Guilherme Mendes. Moments after the final, Pato took off his black belt and left it on the mat — the traditional signal of retirement — writing, "My soul is satisfied" (Yahoo/SB Nation). He is only 27, with five gi and two no-gi world titles to his name, so whether the retirement extends beyond the IBJJF gi circuit remains an open question.
Dalpra and Pessanha complete the IBJJF Grand Slam
Tainan Dalpra and Gabi Pessanha were the only two grapplers to complete the official 2026 IBJJF Grand Slam — winning the Europeans, Pans, Brasileiros, and now Worlds. That put an even rarer "Super Grand Slam" — adding an ADCC title, as Mica Galvão did in 2024 — in play (Yahoo/SB Nation). Pessanha entered the 2026 ADCC World Championship in September, where Helena Crevar won the women's +65 kg title (ADCC 2026 results).
First-time world champions
Several athletes won their first IBJJF gi world title, and three of them were among the most-discussed stories of the event:
- Cole Abate (AOJ) took featherweight gold in one of the three deepest brackets of the tournament, beating multiple former champions. Already a two-time no-gi world champion, this was his first in the gi.
- Ashlee Funegra (AOJ), a teenage prodigy, won women's light-feather to join teammates Abate, Dalpra and Pato on the AOJ winners' podium.
- Sabrina Gondim (Fight Sports), a UFC BJJ veteran, captured women's featherweight for her first world title.
How our predictions held up
In our Worlds 2026 preview and predictions, we picked a favorite, challenger, and dark horse in every division. The favorites who delivered: Fonacier, Pato, Dalpra, Houmine, Bastos, Ashlee Funegra, Larissa Dias, and Pessanha (in both her divisions). The picks that the bracket flipped:
- Men's feather — our favorite Kennedy Maciel withdrew; challenger Cole Abate won.
- Men's light — we tabbed Will Wilson, but dark horse Matheus Gabriel took gold.
- Men's medium-heavy — dark horse Jansen Gomes beat our favorite to the title.
- Men's heavy — our favorite Leonardo Ferreira lost his semifinal to Rider Zuchi on the day; after IBJJF's September revision, Nicholas Maglicic holds the gold and Ferreira the silver.
- Men's super-heavy — we favored Munis; his teammate Liberati got the upset.
- Women's light — our favorite Sarah Galvão was edged by Janaina Lebre.
- Women's medium-heavy — dark horse Thamara Ferreira took it.
As we noted going in, black belt brackets are noisy — withdrawals and single-advantage finals decide more golds than any prediction can.
Brown and colored belt champions worth knowing
The colored belt divisions ran Thursday through Saturday and produced two athletes who could be black belt forces soon:
- Omar Tariq Nada (Unity Jiu-Jitsu) won brown belt double gold at super-heavy and absolute, racking up six wins on the day with the kind of pressure-passing that travels straight to black belt.
- Hazel Butcher-Salazar (Alliance) won brown belt double gold at heavy and absolute — going six-for-six with all submissions, then being promoted to black belt on the podium afterward (MMA Mania).
The team race
Heading into Sunday's black belt finals, Alliance led both the adult male and adult female team races (85 and 36 points after Saturday, per the Yahoo/FloSports Day 3 recap). Alliance held on to win the men's title, but the women's trophy changed hands in September: IBJJF's podium revision promoted Sarah Galvão to open-class silver, and her added points lifted Atos past Alliance by a single point. Francisco Papasidero's promotion to heavyweight bronze also moved AOJ into third in the men's standings (IBJJF). Official final standings (IBJJF results):
| Adult Male | Adult Female | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alliance — 104 | Atos — 46 |
| 2 | CheckMat — 66 | Alliance — 45 |
| 3 | AOJ — 55 | AOJ — 43 |
| 4 | DreamArt — 55 | DreamArt — 42 |
| 5 | Atos — 34 | Gracie Barra — 28 |
Common questions
Who won IBJJF Worlds 2026?
There is no single overall winner — IBJJF Worlds crowns a champion in every weight class and an open-class (absolute) champion per belt and gender. The marquee Adult Black Belt open-class champions were Erich Munis (men) and Gabi Pessanha (women). The most-decorated weekends belonged to Pessanha (double gold, 12th title) and Tainan Dalpra (4th title, Grand Slam). Alliance won the men's team title and, after IBJJF's September revision, Atos won the women's.
Who is the 2026 Worlds absolute champion?
Erich Munis (Soldiers Jiu-Jitsu) in the men's Adult Black Belt absolute and Gabi Pessanha (Infight Jiu-Jitsu) in the women's. It was Munis's third straight men's open-class title and Pessanha's sixth straight women's absolute.
Did Diego Pato really retire?
Yes — after winning his fifth light-feather world title, Diego "Pato" Batista left his black belt on the mat, the traditional retirement gesture, and posted "My soul is satisfied." At 27 with five gi and two no-gi world titles, he may continue in no-gi or professional events, but he signaled the end of his IBJJF gi run (Yahoo/SB Nation).
How many world titles does Gabi Pessanha have now?
Twelve, the most by any woman: her super-heavy gold took her past Beatriz Mesquita's record of 10. Her 2026 double gold (super-heavy + absolute) was her sixth consecutive year winning both, and her six World absolute titles tie Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida's all-time record.
Why were the 2026 Worlds results changed?
On September 25, 2026, IBJJF revised the results after two USADA anti-doping cases. Rider Zuchi's men's heavyweight gold went to Nicholas Maglicic, and Tayane Porfírio's women's super-heavy and open-class silvers went to Luane Carvalho and Sarah Galvão, which also gave Atos the women's team title (IBJJF).
Where can I see the full 2026 Worlds results?
The official medal list for every division, belt and team trophy, including the September revision, is on the IBJJF results page. FloGrappling's division-by-division list was published before the revision, so it may still show the original heavyweight, super-heavy and open-class podiums. Our day-by-day recap walks through how each day unfolded.
Turn watching into doing
Watching the best in the world win a Worlds title is the easy part to enjoy — the hard part is the years of logged mat time behind every one of those golds. If Long Beach lit a fire to compete yourself, the move is to start tracking now: what you drilled, how often you trained, which techniques you actually worked across a training block.
Rollbook makes that nearly frictionless. Quick Log captures a session in seconds, the Training Heatmap shows your consistency at a glance, and Systems let you map the game plan you're building toward as a tree of positions, moves and reactions. Start your own competition trail before the next tournament cycle.
Sources
- IBJJF Worlds 2026 every-division results — FloGrappling
- Complete medalist list, Day 1–4 — MMA Mania
- "Pato retires; Dalpra, Gomes, Pessanha win big" — Yahoo Sports / SB Nation
- Day 3 recap and team standings — Yahoo Sports / FloSports
- Official results, as revised — IBJJF results page
- Podium revision of September 25, 2026 — IBJJF
- Black belt recap (title counts, Mesquita record) — IBJJF
- ADCC 2026 women's +65 kg result — our ADCC 2026 results
