Probably everyone who trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at some point though about taking part in some competitions. As BJJ is becoming more and more popular there are plenty of tournaments to choose from, the whole world offers various types of them. Every moment there are some cities or national championships, a cup of something, etc. Sometimes you even can get lost in it. That’s why we’re here to help and name those tournaments that really matter. Below is the list of top BJJ and grappling tournaments in the world.
The Best BJJ and Grappling Tournaments in the World
But first, before we get to the point, let’s introduce the organizers of these various tournaments because there are plenty of them out there today. If you’ve been around the sport long enough, you’ll probably hear IBJJF and UAEJJF thrown around. Sometimes, however, these word abbreviations do not tell us anything, so let’s expand them and get to know the organizers of the competition before we move on.
Here are the most important ones:
IBJJF – International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation
UAEJJF – United Arab Emirates Jiu-Jitsu Federation
ADCC – Abu Dhabi Combat Club
Now let’s go back to tournaments itself.
The most important Gi competitions in Europe, i.e. the European Jiu-Jitsu Championship by IBJJF
The European Championship is the most prestigious and largest
BJJ tournament on the Old Continent. For many years this tournament has been the beginning of the season and the first tournament organized by the Brazilian International Jiu-Jitsu Federation. This championship has been held since 2004 in January, in Lisbon, Portugal. It attracts crowds every year. Expect to see more than 4000 BJJ competitors at these events. Top competitors come from all over the world – from Brazil, the US, Canada, Asia, and all Europe! This is a huge tournament, with very big turnouts.
World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship
European Championship opens the season whiles World Championship usually is the last BJJ tournament in season. It is held in Long Beach, California and is taking place in early summer. The World Jiu-Jitsu Championship (commonly known as Mundials) is the most prestigious Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in the world. The first World Championship was held in 1996 at the Tijuca Tênis Clube gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. If you truly want to test your skills against the best in the world, the IBJJF World Championship Tournament is where you ought to go. Also, you can get really good money if you win. Prize of $4.000-7.000 is available for the winner of each black belt weight class, with $10.000 going to the winner of the open weight.
IBJJF Pan Ams
Colloquial Pan Ams is really The Pan-American Championship, the largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament held in North America. Representing one of the first steps toward the internationalization of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the Pan-American Championship has been held annually since 1995. While the first event garnered only 250 athletes, the event has grown every year and now hosts around 3,000 competitors. This is the second-largest tournament that takes place in North America and the only one that hosts both Gi and No-Gi matches at the same time.
UAEJJF – Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu-Jitsu Cup
The UAEJJF is the IBJJF’s main competitor, providing alternate venues at the highest levels of grappling. The largest event organized by them is the Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu-Jitsu Cup. The World Pro Jiu-Jitsu cup is the UAEJJF’s equivalent of the IBJJF worlds. WPJJC was started in 2009, supported by UAE Crowned Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. As the name suggests it is held in Abu Dhabi. WPJJC takes place around April every year.
The reason this is one of the best BJJ tournaments around is that it is not only open but also offers huge cash prizes the most recent prize pool for this event is said to account for up to $500K! That’s the largest lump sum of cash prizes in any BJJ event. On top of that, they hold several qualifying trial events – the victors of the event have all expenses paid for to the Abu Dhabi WPJJC Tournament.
ADCC World Submission Fighting Championships
Abu Dhabi Combat Club is the precursor and the largest submission fighting organization in the world. The organizer of the prestigious ADCC World Submission Fighting Championships, in which the world’s leading athletes compete. The first edition of the competition announced by Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan took place in 1998. The tournament has hosted many MMA stars, including Vitor Belfort, Georges St. Pierre, and Tito Ortiz. It is the world’s largest and most esteemed No-Gi grappling event in the world. Winners for each male division gets $10000 in prize money. The winner in each women’s division gets $6000. The Absolute Division and Super Fight Winners get the max prize money of a whopping $40000! Altogether, ADCC provides roughly around $230K in prize winnings. ADCC has different rules then most other competitions mentioned above.
Everything sounds tempting, right? Remember, however, not to bite more than you can chew. Better start your competitive career locally. When you win several times, you will feel good at it, etc. the world is open. Top BJJ and grappling tournaments in the world are waiting.
