Looking through Graciemag’s archives of the Worlds, we came across this picture of Roger Gracie in 2010.

Seems like an ordinary image, but it isn’t.

It shows the actual last step taken by Roger on a mat of a World Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Notice that Roger is holding the trophy of three-time black belt absolute champion.

He had just received it from IBJJF, after having his arm raised without having to fight in the absolute final, because Rômulo Barral got injured in the medium heavyweight final against Tarsis Humphreys.

Another detail in this image is the presence of Xande Ribeiro in the stands, in the white gi.

A two-time absolute champion himself, Xande missed the opportunity to fight for that trophy when he lost the semifinal match to Rômulo Barral.

The 2016 World Jiu-Jitsu championship is absolutely in the books.

And it was one really for the books.

First of all, Marcus Buchecha wrote a new chapter in Jiu-Jitsu history by winning an unprecedented fourth black belt open class title. He has now 8 gold medals overall as a black belt and is at a hand’s reach of Roger Gracie’s record of 10 titles.

Here’s how Buchecha did it.

2016 WORLDS FINALS: @marcusbuchecha makes history and wins the 4th black belt open class title.| He beat @erberthsantos 6-4 with a last-second sweep after being swept by Erberth.| Buchecha is the only competitor with four gold medals in the absolute.| Overall, he reached 8 gold medals in the Worlds as a black belt, nearing @rogergracie’s record of 10 titles.| Coverage brought to you by @gameness_sports.| #jiujitsu #bjj #ibjjf #2016worlds #graciemag #graciemagazine #gameness #coverage

A photo posted by GRACIEMAG | English Edition | (@graciemagazine) on Jun 5, 2016 at 8:45pm PDT

In the female black belt division, Dominyka Obelenyte also wrote a great chapter with the back to back double gold campaign in the superheavy and the open class. Dominyka is now the most accomplished non-Brazilian competitor of all times, with four gold medals in the black belt division. Here’s how she did it.

2016 WORLDS FINALS: With one sweep to each side, @domdabomburmom beat @biamesquitajj 1-0 on advantages after a 2-2 tie on points to win her second open class title in a row.| With four gold medals, Dominyka is already the most accomplished black belt athlete in Jiu-Jitsu not born in Brazil.| Coverage brought to you by @gameness_sports.| #jiujitsu #bjj #ibjjf #2016worlds #graciemag #graciemagazine #gameness #coverage

A photo posted by GRACIEMAG | English Edition | (@graciemagazine) on Jun 5, 2016 at 8:23pm PDT

In the team’s competition, Alliance won its 11th adult male trophy. The results were:

Adult Male (Adulto Masculino)

1 – Alliance – 118

2 – CheckMat – 46

3 – GF Team – 46

Go to our instagram page and browse through each black belt division final to see who else got crowned in Long Beach.

Click here for the full results.

Check back here for the best images and the words from the champions.

Coverage brought to you by Gameness.

Day 3 of the 2016 World Jiu-Jitsu championship defined the four people who will fight ofr the ultimate glory in Jiu-Jitsu.

in the male black belt open class, Marcus Buchecha is back for his fourth final in five editions since 2012. He’ll face Erberth Santos in his debut in the open class final.

Buchecha beat Eliot Kelly 6-0, then caught Pedro Moura’s arm and repeated the finish against Felipe Pena. After beating Keenan Cornelius in the quarterfinals, Leandro Lo gave way to Buchecha in the semifinal due to a neck injury.

Erberth debuted in the open class against Felipe Bueno, winning 4-0 with a back take. Then he had a tough match against Luiz Panza, winning 1-0 on advantages after a 8-8 tie on points. The quarterfinal was against Romulo Barral, beat 11-2. Erberth made his way to the final with a lightning fast attack to Bernardo Faria’s arm to get the current champion out of the game.

In the female division, Dominyka Obelenyte made her way to her second black belt open class final in a row after a convincing 6-4 win over Mackenzie Dern. She will face Bia Mesquita in her return to the open class final after 2014. Bia beat Andresa Correa 10-0 in the semifinal.

Day 3 also defined all the women’s black belt weight classes finals.

have been defined.| Rooster: Ouiti Jarvilheto vs. Rikako Yuasa; Lightfeather: @kbjiujitsu vs. @gezarymatuda; Feather: @mackenziedern vs. @michellenicolinibjj; Light: @biamesquitajj vs. @sarahblackbjj; Middle: @moniqueelias vs. @luizamonteirobjj; Mediumheavy: @andresacorrea vs. @sarjncharge, Heavy: @mazzellijj vs. Allison Tremblay; Superheavy: @domdabomburmom vs. @venlaorvokki.| Coverage brought to you by @gameness_sports.| #jiujitsu #bjj #ibjjf #2016worlds #graciemag #graciemagazine #gameness #coverage

A photo posted by GRACIEMAG | English Edition | (@graciemagazine) on Jun 4, 2016 at 7:57pm PDT

The day closed with the brown belt open class finals for both men and women. Nicholas Meregali made it to the top with a 3-0 win on advantages over Isaque Bahiense in a thrilling match.

2016 WORLDS: In a thrilling match, one of the best of day 3 at the 2016 Worlds, @nicholasmeregali beat @isaquebjj 3-0 on advantages after a 2-2 tie on points for the brown belt open class title.| Coverage brought to you by @gameness_sports.| #jiujitsu #bjj #ibjjf #2016worlds #graciemag #graciemagazine #gameness #coverage A photo posted by GRACIEMAG | English Edition | (@graciemagazine) on Jun 4, 2016 at 7:51pm PDT

Nathiely de Jesus was the name of the female division with a kimura finish on Yacinta Nguyen in the final.

2016 WORLDS: With a kimura lock from the bottom, @nathibjj beat @yacintanguyen for the brown belt open class title.| This result wraps up day 3.| The 2016 Worlds returns for the final day this Sunday with an all black belt program.| All the brackets start in the quarterfinals and run until the big finals.| Coverage brought to you by @gameness_sports.| #jiujitsu #bjj #ibjjf #2016worlds #graciemag #graciemagazine #gameness #coverage

A photo posted by GRACIEMAG | English Edition | (@graciemagazine) on Jun 4, 2016 at 8:36pm PDT

Follow the complete coverage at GRACIEMAG’s social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

Coverage brought to you by GAMENESS.

The black belt open class male and female kicks off this Saturday, at 11:30AM.

Follow the complete coverage at GRACIEMAG’s social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

Coverage brought to you by GAMENESS.

The IBJJF has released the official brackets for the 2016 World Jiu-Jitsu championship.

The event is scheduled June 2-5, at the Long Beach Pyramid, in California.

A quick look at the brackets allows us to imagine the pathway each athlete will have to travel on their way to the gold medal in each division.

Take a look with us.

Roosterweight: As expected, seven-times world champion Bruno Malfacine is on one side of the bracket while the two other most important names in the division are on the other side. Caio Terra and João Miyao could face each other in one semifinal, which would be the first time Terra fights a Miyao. Bruno could face Rafael Freitas or Jose Thiago Barros, or even Ivaniel Cavalcanti on the other semifinal. If Caio and Malfa meet in the final once again, it will be their 6th final since 2009. If Malfa and Miyao meet again, it will be their 3rd straight final since 2014.

Lightfeather: 2015 champion Paulo Miyao tops one side of the bracket and could face either Mikey Musumeci, Luis Felipe Pinto, Daniel Beleza or Isaac Doerderlein in one semifinal. On the other side of the bracket, Ary Farias and Gianni Grippo could meet in the semifinal, but Hiago George, Milton Bastos and Gabriel Moraes want to bud in as well.

Feather: Naturally, Rafael Mendes and Rubens Cobrinha are on opposite sides of the brackets and could only meet in the final. To get there, Cobrinha could have Megaton, Samir Chantre, Bruno Frazzatto or Marcio Andre. Rafa, on the other side, could have to face Leo Saggioro, Brian Mahecha, Osvaldo Moizinho or Isaque Paiva. If they meet in the final, Rafa and Cobra will have their 5th battle for the gold medal at the Worlds. Augusto Tanquinho was the only other athlete to be able to make to the featherweight final since 2010.

Lightweight: Michael Langhi and Lucas Lepri are once again on opposite sides of the bracket. Langhi could face Kevin Mahecha, Gabriel Rollo, Rafael Barbosa or Rodrigo Freitas on his way to the semifinal. His opponent in the semifinal could be Michael Liera or Edwin Najmi. Lepri could face Mansher Khera or AJ Agazarm, Roberto Satoshi or Thiago Abreu for his spot in the semifinal. JT Torres could face Renan Borges, Luan Carvalho, Marcelo Mafra or Francisco Iturralde before facing Lepri for a spot in the final.

Yago Souza

Middleweight: The most populated division has four brackets and the champion of each one will qualify for the semifinals. Otavio Sousa, Jon Satava, Dillon Danis, Victor Silverio and Guto Campos will most probably fight for one spot. One of them will face the winner of bracket 2, a mix of Yago Souza, Magid Hage, Alan Nascimento, Vitor Oliveira and Johnny Souza. Bracket 3 features 2015 champion Claudio Calasans, Celsinho Venicius, AJ Souza and Gabriel Arges. One of them will most probably face the winner of bracket 4, featuring Victor Estima, Marcus Tinoco, Ricardo Rezende and Vinicius Marinho, among others.

Medium-heavy: Leandro Lo earned a by and could face Matheus Diniz on his way to the semifinal. Keenan Cornelius could meet Lo in the semis after possibly facing Gregor Gracie and Renato Cardoso. The other side of the bracket features Romulo Barral, who could face Murilo Santana or Lucas Barbosa on his way to the semifinal. Tarsis Humphreys could face Inacio Neto and Patrick Gaudio before facing Barral.

Heavyweight: André Galvão is on one side of the bracket and could face Felipe Mota, Lucas Rocha and Cassio Francis on his way to the final. On the other side, Felipe Pena could face Jackson Sousa and then battle Erberth Santos for a spot in the final.

Superheavy: If Bernardo Faria wants to meet friend and teammate Leo Nogueira in the final once again, he’ll have to face Alex Cecconi and then Igor Silva or Rodrigo Cavaca. Leo, on his side, could face Vitor Toledo and then Lucio lagarto, Guybson Sá or Luiz Panza.

Ultraheavy: 2015 champion Gabriel Lyrio could face Mahamed Aly and then Roberto Cyborg or Ricardo Evangelista on his way to a new final. On the other side, three-time champion Marcus Almeida could face Dany Guy or Gustavo Elias and then most probably Alex Trans or João Gabriel Rocha to get to the final.

FEMALE

Dominyka Obelenyte at the 2015 Worlds

Roosterweight: 2015 light-feather Rikako Yuasa wants her second gold medal, this time as a roosterweight. She could face Marcela Lawton or Sofia Amarante on her way to the final. Kanako Inaba could face Serena Gabrielli and then Bruna Nascimento for the final.

Light-feather: Gezary Matuda could face Ariadne Oliveira in the semifinal. On the other side, Patricia Fontes and Kristina Barlaan could battle for the second spot in the final.

Feather: 2015 champion Mackenzie Dern could face Karen Antunes in one semifinal while Michelle Nicolini and Tammi Musumeci could battle for the other spot in the final.

Light: Bia Mesquita could face Marilia Conceição or Laurah Hallock on her way to the final. Sarah Black could face Jena Bishop or Gegi Walker for her spot on the final.

Middle: Luiza Monteiro could face Amanda Loewen or Rossie Snow and then Megan Nevill or Leticia Lalli for a spot in the final. Monique Elias has Caitlin Hughins and then Shanti Abelha or Barbara Gomes for her spot in the final.

Medium-heavy: Andresa Correa could face Monique Carvalho or Gretchen Zoeller for her spot in the final. Sijarah Eubanks, Charlenne Coats, Leanna Ditrich and Leah Taylor will battle for the other spot.

Heavy: Fernanda Mazzelli is after her third world title and she could face Fabiana Santos or Samela Leite for a spot in the final. On the other side, Vanessa Oliveira will battle Alison Tremblay for the right to fight for gold.

Superheavy: Dominyka Obelenyte will fight Hillary Vanornum for a spot in the final against the winner of Talita Nogueira vs. Venla Luukkonen.

Click here for all the brackets.

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Coverage brought to you by GAMENESS.

GRACIEMAG Premium BJJ Club member school Ares BJJ is offering an amazing opportunity for you to add some high level training to your 2016 Worlds champ.

Team leaders Samir Chantre, Osvaldo Queixinho, Milton Bastos will welcome a team of black belts for nine days of training in Modesto, California, on May 21-29.

The camp is open for all affiliations and you can choose between packages for the whole camp and single classes.

Email info@aresbjj.com for more info on how to join.

Andresa vs. Mackenzie at the 2016 European

Andresa Correa is clearly the standout of the black belt female division in 2016. The Alliance competitor has been able to win double gold at the three most important events of the year so far.

It all started in January, with a wins in the medium-heavy division and the open class beating Karolina Zawodnik and Mackenzie Dern in the finals.

Then, at the 2016 Pan, Andresa was back to put on another show in Irvine, California. After defeating Leah Taylor with a toe hold in the medium-heavy final, she made her way to the open class final, but an injury to Dominyka Obelenyte’s knee prevented the final from happening.

Finally, she went back to her home country of Brazil to compete in the Brazilian Nationals, walking out with another double gold campaign after another tough final against Mackenzie Dern.

As she prepares for the 2016 Worlds, which could mean a perfect year, Andresa took a break in her training schedule to talk to GRACIEMAG.com. Here’s what she had to say.

GRACIEMAG.COM: You won both your weight class and the absolute at the European, Pan and Brazilian Nationals this year. If you repeat these results at the Words, you’ll be the first black belt woman to complete the grand slam. Does that add extra pressure on you? How’s your mindset for the 2016 Worlds? 

Andresa Correa: It’s every fighter’s dream to win the Jiu-Jitsu grand slam. I am in a moment in my life where I can achieve what I dedicated myself a lot to achieve. Naturally, it adds to the pressure a little, but I just want to go there and do my best. I’m feeling a little anxious, but also very motivated. Above all, I’m happy to be able to do it.

Andresa Correa at the 2016 Pan

GRACIEMAG.COM: You told us once that you drive from your city to São Paulo several times a week to train at Alliance’s HQ. How’s your training routine for the Worlds and how ready are you for action in Long Beach?

Andresa Correa: I’ve been driving back and forth between my city [Bragança Paulista] and São Paulo to train at Alliance’s HQ for the past seven years. It’s 200km (124mi) every weekday, not to mention traffic. I leave my house everyday with a packed bag and food containers. My training routine also includes Swasthya Yoga, five Jiu-Jitsu sessions in São Paulo and also some physical training when I get back to Bragança. Yoga helps me a lots with my focus, my posture and my strength. I fell motivated and ready for the Worlds.

GRACIEMAG.COM: A match against Dominyka almost happened at the Pn open class final, but she got hurt and could not fight. You two are among the favorites for the absolute final in Long Beach. Have you been thinking about her during training? Does the possibility of fighting against her shape in any way what you have been doing in training?

Andresa Correa: Dominyka is really a great athlete and very talented, but the possibility of facing her changes nothing in my training. I like to get ready to be prepared for all kinds of matches and I know that at that level all matches are tough matches. If I come to fight her, I hope to have a great match.

Don’t forget to register for the 2016 World Jiu-Jitsu championship.

The final deadline is May 24.

Click here to register today.

Coverage brought to you by GAMENESS.

Felipe Pena at the 2016 European

Felipe Pena is one of the greatest talents to come out of the Gracie Barra camp in recent years. The 2015 no-gi black belt open class and heavyweight world champion, put on the gi in 2016 and continued on his path of triumphs.

He achieved a double-gold campaign at the 2016 European and then won the $30,000 prize up for grabs at the 2016 WPJJC absolute division.  After skipping the 2016 Pan, Pena is now completely focused on the 2016 World championship.

It’s going to be his first appearance after a year off in 2015 and also after having to forfeit his heavyweight gold medal at the 2014 Worlds, when he accepted sanctions by the United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA) for the presence of testosterone above the permitted levels.

With all that behind him now, Pena is looking ahead and aiming to achieve great things. We talked to him during a break in the final stages of his training camp for the 2016 Worlds.

GRACIEMAG.COM: The year of 2016 started really great for you, with the double gold campaign at the European championship and the absolute gold at the WPJJC. The 2016 Worlds could put you face to face with some opponents you still haven’t faced this year, like Bernardo Faria and Marcus Buchecha. How is your training camp? Does potential opponents influence in any way your training routine? 

Felipe Pena: I’m training in a really intense level and, most importantly, with a lot of desire to win. There’s nowhere to run or to hide at the Worlds. I know I’ll have very tough opponents both in my weight class and the open class. Even so, I am not shaping my training routine to any opponent in particular. Sure I try to study the main guys’ games, but as there’s nothing but tough guys it’s a bit difficult to focus on someone before the brackets are out.

Felipe Pena vs. Erberth Santos at the 2016 Worlds

GRACIEMAG.COM: You competed in only one world championship as a black belt in 2014. You were out last year and is returning now. Could this hiatus be a problem? How’s your mindset coming in for the 2016 Worlds? 

Felipe Pena: I believe I already have good baggage in terms of competing as a black belt. I have fought the best guys out there and each time I feel more mature and experienced. At the Worlds I’ll try to fight like I always do, with a lot of heart, desire and intelligence. I hope it turns out ok!

GRACIEMAG.COM: How hard on yourself are you? What kind of result do you consider a good result at the 2016 Worlds? Are you aiming for a double-gold campaign? 

Felipe Pena: I guess high level athletes are always hard on themselves. No one likes to loose. I believe this kind of pressure is there for all of us and I try to focus on the good side of it. As a way to keep focused, I have grown accustomed to this feeling. I will fight both on the weight class and the absolute and I know it’s going to be hard, but I have been feeling great during training and that makes me feel happy for the competition.

Don’t forget to register for the 2016 World Jiu-Jitsu championship.

The final deadline is May 24.

Click here and register now.

Coverage brought to you by Gameness.

The Long Beach Pyramid. Photo: Mike Calimbas

It’s that time of the year again.

The registration period for the 2016 World Jiu-Jitsu championship is now officially open.

The IBJJF scheduled this year’s event for June 1*-4, once again at the Long Beach Walter Pyramid.

As usual, those who sign up earlier will pay less.

The first deadline is February 26, and the registration fee is $95.

The second deadline is March 25, and the registration fee is $115.

The final deadline is May 24, and the registration fee is $130.

Once again, the adult black belt division (male and female) will be limited to athletes with 50pts or more on the official IBJJF ranking.

The only exceptions are for champions in the adult brown belt division at the 2015 Worlds and former adult black belt world champions.

Click here for the adult male black belt ranking; click here for the adult female black belt ranking.

Click here for more info and to sign up now.

* the IBJJF will schedule matches for June 1 if the number the athletes excedes the capacity for four days of event.

The moment Buchecha got injured at the 2015 Worlds

Three-time black belt open class world champion Marcus Buchecha had surgery this Friday, in Brazil.

The procedure was to reconstruct the ACL ligament on his left knee, injured during the quarterfinal match against Ricardo Evangelista, at the 2015 Worlds.

The surgery went well and Doctors gave Buchecha a five-month minimum recovery period until he can perform at 100% again.

“I’ll be back soon,” said Buchecha

He also told GRACIEMAG that he intends to work his way to a full recovery in Brazil before returning to California, where he has been living for the past years.

As a tribute to the champion, watch her final at the 2013 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in Beijing, China against Luanna Alzuguir:

The Art of Jiu-Jitsu student base. Photo: Owen Francis Photography

Guilherme and Rafael Mendes had a great year by many standards. They both won their fourth world championship title, were entered into the IBJJF Hall of Fame, facilitated multiple championship wins by their adult and kids students, celebrated two years since GMA Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy opened,  traveled the world to teach and compete and much more.

GRACIEMAG spoke with the duo in an end-of-year closing interview to speak about their accomplishments and goals still set.

Check it out:

GRACIEMAG: With 2014 coming to a close, can you say you accomplished all your goals?

MENDES BROS: Yes, and it’s way beyond winning the World Championship. I believe that our lives have improved a lot and it’s our main achievement, being able to support people that are with us every day, our family and students, doing what good people were doing to us when we started, supporting.

AOJ team at 2014 Kids Worlds. Photo: Owen Francis Photography

What achievements were made by the kids team at AOJ this year? What major milestones can go into the yearbook?

It’s definitely a result of team work, we can not talk about the kids program without giving credits to all our AOJ coaches. We feel blessed to have so many good people with us. The kids are amazing; in 14 years of training Jiu-Jitsu I never saw anything like it. Some academies have one, two, maybe three kids that always win tournaments. We have 60, 70 kids that always win tournaments. It’s because of the environment. Our kids are inspired by us and the coaches as we motivate them and we keep the classes fun. They love Jiu-Jitsu and the result could not be different.

Since winning the worlds for another year, both of you, can you describe what it feels like to keep winning the most prestigious title? When will you be satisfied or when will your competition results be enough?

Rafa after winning his fourth black belt world title. Photo: Ivan Trindade

It feels amazing of course, not like the first one but each one has a special taste. Being able to enter the Hall of Fame is something special, because our name will be in the history of the sport forever. Stopping competition is something hard, especially when you are as young as we are. We don’t have any special number to achieve now but we just can’t stop because we feel greater than ever.

What was the proudest moment this year as competitors? As teachers? As school owners?

As competitors it was winning Worlds, as professors we had great results with kids team winning Pan Kids, students winning Pans, Europeans & Worlds, just watching all the students improving competition after competition is something very motivational. People that could not win the first match before are becoming great competitors, world champions, and it’s a result of dedication. There is nothing more special than seeing hard work pay off.

Congratulations to our students for the discipline and focus–true champions. As school owners? I don’t see us as “school owners” but as leaders of a team, because when we grow, everybody that is with us grows together. We don’t have the boss mentality, we have the leaders mentality. We walk together, always leading by example.

Now we are in Brazil visiting our family. We come every year and spend two weeks with them. It’s good to see everybody but we already miss our AOJ family. Hope everyone has a happy holiday with many dreams to achieve in 2015, that God gives everyone the health and courage to pursue each one of these dreams.

Follow the team at www.artofjiujitsu.com and follow the brothers on Instagram @MendesBros