World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship
The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament held annually by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered the most important and prestigious jiu-jitsu tournament of the year.
The first edition took place in February 1996 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since 2007 the tournament has been held in California. The last edition of the championship took place at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach California in 2025.
History
The first World Championship was held on 3 and 4 February 1996 at the Tijuca Tênis Clube in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2007 the tournament moved to California State University in Long Beach, US where it has been held ever since. The Championship is commonly known as "the Worlds" or "Mundials". Many considered the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship as the toughest and the most prestigious Gi in the world. Its counterpart in No-Gi is the World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship.As of 2024, Marcus Almeida has won 13 Men's IBJJF World Championships, and Beatriz Mesquita has won 10 Women's IBJJF World Championships, the highest numbers in history.
Weight classes
The men's division started in 1996 with a total of 10 divisions from –57.5 kg to the absolute division. The women's division started in 1998 with two weight classes "Light" and "Heavy". Since 2016 the women's division now comprised a total of 9 weight classes from -48.5 kg up to the absolute division.| Divisions | Men | Women |
| Rooster | ||
| Light Feather | ||
| Feather | ||
| Light | ||
| Middle | ||
| Medium Heavy | ||
| Heavy | ||
| Super Heavy | No weight limit | |
| Ultra Heavy | No weight limit | n/a |
| Open Class | open to all weight divisions | open to all weight divisions |
Competitions by year
Men's black belt world champions
Women's black belt world champions
List of winners by total titles
List of titles by team
Notable champions
- Beatriz Mesquita – 10x World Champion
- Bruno Malfacine – 10x Roosterweight World Champion
- Gabi Pessanha – 10x World Champion
- Michelle Nicolini – 8x World Champion
- Leandro Lo – 8x World Champion
- Alexandre Ribeiro – 7x World Champion
- Leticia Ribeiro – 7x World Champion
- Gabi Garcia – 6x World Champion
- Rafael Mendes – 6x World Champion
- Lucas Lepri – 6x World Champion
- Nathiely de Jesus – 5x World Champion
- Rodolfo Vieira – 5x World Champion
- Luanna Alzuguir – 5x World Champion
- André Galvão – 5x World Champion
- Marcelo Garcia – 5x World Champion
- Rubens Charles Maciel – 5x World Champion
- Robson Moura – 5x World Champion
- Saulo Ribeiro – 5x World Champion
- Romulo Barral – 5x World Champion
- Andressa Cintra – 5x World Champion
- Ana Carolina Vieira – 5x World Champion
- Bernardo Faria – 4x World Champion
- Victor Hugo – 4x World Champion
- Royler Gracie – 4x World Champion
- Guilherme Mendes – 4x World Champion
- Mikey Musumeci – 4x World Champion
- Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza – 3x World Champion
- Luiza Monteiro - 3x World Champion
- Fabrício Werdum – 2x World Champion
- Melissa Cueto – 2x World Champion
- Ffion Davies – 2x World Champion
- João Roque – 1997 Light Featherweight World Champion
- B.J. Penn – 2000 Featherweight World Champion
- Laurence Cousin – 2007 Featherweight World Champion