Maria Luisa Delahaye showed she is on the right track for November. Last weekend, the GFTeam black belt traveled to China and won gold in the professional under-62kg division at the AJP Grand Slam in Shanghai, held on October 17 and 18. Along the way, the Brazilian imposed her game in three very tough matches and climbed to the top of the podium at the last Grand Slam stop before the World Pro. It was further proof of the consistency of an athlete who knows the AJP circuit well.
The win carries special weight in her calendar. A World Pro champion in 2024, Maria Luisa already knows what it takes to reach the top in Abu Dhabi and has a clear goal for the end of the season: do it again. The Shanghai title works as a gauge and reinforces her confidence that her preparation is on track, just weeks before the most important championship on the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro circuit.
THREE TOUGH MATCHES IN CHINA: MARIA LUISA DELAHAYE IMPOSES HER GAME AND TAKES UNDER-62KG GOLD
The Shanghai Grand Slam closed out the AJP’s Grand Slam series for the season and brought together around 1,300 athletes from roughly 50 nationalities, including 150 black belts. The first day was reserved for youth and amateur divisions, while the second focused on the professional division, with purple, brown and black belt brackets for men and women. It was on that second day that the Brazilian went to work.
In the under-62kg bracket, Maria Luisa had to win three times to lift the trophy. In every match, she set the pace and gave her opponents no room to react, a trademark of the style that took her to the top in Abu Dhabi. In the overall standings, China dominated the country rankings, ahead of Russia and Kazakhstan, and the Bushido China academy took the team title.
BACK TO MUBADALA ARENA: THE BRAZILIAN WANTS A SECOND WORLD PRO TITLE IN ABU DHABI
The title the Brazilian wants to repeat came in November 2024, at the 16th edition of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship. In the black belt under-55kg final, Maria Luisa beat Emirati Asma Alhosani with a sweep and secured gold at Mubadala Arena. She and Yara Soares were the only Brazilian women to reach the top of the podium among the professional black belts that year.
In Shanghai, the champion competed at under-62kg, showing an athlete comfortable in a weight class above the one in which she won her AJP world title. Her experience in Abu Dhabi, combined with her recent run in China, puts the Brazilian among the names to watch in the women’s professional division, which usually gathers the season’s top-ranked athletes.
Her good form goes back to the start of the year. In January, Maria Luisa opened the season with gold at the AJP Tour stop in Rio de Janeiro, also in the professional under-62kg division. At the time, the champion made her 2026 plan clear: keep competing on the AJP circuit while balancing her calendar with IBJJF tournaments.
WORLD PRO 2026 RUNS FROM NOVEMBER 9 TO 21, WITH THE BLACK BELTS COMPETING AT THE END
The World Pro is the final destination of every AJP Grand Slam stop and runs from November 9 to 21 at Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. As shown in The Mat Nation’s story on the championship’s 18th edition, expected to bring together around 12,000 athletes of different countries, ages and belts, the competition is split into stages over almost two weeks.
The professional division, home of the black belts, comes last, from November 19 to 21, with weigh-ins expected at the arena itself. That is where Maria Luisa Delahaye will step back on the mat in search of a second title. With Shanghai gold in her bag and the 2024 title on her résumé, the Brazilian lands in the Emirates with confidence and the certainty that her work so far is paying off.
This article was originally published in Portuguese: read the original version.
