Mateo Cardona’s presence at The Crown 2026 carries a mission that goes beyond an individual title. A frontline AOJ black belt, the American is at the peak of his preparation for the featherweight GP at the IBJJF’s invitational tournament, set for November 8 at the iconic Pyramid in California. If he wins, he extends the team’s run of dominance in the division, which dates back to 2024.
Recent history explains the expectations. In 2024, the featherweight crown went to Diego ‘Pato’, and last year it was Cole Abate’s turn, beating João ‘Bisnaga’ on points in the final. Those back-to-back titles made the Mendes brothers’ AOJ the benchmark of the division at The Crown. Now the job of keeping the crown at home falls to Cardona, one of the hungriest names in the bracket.
READY ALL YEAR: MATEO CARDONA REVEALS THE SECRET BEHIND AOJ’S TRAINING ROUTINE
Nobody is better placed than a frontline athlete to talk about daily life at one of the gyms that produces the most champions. In an interview with The Mat Nation at this season’s Jiu-Jitsu Con, Mateo said the secret to success is uninterrupted focus. At AOJ, he says, nobody waits for an invitation to a big event to get in shape: everyone is ready to compete all year long.
In the same conversation, the black belt showed another side. Although he was born in the United States, Cardona speaks Portuguese and explained how he learned the language, following a trend among many foreigners who live Jiu-Jitsu up close. Daily contact with Brazilian coaches and teammates on the mat, and the desire to understand every detail of their instructions, are part of the process he describes in the interview.
DEBUT BLACK BELT SEASON BRINGS EUROPEANS SILVER AND A WIN ON THE NO GI ABSOLUTE GP CARD
Cardona arrived at black belt with a heavy résumé. In 2025, still a brown belt, he won gold at the IBJJF Europeans, Pans and Worlds, and was promoted right after his last match at Worlds. In his first full season among the black belts, he took silver at the Europeans in Lisbon and beat Leonardo Souza on points in a gi superfight on the card of the IBJJF No Gi Absolute GP in February.
Since then, the athlete has been following the plan laid out with his team to the letter, as he told The Mat Nation in an interview before the IBJJF Pans, where he said his mind and body were aligned for the title hunt and promised to let the results speak for themselves. The idea is to compete more often and show a new level of dominance at every opportunity, something The Crown GP offers in abundance.
AN EIGHT-MAN BRACKET AND $20,000 ON THE LINE: THE ROAD TO THE CROWN AT THE PYRAMID
At featherweight, Mateo shares the bracket with Rerisson Gabriel, Samuel Nagai, the first champion of the division in the event’s history, João ‘Bisnaga’ Mendes, Ademir Barreto, Jun Yong Cho, Keven Carrasco and Will Wilson. The last one is a familiar face: Wilson beat Cardona in this year’s Europeans final, which opens the door to a big rematch in California. To take the crown, a competitor has to win three matches in the same night.
In its fourth edition, The Crown brings together 48 of the world’s elite athletes across six weight classes, by invitation only. Each champion takes home the golden crown and a $20,000 prize, and the event will be streamed worldwide on FloGrappling. For Cardona, the Pyramid stage is a chance to turn the routine of someone who is ready all year into a title that puts his name among AOJ’s champions.
This article was originally published in Portuguese: read the original version.
