The 2026 IBJJF No-Gi Worlds already has its dates, venue and first big names confirmed. This year’s edition takes place December 10 to 12 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in the United States and closes out the federation’s season. The official list, updated this Wednesday, the 21st, already includes 69 black belts, and three 2025 champions are registered to defend their titles: Elisabeth Clay, Pawel Jaworski and Thaís Loureiro.
Registration remains open until November 29, or until the event reaches maximum capacity, as the federation warns. To compete in the adult black belt division, athletes need at least 30 points in the IBJJF no-gi rankings. Brackets will be released on December 9, the day before the first day of competition, on bjjcompsystem.com, and the championship will have drug testing by USADA, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
ELISABETH CLAY RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS AFTER SUBMITTING GABI PESSANHA AND WINNING DOUBLE GOLD IN 2025
The biggest star on the women’s list is Elisabeth Clay. Last year, the American left Las Vegas with gold at middleweight and in the open class, in a run defined by submissions. In the open-weight final, she submitted Gabi Pessanha, a result that made waves around the world. It was the sixth no-gi world title of Clay’s career, after she had spent time away from competition due to her pregnancy.
In 2026, Clay is registered at middleweight, in a bracket that currently has four athletes. Gabi Pessanha, last year’s super-heavyweight champion and open class runner-up, does not yet appear among the registrants, and the women’s super-heavyweight division still has no names on the official list.
2026 NO-GI WORLDS: PAWEL JAWORSKI DEFENDS MEDIUM-HEAVYWEIGHT AND THAÍS LOUREIRO AWAITS HER RIVALS AT ROOSTERWEIGHT
Among the men, the top confirmed name is Poland’s Pawel Jaworski. Last year’s medium-heavyweight champion, with a win over Gabriel Brod in the final, he also reached the open class final, where he took silver against Elder Cruz. Jaworski is back at medium-heavyweight, a bracket that already has seven athletes. Before Las Vegas, he has a date in Rome, where he is registered for the No-Gi Europeans, running October 28 to November 1.
At women’s roosterweight, Thaís Loureiro is also back to defend her spot. In 2025, she won her first black belt world title a year after taking bronze. For now, Thaís is the only registrant in the division. The list also features two of last year’s runners-up looking for redemption: Marcelo Fausto, silver at middleweight, and Austin Morris, runner-up at super-heavyweight.
LIGHTWEIGHT IS THE FULLEST BRACKET SO FAR AND SPECTATOR ADMISSION IS $25 PER DAY
As of Wednesday’s count, the men’s adult black belt division has 45 registrants, and the women’s has 24. Men’s lightweight is the fullest bracket, with 13 athletes. Medium-heavyweight has seven names, and heavyweight six, among them Karol Kania, who will also be in Rome at the end of the month. None of the 2025 men’s champions at roosterweight, light-featherweight, featherweight, lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight, super-heavyweight and ultra-heavyweight is registered so far.
The registration fee is $204 until the deadline, and athletes can make their own team, age and weight corrections until November 30. For spectators, admission costs $25 on each of the three days, and children 12 and under get in free. Championship details are on the official IBJJF page, which lists FloGrappling among the event’s partners.
This article was originally published in Portuguese: read the original version.
