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IBJJF World Masters 2024/Jiu-Jitsu Con: The Least You Should Know

When it comes to the Masters Divisions, the fighters are over 30, but the action is dialed up to 100

By E.M. Dash

For those at the intersection in the Venn Diagram of “Loves Jiu-Jitsu” and “Loves Las Vegas,” August 2024 will go down as a historic month. With ADCC and CJI two weeks ago and Jiu-Jitsu Con this coming weekend, there’s been no shortage of jiu-jitsu action and drama among spry young hotshots (did you see Kade Ruotolo and Andrew Tackett?) and aging legends—some doing so more gracefully than others (Cyborg Abreu, Vagner Rocha, and Rafael Lovato Jr. all medaled and might be sponsored by the same Men’s rejuvenation clinic).

ADCC and CJI, generally speaking, are young men’s games (or women’s in the case of history-makers Adele Fornarino and Ffion Davies). As for the World Masters Championship? This is the Ellis Island of BJJ tournaments. Give me your 6th degree BB Brazilians, your American gym owners, your former MMA fighters aching for a second act to smash!

JJCon is for the masses, the likes of us who weren’t raised in a gym and homeschooled to become world champions. And there’s something very cool about a tournament that puts the harshness of the gentle art on display among those who are less able to endure that harshness. 

So if you hadn’t had enough of the ADCC and CJI action in Las Vegas two weeks ago, you’re in luck. Grab an açaí bowl, put your gi back on, oss and vibe and rock your cauliflower ears with pride. While you’re at it, check out a few names and stories to keep an eye out for in the IBJJF World Masters Championship, the biggest age 30+ tournament in the world of jiu-jitsu. 

First off, it’s not really a World Championship if you don’t mention “Megaton” Dias

56 years old never looked so young on Wellington Leal Dias. “Megaton” Dias–also known as “Mackenzie Dern’s Dad”–has competed in pretty much every World Championship since he was a black belt–Adult and Masters.

Look out for the 4x Adult World medalist and 10x-time Masters World Champ at Master 6 Lightweight, with a rigorous division of 17 competitors. 

“Mighty Mouse” makes his Black Belt debut

While not as mainstream as Anthony Bourdain, Demetrious Johnson might be the most beloved pop culture figure to be in a Masters BJJ bracket since the late Bourdain, who competed at the New York Spring Open in 2016. 

Johnson’s last appearance on the mats was at Pans 2024, where he took gold in his division, and took silver in the Absolute division with swagger. Given that he won World Masters last year at Brown Belt, it was probably about time someone gave this “Mouse” a black belt, not just a cookie. 

“Mighty” looks to become a Black Belt Masters World Champ in a 40-man division that’s pretty mighty, including the likes of World Champ Pablo Silva, 3x Pan Champ Queixinho, and fellow UFC veteran Jussier Formiga. For those without a Flo subscription, keep an eye on YouTube. If he does well, he’ll definitely be documenting the journey like he did last year. But Black Belt is tough, at any age.

João Miyao will continue to stunt on the competition

If there’s one guy who single-handedly (or double-jointed-ly) made competing at Masters cool in the last few years, it’s João Miyao. It’s been a minute since the multi-time Adult World Champ terrorized the under-30 set. Now he reserves his savagery for the elder crowd. Scroll the ‘gram and see for yourself. 

Looking at his legs might make you lose your lunch. Watching his jiu-jitsu might inspire you to do some crazy shit you never thought to try unless you were Tainan Dalpra…until you slip a disc or lose a ligament. 

With his impassable guard and gummy limbs, keep an eye out for all kinds of “platas”: especially the baratoplatas and tarikoplatas. And don’t worry if you miss it–one of the best content creators in the game, Miyao will definitely post his footage after the event, with a great technique breakdown to match.

Prepare for Piter Frank to hit some crazy flying submissions, as per usual. 

Most people have never heard of Piter Frank, but anyone who keeps an eye on IBJJF’s social media around the time of Masters Worlds knows him when they see him. The man has earned his reputation many times over as “A Flying Armbar Machine.” 

Frank is a 39-year-old man who moves like a 19-year-old with a steady supply of ZYNs and Adderall. The man is nonstop. His explosiveness is unparalleled. Any stereotypes you have of “the gi is boring” or “old fighters are boring,” you’ll challenge them watching Frank. He consistently manages to yeet flying submissions in competition. 

I’ll have what that man’s having in his açai–it’s gotta be more than just paçoca and condensed milk. Supplement jokes aside, Frank is an exciting fighter whose physical vitality is unparalleled in the Middleweight division, and not just at Masters 2. Keep your eyes peeled for some highlight reels in this 55-man bracket with Frank seeded at #1. 

Female Adult World Medalists go head to head in Master 1

Maggie Grindatti makes a masters debut after ACL injury, retirement from Adult competition in the gi, and a team switch to Atos after years (and a marriage) to Fight Sports. In the last few years, she’s mostly been caring for the career of her new hubby, Luccas Lira, but now she’s back in action herself. A former standby of the Adult Heavyweight division with a stellar record at the Colored Belts, let's see if she can make a statement at Masters 1 Medium-Heavy.

In the Heavyweight bracket, we have some noteworthy names in Elizabeth Mitrovic and Melissa Cueto. Mitrovic won Adult No Gi Worlds last year and Cueto is a two-time Adult Worlds Champ in the gi (2021 and 2023). Mitrovic just competed in her first ADCC and should have more luck in this division than she did against Nathiely de Jesus a few weeks ago. As for Cueto, if there’s an athlete who can win a World Masters title and a JJCon title in one weekend, it’s her. She’s currently signed up for both competitions. 

Keep your eyes on a few especially stacked divisions

• Gregor Gracie, Gustavo Almeida, Otavio Sousa, and Inacio Neto are standouts at Master 2 Heavy

• Gustavo Dantas and Cassio Werneck are noteworthy at Master 4 Lightweight

• As mentioned above in the section about “Mighty Mouse”, Master 2 Feather is going to be fireworks with a smorgasbord of top fighters with BJJ and MMA pedigree. Read the bracket and see for yourself–”IYKYK”, as the kids say.
  
  

Bonus: a few highlights for JJCon

If the Masters division is a little slow for your tastes, there’s always the young guns to keep an eye out for at Jiu-Jitsu Con. Here’s a quick list of athletes to keep an eye out for

• Atos’ “next generation” of colored belt youngsters: Emily Leyva and Alexa Herse, should impress in style at Purple (Light-Feather) and Blue (Juvenile/Light), respectively in both gi and no gi. The girls are highlight reel machines, and Leyva, despite her size, knows how to play David to Goliath in the Absolute. If she enters that division, watch her prove who the real “Mighty Mouse” is at JJCon this year.  

• Brown belts ladies on the rise: AOJ’s Funegra twins Ashlee and Mia and Atos’ Sarah Galvão, all promoted on the podium after winning Worlds at purple belt, will be chasing fresh medals to go with their fresh brown belts at JJCon. Galvao, in particular, has already gotten some notches on her belt, winning the AJP Grand Slam in Rio earlier this summer with a killer finals match against 2022 Brown Belt World Champ Julia Àlves. 

• Black Belt athletes and divisions to watch: 

  • Female/Light-Feather: 2024 Brown Belt Roosterweight Champ under Marcio Andre, Yasmyn Castro, breaks in her Black Belt in earnest at JJCon, but may have to run through former rival, AOJ’s Shelby Murphey to the top of the podium. The latter, who has had a perfect 2024 so far with wins at Euros, Pans, and Brasileiros, mysteriously withdrew from Worlds and likely would have grand slammed in her rookie year at Black Belt had she competed. Regardless, it’ll be a delight to watch these two scrap it out in a possible final.

  • Female/Feather: Cassia Moura under Bruno Bastos debuts her Black Belt after basically being a blue belt a year ago. She’s a case in point of pushing the age and minimum belt time limits of the IBJJF rules revision in 2022 of “Win a world title? You can compete at the next belt.” Moura is good, and made light work of established black belt Jessie Crane at Who’s Number One back in May before she dusted all her peers at Brown Belt Featherweight at Worlds, but is the promotion to Black under Bastos a little too much too soon? We’ll soon find out. 

  • Female/Super-Heavy: I’m still waiting for someone to stand a fighting chance against the reigning queen, Gabi Pessanha, who is competing at JJCon. This time around, there’s no one who will come close to her in the SUper-Heavyweight bracket and she will steamroll whoever stands in her way. Candidly, she’s largely at JJCon to co-teach a seminar with her coach, Marcio de Deus, and probably figured, “well, I might as well compete.” And so she will. 

  • Men/Multiple Divisions: not a ton of hotshots among the men at JJCon (Polaris 29 took away some of the best talent from JJCon) but there are still a handful of names to look out for across divisions, including AOJ hotshot, Gustavo Ogawa (Brown/Light), Keven Carrasco (Black/Light-Feather) and Ismael Dos Santos, Zach Kaina, and Eduardo “Dudu” Granzotto (Black/Feather).