IBJJF Pan No-Gi crowns its black belt champions this Sunday in New Jersey
More than 2,300 athletes registered for the tournament in Secaucus. ADCC 2026 champion Pawel Jaworski is among the black belts in contention.
The IBJJF No-Gi Pan Championship reaches its final day this Sunday, October 4, with the adult black belt finals. The tournament began on Friday (October 2) at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, and has more than 2,300 registered athletes.
According to the IBJJF schedule, the men's black belt matches began on Saturday in brackets with nine or more athletes. The men's quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are set for Sunday, as are the women's finals.
The Pan No-Gi is the second major no-gi tournament of the season and takes place a few weeks after ADCC 2026, held in Kraków, Poland.
Who is competing at black belt
The biggest name is Poland's Pawel Jaworski (Academia Gorila), who won gold in the under-88 kg division at ADCC in September. He is registered at medium heavyweight, in the same division as Jacob Couch, who competed at ADCC in 2024.
Other athletes with ADCC experience are also competing at the Pan No-Gi, according to FloGrappling:
- Men: Owen Jones (lightweight), Max Hanson (middleweight), Pawel Jaworski and Jacob Couch (medium heavyweight) and Devonte Johnson (ultra heavyweight)
- Women: Sarah Galvão, Nadia Frankland and Julia Maele (middleweight) and Anabel Lopez (heavyweight)
The open class champions on day one
The first day of results featured the adult blue and brown belts and the Master divisions. The adult open class champions were:
- Men's blue belt: Lorenzo do Nascimento Tarouco (Alliance), who also won at medium heavyweight
- Men's brown belt: Sebastian Patryk Patyk (Academia Gorila), who also won at middleweight
- Women's brown belt: Lauriane Stavacz Afonso (Gracie Barra), who also won at heavyweight
FloGrappling is broadcasting the event. The black belt results will come out throughout Sunday.
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