The Crown 2026: Andy Murasaki and Nolan Stuart return to defend their titles
Two-time middleweight champion Murasaki will have Mica Galvão in his bracket. The IBJJF invitational takes place on November 8 in Long Beach, with US$20,000 for the champion of each division.
Over the last few days, the IBJJF confirmed the two champions returning to defend their titles at The Crown 2026: Andy Murasaki at middleweight and Nolan Stuart at heavyweight. The invitational tournament, now in its fourth edition, will be held on November 8 at the Pyramid in Long Beach, California, and streamed by FloGrappling.
The format is a single night, with eight athletes per bracket, all of them invited, and a cash prize of US$20,000 for the champion of each division. In total, there will be 48 competitors.
Murasaki chasing a three-peat
Andy Murasaki won the middleweight division at The Crown in 2024 and 2025. In last year's final, he beat Jackson Nagai 4-0 on points. Now he goes for a third straight title in a bracket that is already full and features Mica Galvão, Tarcisio Santos, José Steve, Leo Souza, Rafael Gamba, Uanderson Ferreira and Jackson Nagai himself, which opens the door to a rematch of last year's final.
Stuart completes the heavyweight bracket
Nolan Stuart, of Brea Jiu-Jitsu, was the last name confirmed at heavyweight, a bracket that is also full. In 2025, he won the division by submitting Adam Wardzinski with an omoplata in the final.
Stuart's opponents in the bracket are Vinicius Liberati, Fellipe Andrew, Windson Torres, Leo Ferreira, Omar Nada, Davi Vetoraci and Nico Maglicic.
Other divisions
Besides middleweight and heavyweight, the event will have men's brackets at featherweight and ultra-heavyweight and women's brackets at lightweight and super-heavyweight. Among the names already announced are Sam Nagai and João "Bisnaga" Mendes at featherweight, Pedro Machado and Matheus Vetoraci at ultra-heavyweight, Janaina Lebre and Sabrina Gondim at women's lightweight, and Larissa Dias and Yara Soares at super-heavyweight. The IBJJF also announced the participation of Giovanah Oliveira.
In the same round of announcements, the federation said Kingz Kimonos will be an official sponsor of the event, which is presented by FloGrappling.