Everything To Know About The IBJJF Crown: Brackets, Prize Money

Brackets and purses have been released for the 2024 IBJJF Crown. Here’s a preview and everything you need to know about the BJJ event.

While most professional grappling shows these days are held under no gi rules, the IBJJF will be hosting their premier pro event in the traditional kimono at the 2024 edition of “The Crown.”

The 2024 IBJJF Crown will happen on November 17, at the Walter Pyramid in Vegas. Much like the inaugural edition last year, they will host six tournaments in the gi, but this time they have doubled the size of competitors.

The full list of grapplers joining these 8-man tournaments includes three returning IBJJF Crown champions, and several other Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) champions. The brackets and prize money have also been released, and below is everything you need to know about the 2024 IBJJF Crown.

Prize Money

While the IBJJF has been criticized for asking competitors, including world champions, to pay high fees just to join their events, The Crown seems like a way for the BJJ institution to compete with all the professional grappling events popping up as of late.

With this being their major invite-only event, the IBJJF will be giving out a record high payout for them.

The 2023 edition had a total event payout of $150,000, with $15,000 prizes for the winner and $3,000 for second place. The 2024 IBJJF Crown will bump up the total prize pool to “over $250,000.” The purse breakdown is as follows:

• Champion: $20,000
• Second Place: $5,000
• Third Place: $3,000
• Fourth Place: $2,500

The promotion didn’t announce the rest of the purses, but there will still be over $67,000 left after those prizes, so each competitor will likely have some show money as well.

This isn’t big compared to other sports or the CJI prize that disrupted the whole sport. That said, it’s still good for jiu-jitsu standards and a welcome departure from the norm, where people actually spend money to compete in IBJJF.

Rules

With this being an IBJJF event, the card will of course be held under their traditional ruleset. Matches will be 10 minutes each, and for better or worse, it will all use IBJJF’s point system and advantages.

The four men’s divisions will be a condensed version of the typical IBJJF gi weight classes, with Featherweight, Middleweight, Heavyweight and Ultra-Heavyweight. The two women’s divisions will be at Lightweight and Openweight.

Opening rounds will happen simultaneously on two mats, then they will conclude the final tournament rounds on one main mat.

2024 IBJJF Crown Preview: Brackets and tournament favorites

Full brackets have been released for each of the weight classes.

Featherweight (70 kg/154 lbs)

Despite him normally competing at a lighter division, Diego Pato will likely still be the favorite to win this bracket. The five time BJJ world champ will look to add an IBJJF Crown to his resume that also includes a silver medal at ADCC 2024.

Pato will have an interesting opening match up against an older, 4-time no gi world champ in Osvaldo “Queixinho” Moizinho. His likely biggest challenge though is Kennedy Maciel, a former no gi world champ and ADCC silver medalist on the opposite side of the bracket.

Middleweight (82.3 kg/181 lbs)

Tainan Dalpra is a returning IBJJF Crown champion, and the BJJ star is going to be the favorite to win this one again. He might have the toughest draw here though, as he will likely have to go through the three toughest opponents in this bracket to defend that crown.

Gabriel Galvao is a live underdog, and Dalpra might have 2023 ADCC trials champion, Elijah Dorsey and no gi world champ Andy Murasaki waiting on the next rounds.

Heavyweight (94.3 kg/208 lbs)

The two tournament favorites are slotted on the opposite end of the brackets, with 2024 IBJJF world champ, Adam Wardzinski on one side, and 5-time world champ Gustavo Batista on the other.

They’re likely going to meet again in the finals, and while it could end up close and hard to predict, most of their previous matches were won by Batista.

Men’s Ultra-Heavyweight (Openweight)

Erich Munis is the reigning IBJJF Crown champ, and the four-time BJJ world champ is likely going to be the favorite to win it all again, especially with how the brackets are laid out.

The grapplers with the biggest chance of an upset are Gutemberg Pereira, and two ADCC bronze medalists in Roosevelt Sousa and Felipe Costa. That being said, Munis will only need to beat one of them to retain his crown, as all three are on the opposite side of the bracket.

Women’s Lightweight (64 kg/141 lbs)

Six-time BJJ world champion, Luiza Monteiro is the returning IBJJF Crown champ and tournament favorite here. The biggest test for her is WNO champ and ADCC silver medalist, Brianna Ste-Marie, but they’ve already faced off multiple times, with Monteiro winning most of the matches.

Women’s Super-Heavyweight (Openweight)

Gabi Pessanha, an eight-time world champ and dominant force in jiu-jitsu, will be a heavy favorite here. Nathiely De Jesus, who is also a decorated BJJ champion, will most likely run through her side of the bracket and meet her in the finals to look for an upset.

2024 IBJJF Crown: How To Watch, Live Stream, Start Time

The 2024 IBJJF Crown will happen on November 17, 2024 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California. It will be streamed live on FloGrappling starting at 3 p.m. ET.

Early matches will also be available for free on YouTube.