The IBJJF recently announced that it will host an eight-man heavyweight tournament featuring some of the best practitioners currently competing under their bannner, with the winner taking away a grand prize of $40,000.
The first two competitors announced for the Grand Prix tournament are multiple time world champion and pound for pound king, Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida and former ADCC champion and three-time world champion, Andre Galvao.
Those two names alone are enough to whet the appetite of most BJJ fans, but an even bigger name has been to the tournament in arguably the greatest sport grappler of all time, Roger Gracie.
A 10-time world champion in his weight class and the absolute division, Gracie has won ADCC on multiple occasions and is also the current One FC light-heavyweight champion.
Gracie last competed under the IBJJF banner back in 2015 in a super fight against Rodrigo Medeiros, winning via armbar in under five minutes. However, Gracie hasn’t competed in an IBJJF tournament since 2012 and has only competed twice since then, with his other match being against Buchecha at Metamoris 1, which ended in a draw.
The IBJJF have pulled off a huge coup with the announcement of Gracie and the anticipation levels for this event would have risen significantly, especially with the prospect of Gracie meeting Buchecha in the final.
The Grand Prix goes down on August 26 and with five more names yet to be added, this could be one of the biggest invitational tournaments ever held.
