The Most Prestigious Yearly Jiu Jitsu Tournament
The Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu Jitsu Championship is happening for the 14th edition at the Jiu Jitsu Arena in Abu Dhabi. The event is set to last from November 11 to 19, 2022, featuring some of the world’s best male and female Jiu-Jitsu athletes competing in several categories.
Jiu-Jitsu is considered to be a national sport in the United Arab Emirates, with the country’s president, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, contributing ever so generously to the sport’s development and growth and solidifying Abu Dhabi’s spot as the capital of Jiu-Jitsu in the world.
Globally speaking, Abu Dhabi hosts the most significant international championship. It is a dream for every Jiu-Jitsu athlete to participate in this prestigious event.
The Jiu-Jitsu Arena in Zayed Sports City, will host the 14t edition of the tournament. This year’s edition is expected to welcome more than 5,000 international athletes competing as youth, masters, professionals, and para-athletes.
The events are set to take place in the following order:
- Abu Dhabi World Festival Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022 (11-12 November)
- Abu Dhabi World Para Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022 (11 November)
- Abu Dhabi World Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022 (13-14 November)
- Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022 (15-16 November)
- Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022 (17-19 November)
All events are open to all nationalities.
The exciting thing is that the event will feature an impressive number of female Jiu-Jitsu athletes, ranging across all events, from amateur to professional, and including some of the biggest names on the scene.
A Growing List of the Top Female Jiu-Jitsu Talent
Something often remarked about many Jiu-Jitsu tournaments is that female Jiu-Jitsu athletes do not get the same opportunities as male athletes. This is mostly in the form of fewer categories for women, either by belt, weight, or both. Well, the ADWPJJC 14 is setting a new standard with no less than seven different weight categories for the professionals (adult purple, brown, and black belts athletes) and 8 for the amateurs and youth female Jiu-Jitsu competitors.
Here are some of the most talented ladies of the mats to watch out for during the 2022 ADWPJJC event.
Abu Dhabi World Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022
Youth categories in the ADWPJJC refer to kids and teenagers aged 10-17 who have gray, yellow, orange, green or blue belt.
It may surprise many that we include athletes as young as this, but remember that these are competitors that have been training since they were 4 or 5 years old, which means they have, at the very least, the training age equivalent to a Professional black belt.
A notable name among the -63 kg blue belt female Jiu-Jitsu athletes is Sarah Galvao (16), daughter of Andre and Angelica Galvao, both of whom have won the tournament at the black belt level.
She will be looking to add to the family legacy in a very stacked division featuring 12 of the best in the world, including #1 ranked Triva Ridha (16), from Iraq, with 16 wins to her name in the 2021-2022 season, 5 of which came by way of submission.
Most of the United Arab Emirates competitors, which are plentiful in the youth category, are extremely proficient at Jiu Jitsu, given the national sport status of the art in the UAE and the fact that it is taught at schools.
Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022
Among the masters, some quite interesting female Jiu-Jitsu athlete names will undoubtedly make a splash at the 14th ADWPJJC.
The Masters’ divisions for the ladies include blue, purple, and brown/black belt levels, masters 1 age category, and five different weight classes (-49 kg, -55 kg, -62 kg. -70 kg, and -95 kg).
A few names that stand out among the brown/black belt female Jiu-Jitsu athletes in the Masters’ divisions are talented Estonian black belt Liisi Vaht and brown belt Marne Chiccarelli (Master 1, -55 kg).
In the -70 kg Masters’ 1 brown/black division, Eloisa Crespo Perez and Gabriella Ripepi, who share the #5 ranking, are bound to put on a great show, especially if they meet up with each other in the finals.
Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2022
With all due respect to all other events, the professionals’ division, which includes female Jiu-Jitsu athletes, purple, brown and black belt is where all eyes are going to be during the 14th ADWPJJC. Here, we have some household names trying to break records in successive title defenses, champions defending their belts for the first time, and many hungry contenders looking to add “world champion” to their bios.
In the UAEJJF, professionals are athletes aged 18+ with the purple, brown, or black belt rank.
Starting with the purple belts, Switzerland’s Claire Del Sarto is the number one seed in the -49 kg division, ranked as #1 in the 2021-2022 season with 22 victories to her name. She is set to have her work cut out, given the depth of the division (22 competitors).
Someone to watch in the -55 kg professionals purple belt division is Asma Hasan Alhosani. The 20-year-old defeated several higher-ranked opponents to win the gold at the AJP Tour UAE National Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championship in September, making herself one of the favorites in her division.
Highly-talented brown belt Laurie Rocha will be her main challenge, with the #9 ranked racking up 23 wins in the 2021-2022 season, and holding the brown belt title from 2021.
In the brown/black female Jiu-Jitsu professional divisions, Brenda Larissa is ready to defend her 2021 title in the -49 kg division, with a dozen hungry contenders looking to dethrone her.
In the -55 kg division, Euros and World Pro champion Rosa El Sharouni from the Netherlands is looking to set her claim for the title. It will be a challenging feat in the 14-women division, though.
The -62 kg division sees the undisputed reigning queen Beatriz Mesquita, fresh off her bronze medal performance at the 2022 ADCC, looking to become the ADWPJJC champion for the 8th time. She has several wild cards in the division, with #1 ranked Julia Alves (63 wins this season) looking like a real potential challenge for Mesquita.
The -70 kg division sees female Jiu-Jitsu world champion, Ingridd Sousa, looking to defend her throne. The Brazilian Edilson Albuquerque black belt won the ADWPJJC 13, the CBJJ Brazilian Nationals, and IBJJF South American Championship in her division and absolute in 2021.
Finally, the -90 kg brown/black professional female BJJ division at the ADWPJJC 14 sees Gabrieli Pessanha back to defend her title for the fourth year running.
In Summary
Despite some major names like Gabi Garcia, Mayssa Bastos, and Bianca Basilio missing from the roster for the ADWPJJC 14, the total number of female Jiu-Jitsu athletes is higher than ever before, with lots of exciting new talent looking to break through and challenge some of the longest standing champions. It is interesting to see what happens at the purple belt professional and youth blue belt levels.
Stay tuned for the results right after the tournament!
Ogi is a black belt that does Jiu Jitsu full time and is very passionate about anything grappling-related.
He is also the head coach of Enso Jiu Jitsu in Macedonia and an aspiring Globetrotter.