Get up to date on all the biggest news from the Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and grappling scene.
Welcome to the BJJ Beat! On this recurring feature, we’ll tackle the biggest news from the professional grappling scene, and roll everything up in an easily digestible and familiar jiu-jitsu format.
Warm Ups
Grappler breaks own arm while attempting rear naked choke
Amanda Mazza competed in another professional BJJ bout, where she was looking to finish her opponent Emily Hansen by rear naked choke. She had her arm over the chin and squeezed on the submission before hearing a loud crack.
Mazza immediately stopped and asked “are you okay? That was your jaw!”
Except it wasn’t her opponent’s jaw. She was actually the one that got injured, as her forearm snapped in half from the pressure of applying the choke.
I didn’t even think this was possible, but watch the freak injury below:
After the match, Mazza expressed frustration on losing the match via injury.
“I controlled the match and pushed myself to get the finish, but in the battle my forearm broke with torque of the choke against her chin. It’s not the outcome I imagined. To say I’m heartbroken is an understatement,” Mazza wrote on Instagram. “The journey definitely doesn’t stop here, this is just the beginning of a stronger, hungrier version of me.”
Mazza sustained a right forearm fracture, and went on to have surgery. She vowed to return stronger.
“The comeback will be beautiful,” she wrote. “Sorry everyone for ‘unlocking a new fear’ 🙇🏻♀️😅”
Drills
Promising 8-man BJJ Open Weight Grand Prix at WNO 30
WNO normally hosts one-off super-fights, but they’re switching things up on their next event. WNO 30 on October 24, 2025 will be hosting an eight-man Open Weight Grand Prix. Only a partial list of competitors have been revealed, but it is already looking very promising!
It also looks like there will be intriguing size differences in the tournament as well, as it features the likes of 99 kg ADCC and CJI trials winner Declan Moody and a giant slayer in 77 kg competitor Dante Leon, who took bronze in the last ADCC absolute tournament. The tournament will also include two young prospects in Achilles Rocha and Michael Sainz, who compete at 88 and 77 kg respectively.
WNO 30 Open Weight Grand Prix competitors:
- Declan Moody – 99 kg, 2x ADCC Trials winner
- Dante Leon – 77 kg, 2x ADCC Bronze
- Felipe Costa – 88 kg, ADCC 2024 Bronze
- Achilles Rocha – 88 kg, ADCC 2024 vet
- Michael Sainz – 77 kg
Move of the Day
Skinny mummy beats massive ultra-heavyweight
Speaking of open weight tournaments, one of the highlights from the 2025 IBJJF Manaus International No Gi Open this weekend features a heavily bandaged Tiago Carvalho, running through the absolute tournament against far bigger men.
Carvalho won gold at his 162 lb lightweight division, before moving on to beat massive heavyweights. Carvalho sustained a cut and was heavily bandaged and severely undersized, but he managed to out-skill and out-scramble the likes of ultra-heavyweight Jose Cardoso:
After beating two larger men, unfortunately Carvalho ran into another ultra-heavyweight in the final: UFC vet Antonio Braga Neto. The three-time IBJJF world champion was too big and too skilled this time, and Carvalho ended his impressive run this weekend with a gold at lightweight and a silver at open weight.
Rolls
UFC’s Ffion Davies competes for title at Polaris 34
Ffion Davies, who is now an exclusively signed UFC grappler, was supposed to compete with Polaris a final time last June until she pulled out due to injury. Davies, who is among the top pound-for-pound BJJ stars today, has been rebooked for Polaris 34 and will be in a title bout against ADCC trials winner Margot Ciccarelli.
Ciccarelli is coming off an impressive performance at Polaris Squads, where she beat five straight opponents consecutively, including the likes of world champs Brianna Ste-Marie and Alex Enriquez.
Davies, a seven-time world champion across ADCC and IBJJF, recently won gold in her return to the gi at the 2025 Masters Worlds. In her first UFC grappling match, Davies won a razor thin decision over Adele Fornarino earlier in the year.
Polaris 34 happens on November 1, 2025 and will also include another fun female title bout and rematch between CJI champ Helena Crevar and Sula-Mae Loewenthal. The event will air on UFC Fight Pass.
Cooldown
Full line up: PRIDE stars restart rivalry at Quintet 5
Old PRIDE FC rivalries will be reignited in BJJ on October 23, 2025. Four PRIDE stars Kazushi Sakuraba, Renzo Gracie, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Bob Sapp will each coach their own squad in a team grappling format on Quintet 5.
The competitors have already been announced, and the first round will see Sakuraba’s team take on a squad led by his former rival in Renzo Gracie. The other side of the bracket will see “Big Nog” lead squad from Team Nogueira against Bob Sapp, who will be representing Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA in Thailand.
Notable names on the card include Kazushi’s son Taisei Sakuraba, UFC vet Dong Hyun Kim, PJ Barch, Haisam Rida, Igor Tanabe, Daisuke Nakamura, and Neiman Gracie.
Below is the full line up for Quintet 5:
Team Sakuraba: Taisei Sakuraba, Haisam Rida, Igor Tanabe, Daisuke Nakamura, Sousuke Oshima
Team Renzo Gracie: Neiman Gracie, Delson Heleno, Anderson Wesiley, Talison Soares, Diego Freire
Team Bangtao Thailand: Dong Hyun Kim, Lucas Barbosa, PJ Barch, Alex Schild, Kemoy Anderson
Team Nogueira: Pouya Rahmani, Abdelraouf Mido, Vetrov Nicolay, Thiago Sa, Zaliman Kashaev.
Review
To close things out, here are other interesting BJJ stories you might have missed:
- Stacked! UFC BJJ 3 is filled with several world champions… even if you may not approve of the main event.
- UFC BJJ to have 14 events in 2026. That’s more than double from this year.
- CJI vet signs with UFC – the 6-1 fighter makes his UFC debut this November
For the latest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and grappling-related news click here.
Category: General Sports
