Helena Crevar and Adele Fornarino also won their first no gi world titles at the 2025 IBJJF No Gi World Championships.
The 2025 IBJJF No Gi World Championship highlighted the next generation of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) stars, and also saw some repeat champions put on iconic performances and achieve new heights in their grappling careers.
Some of the biggest standout performances came from the likes of teen prodigies Helena Crevar and Cassia Moura, rising stars in Pawel Jaworski and Cole Abate, and established champs like Adele Fornarino, Elisabeth Clay, and Roosevelt Souza.
Top pound-for-pound stars Helena Crevar, Adele Fornarino win first no gi world titles
Two of the top pound-for-pound stars today shined at the 2025 IBJJF No Gi Worlds. Decorated BJJ pros Adele Fornarino and Helena Crevar added to their resumes by taking gold medals and officially winning their first IBJJF no gi world titles at featherweight (125 lbs) and medium-heavyweight (158 lbs), respectively.
Crevar won a world title in just 18 years of age, following up on her big CJI, WNO and Polaris title wins that had her ranked as the top female grappler today.
Fornarino though was part of what was arguably the most anticipated match of the event, as she faced the surging Ana Mayordomo in the featherweight finals. Spain’s Mayordomo was on a meteoric rise, winning gold at two ADCC Trials events and both the IBJJF No Gi Euros and No Gi Pans in just a couple of months, but this match up marked the biggest test in her first year as a black belt.
It only took a few seconds for the reigning ADCC double champion to prove that she’s still the woman to beat at featherweight. Fornarino immediately latched onto a footlock and submitted Mayordomo in just 16 seconds, capping a world title run that saw her submit every single one of her opponents.
UFC BJJ star Cassia Moura moves up four divisions to win second world title
19-year-old BJJ prodigy Cassia Moura was also one of the biggest winners at the 2025 IBJJF No Gi World Championships. Having already become the youngest world champion in last year’s No Gi Worlds, Moura decided to move up a whopping four weight classes from featherweight to heavyweight, as she literally chased for bigger challenges.
She was trying to match up against Helena Crevar to try and take her claim as the top pound-for-pound star, but Crevar eventually competed and won at medium-heavyweight instead. Moura, who is also 4-0 in UFC BJJ, continued on to beat three much larger heavyweights, including ADCC Trials champ Nia Blackman.
Moura is now a back-to-back no gi world champion, with her two titles being four divisions apart.
Moura and Crevar weren’t the only teen prodigies who shined at the event. Mia Funegra became the youngest world champion in the gi earlier in the year, and now her twin sister Ashlee Funegra has achieved a similar feat by winning the light featherweight no gi world title in her first attempt at black belt.
Elisabeth Clay upsets Gabi Pessanha to win double gold at IBJJF No Gi Worlds
Gabi Pessanha has been incredibly dominant in recent years as she continued to break records and make history, but in the 2025 No Gi Worlds, it was Elisabeth Clay who pulled off a monumental upset in the absolute division.
After Clay won gold at middlweight, she also went on an incredible run in the absolute division. She choked out Adele Fornarino in her second match, then went on to also submit and upset the much larger Gabi Pessanha in the finals. She finished Pessanha by heel hook in the finals to take double gold and win her fifth and sixth IBJJF world titles.
Winning double gold medals in the men’s side of the bracket is Roosevelt Sousa, who has now impressively won world titles this year in both gi and no gi.
Pawel Jaworski, Cole Abate continue world title runs
Outside of Souza’s double gold run, fellow 21-year-olds Pawel Jaworski and Cole Abate were two of the biggest standouts in the men’s divisions at the 2025 IBJJF No Gi World Championships.
Polish BJJ star Jaworski capped off his incredible 2025 run with a gold medal at medium-heavyweight (188.6 lbs) and bronze against bigger men in the absolute division. Outside of winning his first no gi world title, Jaworski is also coming off a run that saw him win a similar gold and bronze in the IBJJF No Gi Pans, double gold at IBJJF Euros, and gold in ADCC Trials.
Abate, on the other hand, won gold a deep lightweight division, where he beat a fellow talented pro grappler in Julian Espinosa in the finals. With the victory, the AOJ star is now a two-time no gi world champion, having won the last two iterations of the event.
Check here for full results from the 2025 IBJJF No Gi World Championships.
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Category: General Sports
