2025 IBJJF No-Gi Pans results, highlights, and standout performances

View results and video highlights from the adult black belt divisions at the 2025 IBJJF No-Gi Pans.

No-gi season is officially underway. The 2025 IBJJF No-Gi Pans went down over the weekend in New York, marking the first no-gi major of the year. Per usual, the event drew a number of the sport’s top competitors from around the world.

Below, we take a look at some of the standout performances from the adult black belt divisions.

Gabi Pessanha extends her run of dominance

Gabi Pessanha is gradually establishing herself as one of the most dominant athletes to ever compete in the IBJJF. The 25-year-old phenom is already a 10-time world champion in the gi, and after winning her first no-gi world championship title last year and now adding a no-gi Pans title to her jam-packed trophy case, she looks poised to fully take the no-gi scene by storm.

Pessanha’s athleticism and ever-evolving leg lock game carried her to gold in both the super-heavyweight and open class divisions over the weekend – and she rarely seemed threatened across five total matches.

While she’s likely to face stiffer competition at No-Gi Worlds, Pessanha will be the odds-on favorite to score another double-gold performance later this year.

Roosevelt Sousa continues a dominant 2025

On the men’s side, Fight Sports representative Roosevelt Sousa impressed with a double-gold performance of his own.

Sousa battled hard all weekend, employing his well-rounded game and deep gas tank to earn hard-fought wins over the likes of ADCC Trials winner Inacio Santos, reigning no-gi absolute champion Elder Cruz, and decorated veteran Patrick Gaudio to take home gold in both the ultra-heavyweight and absolute divisions.

With a podium finish at the 2022 ADCC World Championships and a no-gi world title to his name, Sousa had already done plenty to solidify himself as an elite talent, but he’s enjoying a true breakout year in 2025. On top of his no-gi Pans double-gold, he claimed his first gi world title and scored a solid submission win over Igor Tanabe at Who’s Number One.

Marco Mendes scores 100 percent finishing rate

In the men’s featherweight division, Marco Mendes turned in a career-defining performance and earned his first IBJJF major title.

Still just 22 years old, Mendes submitted each of his four opponents, all while displaying an impressive variety of finishing skills. In addition to his lightning-fast armbar finish over Cameron Mellott in the divisional final, he also earned submissions via rear-naked choke, kneebar, and calf-slicer.

Mendes’ performance announced him as a real threat in one of the sport’s deepest divisions and set the stage for another breakout showing at no-gi Worlds.

Elder Cruz impresses

Elder Cruz seems to have finally found his stride and is living up to expectations in IBJJF competition.

The 31-year-old leaned heavily on his high-paced wrestling and relentless guard passing to win gold in the super-heavyweight division and a third-place finish in the absolute division. Now training alongside Dante Leon and Max Hanson at Adamas Jiu-Jitsu under the Pedigo Submission Fighting banner, Cruz has hit his stride and will be a difficult puzzle to solve for any grappler, regardless of weight class.

Anabel Lopez overcomes elite opposition

Spanish standout Anabel Lopez Beard is quickly establishing herself as one of Europe’s top competitors. The reigning no-gi world champion went through an incredibly stiff lineup of Yara Soares, Sula-Mae Loewenthal, and Erin Harpe en route to gold in the heavyweight division.

After a dominant colored belt career and now a solid start to her black belt campaign, Lopez has all the makings of a pound-for-pound powerhouse with seemingly no holes in her all-around game.

Sarah Galvao wins first IBJJF major

Rookie black belt Sarah Galvao continues to live up to the lofty expectations surrounding her. Fresh off an impressive performance at Ocean BJJ Pro and a solid showing at CJI 2 earlier this year, Galvao was largely dominant against elite competition, winning gold in the talent-laden middleweight division.

She took out top European grapplers Gamila Kanew and Injana Goodman to pick up her first IBJJF major at black belt – surely the first of many for the young prodigy.

Check out the full adult black belt results from the 2025 IBJJF No-Gi Pans below

2025 IBJJF No-Gi Pans adult black belt results

Women’s

Rooster

  • 1st – Mariana Rolszt
  • 2nd – Thais Loureiro Felipe
  • 3rd – Faye Lynn Cherrier
  • 3rd – Mara Kelly

Light-feather

  • 1st – Mayssa Bastos
  • 2nd – Andrea Jordan
  • 3rd – Erika Fernanda Jesus Machado

Feather

  • 1st – Ana Mayordomo
  • 2nd – Thaynara Victoria Soares da Silva
  • 3rd – Beatriz Campos
  • 3rd – Lauren Sognefest

Light

  • 1st – Caroline Brunacio Vinhaes
  • 2nd – Zara Di Tofano
  • 3rd – Amanda Bruse
  • 3rd – Julia Maele

Middle

  • 1st – Sarah Galvao
  • 2nd – Injana Goodman
  • 3rd – Gabriela de Faria Matos Barreto
  • 3rd – Gamila Kanew

Medium-heavy

  • 1st – Salla Simola
  • 2nd – Fernanda Yukari Makiyama Cristo
  • 3rd – Gabriela de Mirand Barroso
  • 3rd – Maria Pia Barriga Monge

Heavy

  • 1st – Anabel Lopez Beard
  • 2nd – Erin Harpe
  • 3rd – Karoline Silva Caramori
  • 3rd – Sula-Mae Loewenthal

Super-heavy

  • 1st – Gabi Pessanha
  • 2nd – Maria Victoria Barboza de Santiago
  • 3rd – Lauren Rojas

Open class

  • 1st – Gabi Pessanha
  • 2nd – Injana Goodman
  • 3rd – Gamila Kanew
  • 3rd – Maria Victoria Barboza de Santiago

Men’s

Rooster

  • 1st – Osamah Almarwai
  • 2nd – Lucas de Souza Castro
  • 3rd – Christopher Tran
  • 3rd – Relter Lima Silva Filho

Light-feather

  • 1st – Vinicius Gomes Inacio
  • 2nd – Leonardo Martins
  • 3rd – Junny Ocasio
  • 3rd – Jacob Semsem

Feather

  • 1st – Marco Mendes
  • 2nd – Cameron Mellott
  • 3rd – Marco Antonio Gomes Guedes
  • 3rd – Steven Gomez

Light

  • 1st – Julian Espinosa
  • 2nd – Max Hanson
  • 3rd – Gianni Grippo
  • 3rd – Joao Assonitis

Middle

  • 1st – Marcelo Fausto
  • 2nd – Mahmoud Mazen Jabr
  • 3rd – Eduardo Avelar de Carvalho
  • 3rd – Mateus de Moraes Coelho

Medium-heavy

  • 1st – Pawel Jaworski
  • 2nd – Locan Smith
  • 3rd – David Garmo
  • 3rd – Wallisson Oliveira Souza

Heavy

  • 1st – Javier Barter
  • 2nd – Jose Jurema
  • 3rd – Anthony Robinson
  • 3rd – Dante Leon

Super-heavy

  • 1st – Elder Cruz
  • 2nd – Lucas Norat Lopes
  • 3rd – Austin Morris
  • 3rd – Thomas Bracher

Ultra-heavy

  • 1st – Roosevelt Sousa
  • 2nd – Helder Jose
  • 3rd – Anderson Kauan Gomes Marinho
  • 3rd – Jose Inacio

Open class

  • 1st – Roosevelt Sousa
  • 2nd – Patrick Gaudio
  • 3rd – Elder Cruz
  • 3rd – Pawel Jaworski

Ben Coate

Ben has been involved with grappling, whether through wrestling or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, essentially his entire life. After wrestling throughout his childhood, Ben found Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a young adult and quickly fell in love. He has been training for over ten years and holds the rank of black belt, and remains involved in both the MMA and BJJ scene. Ben has been writing about combat sports since 2017. He has interviewed and profiled some of MMA's biggest stars, including multiple UFC champions.

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