There is an undisputed queen of jiu-jitsu and her name is Gabi Pessanha. The double gold champion in two consecutive IBJJF World Championships, Pessanha is in a league of her own. There are few opponents who can test her, those that come close rarely succeed, and if she ever loses it is via the slimmest of margins. She’s just that good. 

It is still very early in her career, this is only the second season that she has competed as a black belt, but I am going to go out on a limb and compare her to Marcus Buchecha Almeida, one of the greatest champions in the history of jiu-jitsu. I look at Gabi, and I see that same combination of size, athleticism, technical brilliance, and competition experience. I believe that we are entering the Gabi era of women’s jiujitsu, and while there are no guarantees that she will go unbeaten in as many World Championships as Buchecha did, it is hard to see who could deny her this position. 

Her closest challenger and‘s most frequent opponent is Yara Soares, a fine competitor in her own right who knows Gabi all too well – they have faced off more times than I can count coming up through the ranks together all the way up to black belt. And while Yara is a great champion in her own right Gabi has enjoyed a slight advantage throughout their rivalry. 

Gabi’s toughest match at the world championships was against the rookie blackbelt Amy Campo, her opponent in the absolute final. Gabi was able to win and claim her second world championship absolute gold medal, but it wasn’t as one-sided as many other matches and it was less of a stalemate then her matches against Yara. 

Is the greatest issue I see facing Gabi is that she could become a victim of her own success. The lack of depth in the super heavyweight division means that there are few opponents to challenge her on a regular basis and I wouldn’t be surprised if people are scared to sign up for the absolute division knowing they may have to face her. 

Upon winning the 2022 world championship she told us that her next goal is to focus on no-gi competition, if this is the case then maybe ADCC is in her future. It would be premature to thrust her into the upcoming world championships in September due to her lack of experience but if she has two whole years to prepare she could realistically dominate both tournaments. 

WATCH: 

• Gabrieli Pessanha vs Luciana Mota 
• Gabrieli Pessanha vs Rafaela Guedes
• Gabrieli Pessanha vs Mayara Monteiro
• Yara Soares vs Gabrieli Pessanha 
• Amy Campo vs Gabrieli Pessanha