Davi Vetoraci confirmed at heavyweight for the 2026 Crown; Gustavo Batista is out with an injury
The 2025 European champion, a Focus black belt based in Portugal, joins a bracket with Fellipe Andrew and Leo Ferreira; Batista, a finalist in all three editions, hurt his shoulder at AIGA in Argentina
Davi Vetoraci is the newest name confirmed for The Crown 2026. The Focus Jiu-Jitsu black belt joins the heavyweight bracket of the IBJJF tournament, set for November 8 at the Pyramid in Long Beach, California. The same roster update brought a major withdrawal: Gustavo “Braguinha” Batista, a finalist in all three editions of the event, is out of the division with a shoulder injury.
With the change, heavyweight still has six of its eight names: Fellipe Andrew, Leonardo “Leo” Ferreira, Vinicius Liberati, Windson Torres, Omar Nada and now Vetoraci. The organization has yet to announce the last two spots.
Who is Davi Vetoraci
Born in Sepetiba, a seaside neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, the 26-year-old started jiu-jitsu at age three with his father, Leonel Menezes, and his cousin Alexandre Carrera, alongside his twin brother, Matheus. His father and cousin were also the ones who gave him his black belt, in 2021. At the end of that year, the brothers moved to Portugal, where they train and teach at Focus, in the city of Porto.
The biggest title of his career came in January 2025 in Lisbon. Vetoraci won the European Championship at medium-heavyweight without giving up a single point in three matches. “It was an indescribable moment for me,” he told the IBJJF earlier this year. A few months after that title, he finished second at the Brazilian Nationals.
In 2026, he moved up to heavyweight, the division he will fight in at the Crown. At the Europeans, he lost in the quarterfinals to his own brother, Matheus, who went on to the final and lost to Leo Ferreira. At the Brazilian Nationals, Vetoraci reached the semifinal and was submitted by the same Ferreira with an armbar. The Alliance black belt won both tournaments and is now in the same bracket in Long Beach.
Braguinha is out
Batista’s exit takes away one of the names most tied to the history of the tournament. A three-time world champion at medium-heavyweight, he reached the final in all three editions of the Crown and finished second every time: he lost to Fellipe Andrew in 2023, to Adam Wardzinski in 2024 and, up at ultra-heavyweight, to Erich Munis in 2025.
The injury happened in early October, in the final of AIGA, a tournament in Argentina where he finished second. On Instagram, Batista said he hurt his shoulder and wrote: “Now it’s time to focus on recovery so I can get back to training and keep doing what I love.”
His absence also takes a possible rematch with Fellipe Andrew out of the bracket. Andrew has beaten him all five times they have fought.
How heavyweight looks now
Among the six confirmed names, Fellipe Andrew was the first heavyweight champion in Crown history, in 2023, and Leo Ferreira arrives with the 2026 European and Brazilian titles. Ferreira has already told VF Comunica that he would pick Andrew as his opponent for a final.
Vinicius Liberati won the Europeans, the Brazilian Nationals and the Worlds this year, all at super-heavyweight, and Windson Torres took bronze at the Worlds in the same division. Omar Nada, 21, makes his IBJJF debut as a black belt after winning two gold medals at the 2026 Worlds as a brown belt.
The Crown is an invitation-only IBJJF tournament held in a single night. There are six divisions with eight athletes in each bracket, and the winner of each one takes home $20,000. The 2026 edition is the fourth, and it will stream on FloGrappling.
VF Comunica’s coverage of The Crown is presented by Kingz.
Can Davi Vetoraci upset the favorites at heavyweight at the Crown? Leave your opinion in the comments.
