Crown: women’s lightweight has no ex-champion yet
With seven of the eight athletes announced by the IBJJF, the bracket has three 2026 world champions and two newly promoted black belts; Sarah Galvão, who won the tournament last year, is not on the list so far
The women’s lightweight bracket at the 2026 Crown is one name away from being complete. The IBJJF has already announced seven of the eight athletes in the division, which will be decided on November 8 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California: Janaína Lebre, Sabrina Gondim, Elisabeth Clay, Ághata Rabelo, Nikolett Kis, Eliza Nascimento and Keanna Klay.
The list has three 2026 world champions, two at black belt and one at brown belt, and none of the three women who have already won the division at the tournament. Luiza Monteiro won in 2023, Brianna Ste-Marie in 2024 and Sarah Galvão in 2025. None of them had been announced when this story was published. If the last spot goes to someone else, the lightweight division will have a first-time champion in November.
Janaína Lebre and the missing title
The reigning world champion in the division, Janaína enters the bracket for the fourth time and is the only one who has competed in every edition. She placed third in 2023 and reached the last two finals: she lost to Brianna Ste-Marie in 2024, on advantages, and to Sarah Galvão in 2025, by a single advantage.
The rivalry with Sarah shaped her season. In 2026, the Brazilian from Ceará lost the Pans final by referee decision and got even in the Worlds final, also decided by the referees after a 0-0. A year earlier, she had won the Europeans, Pans, Brazilian Nationals and Worlds, the four Grand Slam tournaments. The Crown is the major title still missing from her résumé.
For Ághata Rabelo, she is the one to beat. “The woman to beat is the current lightweight world champion, Janaína Lebre,” Ághata told VF Comunica. Janaína, for her part, said in a recent interview that the spotlight is not what drives her: “Being seen or getting more attention was never my goal. If it comes, great, but that is not what moves me.”
Sabrina Gondim moves up in search of a rematch
The 2026 featherweight world champion, Sabrina returns to lightweight, the division she competed in until March. At last year’s Crown, she was submitted by Janaína in the quarterfinals with an Ezekiel choke. Since then, she won the Worlds with four matches without conceding a point and, in early October, the No-Gi Pans.
In an interview with VF Comunica, she made clear how she sees the bracket: “I respect all my opponents, but I don’t pick fights thinking about who is easier or harder. I want the best matches, against the best athletes, and I am ready for anyone who shows up.”
Kis vs. Eliza: eight matches in two years
Nikolett Kis and Eliza Nascimento arrive at The Crown as newly promoted black belts with a long rivalry. Between 2025 and 2026, at purple and brown belt, the two faced each other eight times, with five wins for the Hungarian and three for the Brazilian.
Kis was brown belt world champion in 2026 with three submissions in three matches and received her black belt on the podium. In the IBJJF, she has not yet competed at the new rank, and her debut will be at The Crown. Eliza, who came up through Marcio André’s academy in Arizona, received her black belt in June, won the American Nationals days later and, in August, took weight and open class at the San Diego Open.
Ághata Rabelo and the wins over Sarah Galvão
Ághata drops from middleweight to lightweight. Her main result of 2026 came at the American Nationals: after a bronze in her weight class, where she was submitted by Eliza Nascimento, she entered the open class, beat Sarah Galvão on points in the semifinal and submitted Maca Vicentini in the final. It was her second win over Sarah at IBJJF tournaments.
She told VF Comunica that the prize weighs more than the opponent’s name: “Beating one specific athlete would not change the size of my name, and I know that from experience! I recently beat one of the most famous athletes of the moment and nothing changed. So winning the $20,000 is definitely worth more.”
Who moves up and who moves down
The Crown has only two female divisions, lightweight (up to 64 kg / 141.6 lb) and super heavyweight. As a result, the lightweight bracket mixes athletes from three weight classes. Elisabeth Clay and Ághata come from middleweight. Clay, a no-gi world champion in four seasons, had three middleweight finals against Lillian Marchand in 2026, winning at the Brazilian Nationals and losing at the Pans and the Worlds. At last year’s Crown, also at lightweight, she lost in the quarterfinals to Bianca Basílio, 7-4.
Going the other way, Sabrina and Keanna Klay move up from featherweight. Keanna, in her first year as a black belt, took bronze at the Pans and the Brazilian Nationals at featherweight and, in July, already at lightweight, won weight and open class at the Asian Championship. In September, she also won Jiu-Jitsu CON in her new division. See the IBJJF weight class chart.
The spot still open
Of the eight athletes who competed in the Crown’s lightweight bracket in 2025, only three return: Janaína, Clay and Sabrina. Sarah Galvão, last year’s champion and winner of the Europeans, Pans and Brazilian Nationals in 2026, is not on the list, and the IBJJF has not said whether she is out. One spot remains.
How The Crown works
The Crown reaches its fourth edition with 48 invited athletes, split into six brackets of eight, all decided on the same night. To take the title and the US$ 20,000 paid to the champion of each division, an athlete has to win three matches.
VF Comunica’s coverage of The Crown is presented by Kingz.
Read also: Sabrina Gondim enters The Crown and may get a rematch with Janaína Lebre and Anabel Lopez is confirmed at super heavyweight.
In your opinion, who is the favorite in the women’s lightweight at the 2026 Crown?
