BJJ Weight Classes: IBJJF, NAGA, Fuji and ADCC Charts

Yes, BJJ has weight classes, and every major organization runs its own chart. The IBJJF weighs you in your gi seconds before your first match with zero allowance. NAGA lets you weigh in the night before in shorts with a pound to spare. Fuji gives you two pounds. Pick the wrong chart and you can find yourself standing on a scale in a soaked gi, a hundred grams over, watching your entry fee disappear.

Below are the current adult charts for the IBJJF, NAGA, Fuji and ADCC, plus how weigh-ins actually work and whether cutting weight for a jiu-jitsu tournament is ever worth it.

IBJJF Men's Gi Weight Classes

The IBJJF chart is the one most other gi tournaments copy, so it's worth knowing even if you never enter an IBJJF event. The key detail is that these limits include your gi. A thick competition gi can easily add a few pounds, so your real body weight needs to sit comfortably under the number.

Middle and Medium Heavy are usually the deepest brackets at adult level. If you walk around at 185 lb (84 kg) and wear a heavy gi, you're Medium Heavy whether you like it or not.

IBJJF Men's No-Gi Weight Classes

The no-gi side of the sport uses the same division names, but the limits drop by roughly 4 to 7 lb (2 to 3 kg) because you're weighing in wearing a rash guard and shorts instead of a gi.

IBJJF Women's Weight Classes

Women's divisions start lighter and stop at Super Heavy, which has no upper limit. These are the gi limits, again with the gi on.

Women's no-gi limits run about 4 to 6 lb (2 to 3 kg) under the gi numbers.

Check the IBJJF chart for your event before you register, because brackets at smaller opens are sometimes merged when only one or two women sign up.

NAGA Weight Classes

NAGA does things differently. US weight classes are set in pounds, mostly in 10 lb (4.5 kg) steps until the heavier classes, you weigh in without a gi even for gi divisions, and there's a 1 lb (0.45 kg) allowance. You can weigh in the night before or on the morning of the event, which takes a lot of the stress out of it. If you go same day, adults need to be on the scale 60 to 90 minutes before their division starts. You only weigh in once, even if you're doing gi and no-gi.

NAGA's European events run their own chart in kilograms, with 5 kg steps through the middle of the range.

NAGA also splits adult no-gi divisions by grappling experience instead of belt, and it counts everything: wrestling, judo and sambo all go on the tab.

• Novice: 6 months or less.
• Beginner: 6 months to 2 years.
• Intermediate: 2 to 5 years. Blue belts have to enter at least Intermediate.
• Expert: 5 years or more. Purple, brown and black belts have to enter Expert.

That's why a 170 lb (77 kg) guy with four months on the mats won't be thrown in with a 170 lb state-placing wrestler, at least on paper. If someone keeps winning Beginner, NAGA can bump them up a level, which is its answer to the sandbagger. Gi divisions go by belt as normal.

NAGA's age groups have their own names too: Adult (18 to 29), Master (30 to 39), Director (40 to 49) and Executive (50 and over). You can always drop down and enter a younger age group as well as your own. If nobody else signs up for your bracket, NAGA combines you with the next closest weight or age group.

Fuji Weight Classes

Fuji keeps it simple. The adult gi and no-gi charts are identical, they're set in round pounds, and you weigh in without your gi, so nobody's hunting for the lightest pearl weave in the shop the week before.

The steps are 10 lb (4.5 kg) at the light end and 15 lb (6.8 kg) from 150 lb up, so heavier guys have a bit more room than at NAGA. Fuji also allows 2 lb (0.9 kg) over the listed limit, and you can weigh in up to an hour before your division.

Fuji notes that divisions can change from event to event, so check the divisions tab on the Smoothcomp page for your tournament before you register.

ADCC Weight Classes

ADCC is no-gi only, and it runs two different charts. The World Championship and the Trials that qualify people for it use a handful of wide classes. Jumps of about 24 lb (11 kg) for men mean someone in every bracket is giving up real size, and you have to be over 16 to enter.

The ADCC Opens and national events, the ones most hobbyists actually sign up for, use a tighter chart with more classes. Adults are 18 and over, and Masters 1 starts at 35.

Like NAGA, ADCC Opens split divisions by grappling experience, and wrestling, judo and sambo all count: Beginner is under 2 years, Intermediate is 2 to 4 years, and Advanced and Professional are for people with more than 5 years.

Masters and Juvenile Divisions

Age divisions don't change the weight limits. A Master 3 Middle at the IBJJF has the same 181.6 lb (82.3 kg) cap as a 22-year-old adult Middle. What changes is who you're paired against and, often, how long the match is.

The IBJJF goes by the age you turn during the calendar year, not your age on the day. If you turn 30 in December, you can enter Master 1 in January.

NAGA and ADCC use their own age bands, covered in their sections above, and ADCC Masters start at 35 instead of 30.

Masters brackets are full of people who started BJJ in their 30s, 40s or later, and they're some of the most fun divisions to watch. Expect a lot of half guard, a lot of pressure and very little berimbolo.

How Weigh-Ins Actually Work

At an IBJJF event you check in at the bullpen, step on the scale in your gi (or rash guard and shorts for no-gi), and then walk straight onto the mat. One attempt. No allowance. If you're over, you're out, and there's no refund.

That last-minute weigh-in is the reason you'll see guys skipping rope in the warm-up area in a full gi, and someone else frantically borrowing a lighter gi from a teammate. Don't be either of those people. Two habits fix almost every weigh-in disaster:

• Weigh yourself in your competition gi a week out, at the same time of day you'll compete. Dry gi, then wet gi after training, so you know the difference.
• Bring a lighter backup gi. A lightweight BJJ gi in the 250 to 450 GSM range can be noticeably lighter than the heavy one you train in, and that difference has saved plenty of people at the scale.

NAGA and Fuji are more forgiving, with weight allowances and gi-off weigh-ins, but the habit of knowing your exact competition weight is worth building early.

Should You Cut Weight for a BJJ Tournament?

For your first few tournaments, no. Compete at your walking-around weight.

Wrestlers and MMA fighters cut weight because they weigh in the day before and have hours to rehydrate. The IBJJF weighs you in minutes before your first match. If you dehydrate yourself to make weight, you step on the mat dry, flat and gassed in the first minute. Every gym has a story about the guy who sat in his car with the heater on all morning, made weight by a hair, and got swept in 30 seconds.

If you're more than a couple of pounds over the line, move up a division. If you want to drop a class, do it slowly over a six-week comp prep block with normal food and normal water, not with a sauna suit the night before.

The exception is NAGA and other day-before weigh-ins, where a small, sensible cut of a pound or two is common among experienced competitors. Even then, being a bit lighter rarely beats being fresh.

The Open Class (Absolute)

The open class, or absolute, is the no-weight-limit bracket. Anyone of the right belt and age can enter, which is how you end up with a 140 lb (63.5 kg) featherweight staring up at a 230 lb (104 kg) ultra heavy. It's where the "jiu-jitsu lets the small guy beat the big guy" story gets tested, and sometimes it even comes true.

At bigger IBJJF events, the open class is usually only available to people who also entered a weight division that day. For a first tournament, skip it. Get your weight division done, see how your body feels, and save the absolute for when you're chasing a bigger challenge.

When you're ready to pick an event, browse the upcoming BJJ tournaments near you and check which rule set and weight chart each one uses. Weight is only one piece of getting ready for your first BJJ competition, but it's the one that can end your day before it starts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does BJJ have weight classes?

Yes. Every major BJJ tournament has weight classes, and most also run an open class with no weight limit. The exact limits depend on the organization.

Do you weigh in with your gi on?

At the IBJJF, yes. Your gi is part of your weight. At NAGA you weigh in without a gi, even for gi divisions. Fuji also weighs you in without the gi.

What happens if you miss weight?

At the IBJJF you're disqualified from that division with no refund. NAGA and Fuji give small allowances and will sometimes move you to the next division up instead.

What weight class am I in?

Weigh yourself in your competition gear at the time of day you'll compete, then find the first division whose limit is above that number. If you're within a pound of the line at the IBJJF, go up a class.

Are women's and men's weight classes different?

Yes. Women's divisions start lighter (IBJJF Rooster is 107 lb (48.5 kg) with the gi) and have fewer classes at the top, ending at Super Heavy with no upper limit.