Today, we are looking at the top 5 grapplers to look out for right now. This list is full of underrated, highly skilled BJJ grapplers, ranging from established champions to rising stars on the verge of a breakout. It's an exciting time to be a BJJ fan, so let's dive into what makes these grapplers so special.

1. Mica Galvao

Micael Ferreira Galvão is a 22-year-old BJJ legend. His father is Melqui Galvao, a black belt in jiu-jitsu, and he taught BJJ to his son at a very young age. Mica has been dominating BJJ ever since he has been able to compete. Mica won the 2024 ADCC championship and will be defending his title in Krakow this September.

During his career, he has won many championships; some of his most impressive ones include:

• WNO Champion
• ADCC Champion
• IBJJF World Champion
• IBJJF Pan Champion

Mica Galvão has made #1 on this list simply due to his legacy and his prevalence in the current BJJ scene. He's also called out Pedro Marinho to challenge him for his light heavyweight title. If he were able to pull this off, this would be an unprecedented feat at his age.

2. Max Hanson

Max Hanson is a 28-year-old Canadian BJJ Menace. Training under Dante Leon at Adamas, he has been a top pick ever since he won two bronze medals at IBJJF World No-Gi and Pan No-Gi as a brown belt. Afterwards, he was promoted to black belt by Leon in December 2022. This year, he reached the finals at the 2026 ADCC West Coast Trials, beating Michael Liera, but lost the final to Michael Sainz by decision.

Max Hanson is one of the best BJJ athletes in the world right now; his most impressive achievements include:

• IBJJF Pan Champion
• Enigma Invitational Champion
• IBJJF American Nationals Champion
• ADCC East Coast Trials Runner-up

Max Hanson made #2 on this list because of his overall consistency in his career and an impressive track record. He is actively participating in tournaments and even does tutorials on his private Patreon.

3. Gavin Corbe

Gavin Corbe, aged 26, has been competing in Jiu-Jitsu since a young age. He is often overshadowed by his older brother Deandre. Gavin is a very interesting grappler because he and his brother are in the same weight class and often are pitted against each other. He has lost multiple times to his brother, but he should not be underestimated and is still a very good grappler.

He is very accomplished in BJJ and his most popular achievements include:

• CJI 2 participant
• Win over Owen Jones at WNO 30
• ADCC West Coast Trials bronze
• ADCC East Coast Trials Runner-up

Gavin Corbe makes this list because he is very early in his career and still competes at a very high level. Recently, he has quit his day job to focus solely on BJJ, and you should expect to see much more of him in the future.

4. Lawson Grime

Lawson Grime is one of the hottest upcomers in BJJ currently. Aged 22, he's already won multiple gold medals at regionals and actively competes in ADCC Opens. Just like Max Hanson, Lawson Grime trains at Adamas and is a very seasoned competitor.

His biggest accomplishments include:

• Multiple regional no-gi gold medals
• Multiple ADCC Open medals
• ADCC West Coast Trials participant
• Multiple IBJJF Open medals

Lawson Grime is quite possibly the most interesting competitor on this list. He is young for his accomplishments and is very underrated. Although not super well-known, you should remember his name because he is gaining traction fast.

5. Landon Elmore

Landon Elmore is a 19-year-old BJJ up-and-comer trained under Gordon Ryan at Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu (formerly New Wave Jiu-Jitsu). His performance in EBI 25: The Lightweights in San Antonio was jaw-dropping — then-18-year-old Landon submitted all four of his opponents. That gave him the spark he needed to kickstart his career.

The youngest person on this list, however, has many accomplishments:

• EBI 25 Champion
• Submitted Bryce Mitchell
• UFC BJJ veteran
• Trains under Gordon Ryan

Since his victory in EBI 25, which guaranteed him a spot on UFC BJJ 3 on October 2nd, 2025, he carried his momentum into 2026. Unfortunately, he lost to Rerisson Gabriel in February of 2026 at UFC BJJ 5. Still, he deserves a good look and is still extremely young in his career.

Conclusion

That wraps up our current list of grapplers to keep an eye on this year. The sport keeps getting more competitive, with established champions and hungry newcomers clashing more often, and the gap between them shrinking fast. Whoever rises to the top, it's shaping up to be an exciting year for BJJ fans.