First International BJJ Tournament

The first major international BJJ tournament outside Brazil was held in the United States in the mid-1990s. Events such as the Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Championship (established in 1995) brought Brazilian athletes abroad to face a growing pool of international competitors. These early tournaments marked the beginning of BJJ’s global competitive circuit, setting the stage for the worldwide boom that followed.

The success of the Pans and later the Worlds moving to California highlighted the art’s international shift. As more practitioners outside Brazil embraced the sport, the competitive scene diversified, and athletes from the U.S., Europe, and Asia began to challenge Brazilian dominance. These first international tournaments demonstrated that BJJ was no longer just a Brazilian phenomenon but a global one.