IBJJF Weight Classes Explained: Gi, No-Gi, and What Changes at Masters

The first time I registered for an IBJJF tournament I picked my division off a chart I found on a forum, in shorts, on my bathroom scale, three weeks out. Then I stood in the bullpen in a heavy pearl weave gi and a belt and watched the scale land two pounds higher than the number I had planned my whole camp around. I made it. Barely. The guy behind me did not, and he had flown in from two states over.

That is the thing nobody tells you about IBJJF weight classes: the numbers themselves are simple, and almost everyone who gets burned gets burned by the rules around the numbers instead. So here are both — the full charts, and the four rules that actually decide whether you compete.

IBJJF weight classes for adult and masters men (gi)

These are the caps you weigh in under, wearing your gi jacket, pants and belt. The kilogram figure is the one the IBJJF publishes; the pound figure is the conversion, and at a US event the scale is usually reading pounds — so give yourself margin rather than trusting a rounded number.

Division	Limit (kg)	Limit (lbs)
Rooster	57.5	127.0
Light Feather	64.0	141.6
Feather	70.0	154.6
Light	76.0	168.0
Middle	82.3	181.6
Medium Heavy	88.3	195.0
Heavy	94.3	208.0
Super Heavy	100.5	222.1
Ultra Heavy	no limit	no limit

There is also the Open Class, usually called the absolute — no weight limit, anyone can enter, and it runs alongside the weight brackets at most events for blue belt and up.

The no-gi limits are lower, and the division names are the same

This is the single most common registration mistake I see from guys who train both. Same names, different numbers:

Division	Limit (kg)	Limit (lbs)
Rooster	55.5	122.5
Light Feather	61.5	136.0
Feather	67.5	149.0
Light	73.5	162.5
Middle	79.5	175.5
Medium Heavy	85.5	188.5
Heavy	91.5	202.0
Super Heavy	97.5	215.5
Ultra Heavy	no limit	no limit

Every no-gi cap is roughly 4–6 lbs below the gi cap of the same name, which is exactly what a gi weighs. The federation is not making no-gi harder; it is holding your actual body weight constant across the two rulesets. A 172 lb body is a gi Light and a no-gi Middle. Both are correct.

If you have never weighed your own kit, do it before you register. My competition gi with the belt runs 4.6 lbs; a friend’s heavy 550gsm gi runs 6.8. That two-pound spread is the difference between comfortable and disqualified. A lighter competition gi is a legitimate piece of equipment planning — see our gi buyer’s guide and the sizing guide by brand if you are shopping with weigh-ins in mind.

Masters divisions: same weights, different bracket

Here is what surprises most people who come back to competition in their forties. The IBJJF splits you by age and belt and weight, but the masters weight caps are identical to the adult ones. A Masters 3 Middle is under 82.3 kg, same as an Adult Middle. Age gives you a softer field, not a softer scale.

The age brackets, based on your age in the competition year:

• Adult — 18 to 29
• Master 1 — 30 to 35
• Master 2 — 36 to 40
• Master 3 — 41 to 45
• Master 4 — 46 to 50
• Master 5 — 51 to 55
• Master 6 — 56 to 60
• Master 7 — 61 and up

Two practical notes. First, you can register up into the adult division if you want harder matches, but you cannot register down — a 44-year-old is not eligible for Master 1. Second, masters matches are shorter than adult matches at the same belt. The exact clock varies by masters bracket and belt, so read the rulebook for your specific event rather than assuming, but plan your gas tank around a shorter, sharper match.

If this is your first masters bracket, our masters competition guide covers what actually changes in the bullpen at 40-plus, and the first tournament guide covers the logistics side.

The weigh-in rule that ends more tournaments than any submission

IBJJF does not weigh you the day before. There is no hotel scale, no press conference, no 24 hours to rehydrate. You weigh in inside the bullpen, in full competition uniform, minutes before your first match. One attempt. Over the cap and you are disqualified — no bracket move, no refund, no rematch.

That single rule should reshape how you plan. You cannot cut and recover, so anything you strip off in the morning is coming out of your performance at 11am. What works instead is boring:

• Weigh your full kit at home — jacket, pants, belt — and write the number down.
• Pick the division your normal body weight plus that number fits under.
• Train the last two weeks 3 lbs under the cap, not at it. Water, breakfast and a sweat-damp gi all eat into the margin.
• Do not eat a big meal in the parking lot. I have watched people gain a pound and a half between the car and the scale.

Picking a division when you are over 40

My honest position, and it is not the popular one: if you are a masters competitor with a job and a family, do not cut weight at all. Compete at what you walk around at, plus the gi. Being one bracket up costs you far less than showing up dehydrated with no grip strength and a nervous system that has been running on empty for four days.

Recovery capacity is the thing that narrows with age, and a cut is a direct tax on it. That is the same reason we push a slower ramp in how often to train after 40. If your weight is genuinely drifting and you want to change it, do it in the off-season through everyday nutrition rather than in a hotel sauna the night before — and if you want a rough sense of what a session actually burns, the free BJJ calculators will give you a starting number.

Strategically, the bracket you land in matters less than how you plan to win in it. Going up a division means giving away size, which is a solvable problem — rolling with bigger opponents and the positional, low-scramble approach in old man jiu-jitsu both exist for exactly this.

Women’s divisions run on the same system, with eight brackets

Adult and masters women use the same division names from Rooster up, but stop at Super Heavy — there is no women’s Ultra Heavy, so Super Heavy is the open-ended top bracket. The gi caps run 48.5 / 53.5 / 58.5 / 64 / 69 / 74 / 79.3 kg, with the no-gi numbers again sitting a few pounds lower. We keep the detail on a separate page: women’s BJJ weight divisions and how weigh-ins work.

Other federations use different numbers entirely

“I’m a Light” only means something inside IBJJF. Two you will run into:

• ADCC runs five weight classes per gender plus an absolute — men at 66, 77, 88, 99 and over 99 kg — with far bigger gaps between brackets, and it uses a day-before weigh-in, so competitors show up meaningfully heavier than their listed weight.
• UAEJJF runs seven brackets for adult men (56, 62, 69, 77, 85, 94, 110 kg), close to IBJJF but not the same.

Local shows make up their own. Always read the specific event’s rules page before you pay, not after.

The IBJJF also revises its rulebook periodically. The tables above reflect the current published divisions, but the federation’s own rulebook at ibjjf.com is the only source that is authoritative on the day you compete — check it during registration.

Frequently asked questions

Do you weigh in with your gi on at IBJJF tournaments?

Yes. At IBJJF gi events you weigh in wearing your full competition gi — jacket, pants and belt — inside the bullpen, minutes before your first match. You get one attempt, and going over the limit means disqualification with no refund and no move to another bracket. At no-gi events the same rule applies wearing your rash guard and shorts, which is why the no-gi caps are set lower.

Are IBJJF masters weight classes different from adult weight classes?

No. Masters divisions use exactly the same weight limits as the adult divisions. A Masters 3 Middle and an Adult Middle share the same 82.3 kg gi cap. What changes with a masters bracket is the age of your opponents and the length of the match, not the number on the scale.

What age is Masters 3 in the IBJJF?

Masters 3 covers competitors aged 41 to 45. The full ladder runs Master 1 at 30 to 35, Master 2 at 36 to 40, Master 3 at 41 to 45, Master 4 at 46 to 50, Master 5 at 51 to 55, Master 6 at 56 to 60, and Master 7 at 61 and up. You can register up into a younger bracket if you want tougher matches, but never down.

Can you enter two weight classes at the same IBJJF tournament?

You cannot enter two different weight brackets, but you can enter your weight class plus the open weight or absolute division at events that offer one. The absolute has no weight limit and is usually open to blue belt and above, so it is the standard way to get extra matches at a single event.

Next step: if you have picked your bracket and you are registering for a masters division, read our masters competition guide before you build your camp — it covers the things that change about competing once you are training around a body that needs more recovery, not less.

General information for competitors, not medical or nutritional advice. If you are considering changing your weight for a tournament, talk to a qualified professional first — and see our BJJ after 40 hub for how we think about training load at this age.