Ffion Eira Davies - 2022 ADCC World Champion & Welsh Grappler

1. Ffion Davies Details

2. Ffion Davies Biography

Ffion Davies was born in Swansea, Wales on 18 January 1995. Ffion Davies is a big name in the grappling world who won various World Championships under coach Darragh O’Conaill. She started her martial art career as a Judo competitor and then transitioned towards grappling and started BJJ with sheer determination and commitment.   

2.1. Elite Female Competitor Under Featherweight Division

Ffion Davies is an elite featherweight BJJ competitor who took a short period to reach the high rankings in grappling. She competed in all major championships like IBJJF, ADCC, and European Open. She appeared in both Gi and NoGi tournaments.     

2.2. Athletic Childhood

From her early childhood, Ffion loved to participate in sports. She appeared in Rugby and Judo. At the tender age of 8, she started playing judo with her brother and ended up as a great judo competitor. 

2.3. Extremely Shy Kid

Ffion Davies was an extremely shy kid at school. She mentioned that when she did not speak a single word, her mother motivated her to join Judo. Judo gave her confidence. Every day she learned something new which uplifted her confidence.

2.4. Has an Athletic Background

Her interest diverted towards Judo as some of her family members used to practice Judo. Both of her parents have practiced judo and supported her throughout her martial art journey. She mentioned that it was her mother who motivated her to join judo. She gave her the freedom to join any field she wanted to.

When she joined the gym, she was the only girl who was doing Jiu-Jitsu full-time. Being a girl, she faced a lot of hurdles in combat sports. But her mother motivated and supported her to follow her dream.     

2.5. Achievements in Judo

Ffion’s love for martial arts also took her to judo competitions. She competed in the Welsh and British Open in the junior divisions. She won both tournaments and earned a name in Judo.

2.6. Issues with Judo

Ffion did not find a strong friendship bond with anyone in her Judo career. These problems in her judo career separated her from judo despite her success in tournaments.

At the age of 17, she once again joined judo but could not continue her ways in this sport and left Judo.      

2.7. Diverted to MMA

She left judo but her love for martial arts was not affected at all. She wanted to do something which is similar to judo. At the age of 18, she joined an MMA gym. There she found Jiu-Jitsu which was similar to judo with fewer restrictions. She fell in love with BJJ. 

2.8. Inspired by Ronda Rousey

She was inspired by an MMA artist, Ronda Rousey who started with judo and ended up being an MMA Champion. Ffion joined the BJJ gym following the footsteps of Ronda Rousey. She said in an interview that she wanted to be like Ronda Rousey.   

2.9. Focused on No-Gi

She wanted to do something new. So she started with No-Gi. But with time, she also fell in love with Gi competitions. Till now, she had won various Gi and No-Gi Competitions. 

2.10. Chris Rees as her First BJJ Coach

When started BJJ, she found Chris Rees as her first BJJ coach. Chris Rees was the BJJ pioneer in Swansea. Ffion affiliated with Chris Rees till her Purple Belt.  

2.11. Joined East Coast BJJ Academy in Cardiff

Ffion Davies joined East Coast BJJ Academy during her purple belt level. Despite joining the main branch in Ireland, she joined CF24 which is a branch in Cardiff because she has created a bond with the co-owner of CF24. 

2.12. Relocated to Dublin

After her breakup with her partner, she decided to join East Coast BJJ Academy in Dublin, Ireland under Darragh O’Conaill. She enjoyed her experience in Dublin and decided to extend her stay in Dublin. She won various championships under the guidance and coaching of Darragh O’Conaill.     

2.13. Became World Champion in a Short Time Period

She started her BJJ journey in 2013. The next five years took her to the heights of fame and she won a high rank in the grappling world. It took her just five years to achieve her goals. 

2.14. Energy Level Issues Due to Hormonal Bar

Ffion Davies mentioned that a hormonal bar was implanted in her body when she was 16 years old. She was unaware of the fact that hormonal influences with this contraceptive can affect her performance.

Later, she removed it and found a much-improved energy level. Furthermore, she found it easier to get leaner after removing it.   

2.15. A Very Diet Conscious Athlete

Ffion Davies is a vegan. She mentioned that she avoids animal food due to environmental reasons. She found it difficult to reschedule her complete diet plan to become vegetarian. 

2.16. Ffion Davies MMA Career

In 2013, when Ffion Davies found MMA and started training in the gym, she competed in 3 amateurs and one pro tournament and won all MMA tournaments. But she found BJJ more interesting and pursued her career in BJJ.

“When Covid happened and everything was shutting down, MMA was still going. Everything closed but somehow Cagefighting managed to keep going. That intrigued me again as I’ve been watching more MMA and stuff. I did a couple of striking classes, enjoyed it and yeah, I don’t know, I might. I’ll see how it goes if I can tolerate being punched in the face, or learn to dodge.”
(Ffion Davies)

She also Expressed:
“I’m very far away from that point. I’m very much of the mindset that it’s a completely different sport and you can’t just wander in there and start winning or do well. I think sometimes, not just Jiu-Jitsu people but it can apply to any martial art I suppose, people just think: “Oh, I can hop into MMA and make a bunch of money.” If I was going to do it, I would take it very seriously. I want to be very good and rounded, obviously grappling is going to be my strong suit but I wouldn’t want to go in there thinking: “I know, I’ll just dodge getting punched, take them down and submit them.” I don’t want it to be like that, I want it to be something I take seriously and do because I’m passionate about it, not because of ulterior motives.”

Year	Event	Opponent	W/L/D	Method	Round	Time
2014	SnA 18-Shock n Awe 18	Jade Barker	W	Submission (Kimura)	R1	2:41
2015	UI 14	Laura Handy	W	Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)	R1	N/A
2015	M4tC 16 - Invasion	Marinca Victoria Vidal	W	TKO	R1	0:49
2015	Macto Championships	Fruzsina Nagy	W	TKO (Punches)	R1	1:14

2.17. Ffion Davies BJJ Pro Combats

Promoted to Blue and Purple Belt

Ffion Davies got her Blue and Purple Belt from Chris Rees who was her first BJJ coach and pioneer of BJJ in Swansea, Wales. 

Promoted to Brown Belt

Ffion Davies was promoted to the Brown Belt division by Darragh O’Conaill in June 2017, when she was training in Dublin, Ireland. She was promoted to Brown Belt after winning a Gold medal in the ADCC European Trials and a Silver medal in IBJJF World Championship. 

Promoted to Black Belt

Ffion Davies was promoted to Black Belt by Darragh O’Conaill on 27 November 2018. 

Won Polaris Title Against a World Champion

After a fabulous performance in the World and European championships, Ffion Davies was invited to another big Championship, Polaris 9. In Polaris, Ffion faced Gezary Mauda who is a multiple times World and Pan-American Champion.

Ffion Davies won Polaris Title in the under 60 kg division by submitting Gezary with an Arm Triangle after an extraordinary all-round performance.   

Promoting Women's Fight Competitions

Ffion Davies spoke about the requirement of social media platforms for female fights in BJJ that can promote female matches on social media. She thought females who are making their career in fighting, have to fulfill their financial needs equally as men.

If you want to promote female fighting competitions and draw the attention of the public, it is necessary to generate hype which is only possible through social media.

First British Black Belt Lightweight World Champion

Ffion won the Title of the first Britain Lightweight World Champion 2022 by defeating Janaina Lebre in the final by points. She took down Janaina at the start of the match and scored two points. Janaina tried throughout the whole match to level these points but did not succeed.

Janaina showcased great sportsmanship. Ffion Davies did not let her escape and took her down in the whole match and won the title of World Champion.

Ffion Davies ADCC Journey

Ffion Davies turned the attention of the World by winning the ADCC gold medal in 2022 and became first Britain to win an ADCC Champion Title. She defeated  Bianna Ste Marie in the final by points.

Ffion Davies appeared in the ADCC championship thrice. Her first appearance in ADCC 2017 was not very good and she lost to Beatriz Mesquita by armbar in the first round. Her second-time competition in ADCC 2019 was also fabulous as she won the silver medal and became the first in Britain to earn a name in ADCC.

In 2022, she looked well-prepared and confident for the ADCC competition. She won all the fights in the tournament and earned the title of World champion twice in the year 2022 as she was also the 2022 IBJJF World champion.  

2.18. Ffion Started Training Under Jonathan JT Torres

JT Torres is a 2 times ADCC and No-Gi World Champion and is considered among the top BJJ coaches. JT started coaching in 2016 and started his Essential Jiu-Jitsu Academy in NY. Ffion Davies started training under JT Torres for his 2022 ADCC Championship.

2.19. Semifinal of 2022 ADCC: Ffion Vs. Beatriz Mesquita

Ffion Davies’ coach, JT Torres, was there all along, guiding and motivating her throughout the semifinal. It was one of the most anticipated matches of the 2022 ADCC.

Ffion started the match by pulling the guard, both fighters looked composed, confident and displayed supreme grappling skills.

Ffion swiftly transitioned to the arm bar but Beatriz managed to slip out of Lion's grip. The crowd loved the atmosphere, competitiveness, and entertainment of the semifinal.

Ffion maintained her aggressive offensive game and took down Beatriz in a very dominant manner and successfully got the back of Beatriz, got her both hooks in, and maintained a firm body lock. The time ended and Ffion won the semifinal by points.

After the win in the semifinal against Beatriz Mesquita, coach JT Torres embraced Ffion and said:

“Just one more to go (Final), just one more to go.”

Ffion faced Bianna Ste Marie in the final of the 2022 ADCC.

In her post-semifinal interview, Ffion said,
“I’ve been watching Bianna for a long time and I am really excited to fight her. It will be a very tough match, I think I am going to win, but it is a tough, tough fight.”

2.20. First British ADCC Champion

Final of 2022 ADCC Ffion Davies Vs. Bianna Ste Marie

Brianna Ste-Marie is the first Canadian grappler who won a silver medal in the ADCC championship.

Both Competitors showed great performance and elite grappling skills.

Ffion maintained her dominant fighting style of the semi-final and pinned down Biannaat at the start of the final then restricted her movement by putting both hooks in and trapping her arms. Bianna skillfully swept the position and the crowd echoed with applause.

In a very emotional state, Ffion embraced Bianna and acknowledged her skills, effort, and competitiveness. The crowd loved the winning aroma, coach JT Torres congratulated Ffion on creating history at the 2022 ADCC championship.

The Essential Jiu-Jitsu team celebrated the win of Ffion Davies. She became the first Britisher to win the Gold in ADCC Championship.

Ffion Davies achieved this title after trying three times in ADCC. Davies won this title by defeating Brianna Ste-Marie by points.  

2.21. Post Fight Interview after the 2022 ADCC Title Win

Coach Jonathan JT Torres, said,
“Her performance was amazing. She followed her game plan to a T (title). She was perfect at all her movements. She was focused and precise out there and that’s exactly what you need if you want to become an ADCC champion. One of the toughest tournaments in the world to win, if not the toughest, In my opinion. She went out there and handled her business and she brought back the World Title.” 

2.22. Ffion Davies IBJJF Ranking

According to the IBJJF ranking, Ffion Davies, a top-class competitor, increased the glory and stood at the 8th position with 475 points.

2.23. Online Courses by Ffion Davies

Ffion Davies is not only a great grappler but also works as an exceptional instructor and is famous for her instructional methods in her seminars. Furthermore, she also expands her efforts for BJJ by making instructional videos with the help of various BJJ platforms.

In her online courses, she is focusing on the fundamentals of guard passing, seated guard, how to dominate in various positions, how to control your opponent, how to deal with your opponent’s defense, and submission methods.

Her targeted audience is those who want to learn efficient guard passing techniques in No-Gi, and Gi and want to learn new strategies of guard passing. 

3. Ffion Davies Historic Fights

3.1. Ffion Davies Vs. Emilia Tuukkanen

In this fight, Ffion Davies faced Emilia Tauukkanen in Dublin Open 2018. At the start of the match, Emilia tried to take down Ffion but Ffion turned her back and took Emilia down and scored two points.

Ffion actively tried to put her in a turtle position. Then she managed to mount Emilia and tried to apply a Collar choke. Emilia struggled to escape but Ffion did not let her free.

At the end of the match, Ffion Davies submitted Emilia with a Reverse Triangle. 

3.2. Ffion Davies Vs. Patricia Caiado

This fight was between Ffion Davies and Patricia Caiado in European Open 2020 in the open weight class.

At the start of the match, Ffion Davies took 1 minute to take down Patricia Caiado and scored two points. Simultaneously after taking her down, Ffion mounted Patricia and put all weight on Patricia to submit her. But I could not get the submission.

Patricia tried to get free under Ffion’s weight but Ffion considered it an opportunity and took her back. At the end of the match, Ffion Davies submitted Patricia Caiado with RNC.   

3.3. Ffion Davies Vs. Gabriela Fechter

This match was between Ffion Davies and Gabriela Fechter in European Championship 2019. Both competitors showed great sportsmanship and showcased a high level of technical grappling skills. 

At the start of the match, Gabriela tried to take down Ffion but Ffion did not let her score any points and countered by pulling his foot. Ffion Davies fought with great spirit and mounted Gabriela. Gabriela struggled hard to escape but Ffion Davies did not let her get free.

Ffion overcame Gabriela with great struggle and Gabriela also countered strongly. Ffion managed to control the back and tried to grab her lapels. At the end of the match, Ffion Davies submitted Gabriela with a Collar Choke.     

4. Ffion Davies’s Main Achievements

4.1. Main Achievements in International Tournaments

Years	Events	Weight division
2016	IBJJF World No-Gi Championship	Lightweight
2016	IBJJF European Open	Absolute
2018	IBJJF World Championship	Lightweight
2018	IBJJF European Open No-Gi	Absolute
2018	ADCC European Trials	N/A
2018	IBJJF World Championship No-Gi	57kg and absolute
2019	IBJJF European Open	58kg
2019	CBJJ Brazilian Nationals	Featherweight
2019	UAEJJF Grand Slam	62kg
2020	IBJJF European Open	64 kg and absolute
2020	UAEJJF Grand Slam	62kg
2021	IBJJF World Championship NoGi	61kg
2022	ADCC World Championship	60kg

4.2. Ffion Davies’s Main Achievements in Black Belt

Year	Event	Belt	Position
2018	IBJJF World Championship NoGi	Black Belt	1st
2019	IBJJF European Open	Black Belt	1st
2019	CBJJ Brazilian National	Black Belt	1st
2019	UAEJJF Grand Slam, LDN	Black Belt	1st
2019	ADCC World Championship	Black Belt	2nd
2019	UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro	Black Belt	2nd
2020	IBJJF European Open	Black Belt	1st
2020	UAEJJF Grand Slam, LDN	Black Belt	1st
2021	IBJJF World Championship	Black Belt	1st
2022	ADCC World Championship	Black Belt	1st

4.3. Ffion Davies’s Main Achievements in Colored Belts

Year	Event	Belt	Position
2015	IBJJF European Open	Blue	1st
2016	IBJJF World NoGi Championship	Purple	1st
2016	IBJJF European Open	Purple	1st
2016	IBJJF World Championship	Purple	2nd
2017	IBJJF World Championship	Purple	2nd
2018	IBJJF World Championship	Brown	1st
2018	IBJJF European Open NoGi	Brown	1st
2018	ADCC European Open Trials	Brown	1st
2018	UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro	Brown	2nd
2018	IBJJF European Open	Brown	2nd

5. Ffion Davies Professional Record Breakdown

70 Matches	59 Wins	11 Losses
By Submissions	38	6
By Points	14	3
By Advantages	2	0
By Decision	5	2

5.1. Ffion Davies Submission Methods

Method	38 Wins	6 Losses
RNC	10	0
Choke From Back	6	0
Bow and Arrow	3	0
Kata Gatame	1	0
Reverse Triangle	1	1
Armbar	10	0
Submission	5	0
Triangle Armbar	1	0
Tarikoplata	1	0
Toe Hold	0	1
Kneebar	0	1
Straight Ankle Lock	0	1
Triangle	0	1
Guillotine	0	1

6. Ffion Davies Fight History

7. Ffion Davies Top Fight Links

Photo credit: @itsffionnotfiona