Pawel Jaworski: 8 Submissions, Double Gold and the Heel Hooks Behind the 2026 IBJJF No-Gi Euros

Quick answer: Pawel Jaworski is a 22-year-old Polish Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from Academia Gorila. At the 2026 IBJJF No-Gi European Championship (28 October to 1 November, Lido di Ostia, Italy), he won the 85 kg division and the open class by submitting all eight opponents, and every finish from the quarterfinals on was an inside or outside heel hook. He is also the 2026 ADCC 88 kg world champion.

If you follow no-gi grappling, Pawel Jaworski is the name you have probably seen all over your feed this week. At the 2026 IBJJF No-Gi European Championship, Pawel Jaworski won his weight class and the open class, and every one of his eight matches ended with a tap. No points, no referee decisions, no scraping by on an advantage. This guide covers who he is, what happened in Italy, which submissions did the work, why heel hooks decide so many no-gi matches now, and what everyday grapplers can take from it.

Pawel Jaworski (born 23 June 2004 in Mława, Poland) is a Polish Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who represents Academia Gorila. He is the 2026 ADCC world champion at 88 kg, the first Polish athlete to win an ADCC world title, and an IBJJF No-Gi world champion who has also won the No-Gi Pan and European titles. At the 2026 Euros, Pawel Jaworski went eight for eight by submission and left Italy with double gold.

Pawel Jaworski was born in Mława, Poland, and trains with the Academia Gorila team in Warsaw, which is led by Marcin Polczyk. Pawel Jaworski earned his black belt under Jędrzej Loska and Marcin Polczyk. Pawel Jaworski climbed fast: by the age of 21 he had already won the European No-Gi title at purple, brown and black belt.

Here is his recent run, in order:

• October 2025, IBJJF No-Gi Pans: gold at 85 kg, bronze in the open class
• November 2025, IBJJF No-Gi Euros: gold at 85 kg and in the open class, with seven submissions in nine matches
• Late 2025, IBJJF No-Gi Worlds: gold at 85 kg, silver in the open class
• Mid-2026, Brasileiro No-Gi: double gold, with heel hooks in both finals
• September 2026, ADCC World Championship in Kraków, Poland: gold at 88 kg, Poland's first ADCC world title
• 4 October 2026, IBJJF No-Gi Pans: double gold
• 1 November 2026, IBJJF No-Gi Euros: double gold, eight submissions in eight matches

Pawel Jaworski is also more complete than the leg-lock label suggests. At the 2026 Pans, Pawel Jaworski won the 85 kg title with a heel hook in the semifinal and a triangle choke in the final, then took the open class through a knee bar, a heel hook and a Z-lock before a referee decision in the final. Leg locks are the headline weapon of Pawel Jaworski, but they are not the only one.

The tournament that Pawel Jaworski dominated ran from 28 October to 1 November 2026 in Lido di Ostia, on the coast near Rome. Pawel Jaworski entered two black belt brackets: medium-heavyweight (85 kg) and the open class. He won both. In the 85 kg final he submitted Pier Paolo Chiappe of Cohab Chile, and in the open-class final he submitted Marcelo Fausto de Abreu of CheckMat.

Eight submissions in eight matches is the part that got the jiu-jitsu world talking. A 100 percent submission rate across two brackets is rare at any level, and rarer still against black belts. It improved on the seven submissions in nine matches Pawel Jaworski logged at the 2025 Euros. It was also a team result: Academia Gorila finished first in the adult male team ranking with 64 points and first in the adult female ranking with 52, helped by Martyna Kapuscinska's own double gold.

Short answer: heel hooks. From the quarterfinals onward, every finish Pawel Jaworski scored was an inside or outside heel hook, so the submissions of Pawel Jaworski in Italy read like a leg-lock lesson.

The other two submissions came in the early rounds. Six of his eight finishes were heel hooks that we can confirm round by round, three inside and three outside, which tells you how much of the game of Pawel Jaworski is built around leg entanglements.

The Euros gold also completed a bigger goal. Before the event, the IBJJF said Pawel Jaworski needed the 85 kg title in Rome to become its first No-Gi Grand Slam champion for the 2025-2026 season, and he took it.

Both are twisting leg locks that attack the knee by rotating the foot, and both only work after you control the leg. The difference is mostly the entanglement used to trap it. The inside heel hook is commonly set up from the saddle (also called inside sankaku), while the outside heel hook is commonly set up from positions such as 50/50 or the outside ashi. If you want a full breakdown of the mechanics, our guide to the heel hook as a leg-lock submission covers the variations and how to apply them.

One warning matters more than any technique detail: heel hooks injure knees fast. Tap early, tap often, and only drill them with partners you trust.

For years, the IBJJF did not allow heel hooks at any belt level. That changed in 2021, when the federation began allowing heel hooks and knee reaping for brown and black belts in no-gi competition. The gi ruleset did not change, so heel hooks are still off the table in gi matches. Rules for lower belts have been stricter, so always check the current IBJJF rulebook for your division before you compete.

That rule change reshaped no-gi at the top level. Once leg locks became legal, leg entanglements became a core part of the sport instead of a side project, and athletes who had trained them for years suddenly had an advantage in the biggest tournaments. Pawel Jaworski is one of the clearest examples. Pawel Jaworski turns a scramble into a leg entry quickly, controls the heel, and finishes before the opponent can build a defense.

The IBJJF, or International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, runs the sport's biggest championships, including the World Championship, the Pan Championship and the European Championship. Each of those events has gi and no-gi versions.

No-gi jiu-jitsu is grappling without the kimono. You wear a rash guard and shorts instead, so there are no sleeve or lapel grips. That makes the pace faster and the control more athletic, and it is a big reason leg locks and wrestling-style scrambles dominate. In the gi, the jacket and pants give you handles for sweeps, chokes and slower grip fights. Many gi grapplers still wear a rash guard under the jacket, and our guide on what to wear under your BJJ gi explains why.

You do not need to be a world champion to take something from the run of Pawel Jaworski.

Learn to control position first. Leg locks work when the opponent is stuck, and getting there takes clean transitions. Our breakdown of top BJJ positional transitions is a good place to build that base.

Pick one entry and drill it until it is boring. The results of Pawel Jaworski show a repeatable approach, not a highlight reel. Choose one leg entry, learn its finish, and get your reps in before adding another.

Respect the risk. Heel hooks are fast and the injuries can be serious, so slow rounds and quick taps are what keep you on the mat.

Wear gear that stays put. In no-gi, a snug rash guard stops fabric from riding up and gives your opponent less to snag during scrambles. If you are building a no-gi kit, start with our BJJ no-gi rash guards, and read our guide to the best no-gi rash guard for sweat wicking and quick drying if you want help choosing. For the bottom half, our list of BJJ spats and no-gi shorts covers the options.