Ffion Davies

Ffion Davies (born 18 January 1995) is a Welsh submission grappler and mixed martial artist. She is a multiple winner of the IBJJF World Championship, including the no-gi championship in 2023 in both the 61 kg and absolute divisions.

Davies is the first lightweight athlete to win double gold at the No-Gi World Championship, the first British/Welsh black belt world champion (in both gi and no-gi), the first European to win the Brazilian Nationals, the lightest-ever competitor to win the IBJJF European absolute division, and the first British/Welsh ADCC World Champion.

A member of Wales national judo team when she was a junior, Davies holds a black belt in both BJJ and judo.

Early life

Ffion Eira Davies was born on 18 January 1995 in Swansea, Wales. She started playing rugby then switched to judo at the age of 8 starting competing extensively, Davies became a Welsh and British Open judo champion in the junior division and was selected into the Welsh National Judo team.

Career

Early career

After leaving judo during her teenage years Davies started MMA in 2013 alongside Brett Johns, Davies won her first four MMA fights by first round submission, then decided to focus on learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu; she trained under Chris Rees, the first Welsh black belt in jiu-jitsu, receiving her blue belt from him at his Academy in Swansea.
In 2015, competing under Gracie Barra as a blue belt, she won her first European Championship in the Lightweight division. After attending seminars of black belt Darragh O’Conail, Davies moved to Dublin, to start training at East Coast Jiu-Jitsu. On 27 November 2018 O’Conaill promoted her to black belt.

Black belt career

2018–2019: IBJJF World No-Gi Champion, European Champion, Pan Am Champion

A month after receiving her belt, Davies won double gold at the Dublin International Open (Feather and Open Class) followed by gold at the World No-Gi Championship becoming the first black belt from the UK to win that tournament. At the start of 2019 she won the European Championship, the Polaris Grappling Invitational, the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam London, and then became Pan American Champion after winning Gold in California. A month later, Davies won the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship (known as Brasileiros) becoming the first European to win, and then winning Bronze at the 2019 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship (known as Mundials).

At the 2019 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, she won Silver after submitting the tournament's favourite Bia Mesquita in the semi-final, in what has been called "one of the most shocking upsets in jiu-jitsu history" she was invited to compete at the 2022 ADCC World Championship as a result. She returned to the UK to win the British National followed by the Berlin International Open Championship in November.

2020–2021: Third European and second World No-Gi championship titles

In 2020, Davies won double gold at the European Championship in the Lightweight division and in Open Class, beating the Super-Heavyweight Champion Jessica Flowers, becoming the lightest grappler to win the European absolute division. After returning to the UK she won another Abu Dhabi Grand Slam London. In 2021, she won the World No-Gi championship for the second time in her weight division. At the 2022 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship Davies won silver after being defeated by Nathalie Ribeiro in the final, both competitors were praised for their sportsmanship following the match, after congratulating her opponent Davies posted: "We all have the same goal and will likely all have our moment. Don’t dull anyone else’s shine."

2022: IBJJF World Champion, ADCC Submission Fighting World Champion

In early 2022, Davies started training at Essential Jiu Jitsu (an Atos affiliated academy), under the coaching of JT Torres. In June 2022 Davies won the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the Lightweight division, becoming the first Welsh and British black belt jiu-jitsu world champion. At the 2022 ADCC World Championship Davies became the first Welsh and British Submission Fighting world champion after submitting Adele Fornarino in the first round, defeating Bia Mesquita 6-0 in the semi-final, and Brianna Ste-Marie by a score of 10-0 in the final.

2023: Second IBJJF World title

Davies competed in the women's under 66 kg ''Grand Prix'' at Polaris 23 on March 11, 2023. Davies defeated Giovanna Jara in the opening round before being submitted by the eventual champion Elisabeth Clay in the semi-final.

On March 26, 2023, Davies won a silver medal in the lightweight division of the 2023 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship. On 4 June 2023, Davies won the IBJJF World Championship for the second time, in the lightweight division.

Davies was booked to defend her WNO flyweight title against Jasmine Rocha at Who's Number One on August 10, 2023. She won the match by unanimous decision and successfully defended the title.

Davies won both the lightweight and the absolute division at the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship 2023, becoming the first European to win the absolute division and the first to win two gold medals at the same edition of the tournament.

2024

Davies competed against Luana Pinheiro in the co-main event of ADXC 2 on January 19, 2024. She won the match by submission in the first round. Davies was then scheduled to defend her flyweight title against Amanda Alequin at Who's Number One 22 on February 9, 2024, but she withdrew from the match due to undisclosed reasons.

Davies defended her under 55 kg title against Brianna Ste-Marie at Polaris 27 on March 23, 2024. She won the match by decision and retained her title. She then competed in the main event of Subversion 5: Reign against Nikki Lloyd-Griffiths for the promotion's inaugural featherweight title on April 6, 2024. She won the match by submission and became the champion.

Davies faced Morgan Black in a bantamweight submission grappling match in the co-main event of ADXC 4 on May 18, 2024. She won the match by submission.

Davies was originally scheduled to compete in the 2024 ADCC World Championship, but she left in order to compete at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational on August 16 and 17, 2024 instead. She faced Mackenzie Dern in a superfight after Dern also left the 2024 ADCC World Championship. Davies won the match by submission with an armbar.

2025

Davies was scheduled to face Adele Fornarino in the main event of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 on March 6, 2025. The match was cancelled when Davies suffered a shoulder injury in training. The match was later rebooked for UFC Fight Pass Invitational 11 on May 29, 2025. It was also announced that Davies had signed an exclusive contract with UFC Fight Pass.

Davies will serve as the captain for Team Europe in the first female Squads event at Polaris 32 on June 28, 2025.

Competitive summary

Main achievements at black belt level:
* 2 x IBJJF World Champion (2022 / 2023)
* 2X IBJJF World No-Gi champion (2018/2021)
* ADCC Submission Fighting World Champion (2022)
* 3X IBJJF European Open champion (2019/2020)
* 1X CBJJ Brazilian Nationals champion (2019)
* 1X Pan American Championship champion (2019)
* 2X UAEJJF Grand Slam winner, London (2019 / 2020)
* 2nd place ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship (2019)
* 2nd place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro (2019)
* British National IBJJF Jiu-jitsu Champion (2019)
* 3rd place AJP Grand Slam LDN (2022)

Main Achievements (Coloured Belts):
* 1X IBJJF World champion (2018 brown)
* 1X IBJJF World No-Gi champion (2016 purple)
* 1X IBJJF European Open champion (2015 blue, 2016 purple)
* 2X IBJJF European Open No-Gi champion (2018 brown)
* 1X ADCC European Trials champion (2018)
* 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2016/2017 purple)
* 2nd Place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro (2018 brown)
* 2nd Place IBJJF European Open (2018 brown)

Instructor lineage

Royler Gracie → Saulo Ribeiro → ( Alexandre Ribeiro) → Darragh O’Conaill → Ffion Davies

Grappling record (incomplete)

Personal life

Ffion Davies is a native Welsh speaker. In a 2020 interview she stated that she had previously been a vegetarian.

Awards and honours

* Jitsmagazine BJJ Awards 'Female Grappler of the Year (No Gi)' (2022)
* Jitsmagazine BJJ Awards 'Female Grappler of the Year (Gi & No Gi)' (2020)

Notes

External links

*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Ffion
1995 births
Welsh practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Living people
Welsh female mixed martial artists
People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Welsh female judoka
Welsh submission wrestlers
Sportspeople from Swansea
British female judoka
World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship medalists
Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champions (women)
World No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship medalists
Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners
ADCC Submission Fighting World Champions (women)
Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners who have competed in MMA (women)
Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners who have competed in Judo (women)