Early life
Ffion Eira Davies was born on 18 January 1995 in Swansea, Wales. She started playing Rugby union, 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 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 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 Pro Grappling, Polaris Grappling Invitational, the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour, Abu Dhabi Grand Slam London, and then became Pan-American Championship (jiu-jitsu), 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 Jiu-Jitsu World Tour#Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2019–2020, 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 Jonathan Torres (Jiu Jitsu practitioner), JT Torres. In June 2022 Davies won the 2022 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the Lightweight division, becoming the first Welsh and British black belt jiu-jitsu world champion. At 2022 ADCC World Championship, 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_Pro_Grappling#Polaris_23:_Women's_Under_66kg_Grand_Prix, 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 has been booked to defend her flyweight title against Jasmine Rocha at FloSports#Who's_Number_One_(WNO), Who's Number One on August 10, 2023.Competitive summary
Main achievements at black belt level: * 2 x IBJJF World Champion (2022 / 2023) * 2X World No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship, IBJJF World No-Gi champion (2018/2021) * ADCC Submission Fighting World Champion (2022) * 3X European Championship (Brazilian jiu-jitsu), IBJJF European Open champion (2019/2020) * 1X Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship, CBJJ Brazilian Nationals champion (2019) * 1X Pan American Championship (Jiu Jitsu), Pan American Championship champion (2019) * 2X Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour, 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 International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, 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 European No-Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championship, 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 DaviesFight history
Personal life
Ffion Davies is a native Welsh language, Welsh speaker. In a 2020 interview she has stated that she's 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
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)