# Ffion Davies

> Welsh ADCC world champion, two-time IBJJF gi world champion, and one of Europe's most accomplished modern grapplers.

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- **Source site:** Ossmeta (https://ossmeta.com)
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-18

## Identity

- **Name:** Ffion Davies
- **Full name:** Ffion Eira Davies
- **Belt:** black belt
- **Team:** ARMA BJJ / Atos JJ International / ECJJA
- **Nationality:** Wales
- **Born:** 1995-01-18
- **Birthplace:** Swansea, Wales
- **Weight class:** Feather / Lightweight (IBJJF 58.5-64 kg; no-gi 61.5 kg; ADCC -60 kg / -55 kg)

## Biography

Ffion Eira Davies was born on January 18, 1995, in Swansea, Wales, and came to grappling through a serious junior judo career. She started judo at eight, became a Welsh and British Open junior champion, and represented the Welsh national judo team, but stepped away as a teenager after losing enthusiasm for the competitive environment. In 2013 she returned to combat sports through mixed martial arts training in Wales, where the ground work pulled her toward Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Swansea pioneer Chris Rees, widely recognized as Wales' first BJJ black belt, became her first jiu-jitsu coach and awarded her blue belt.

Davies' major technical home became East Coast Jiu-Jitsu under Darragh O'Conaill. After first following O'Conaill's program from a Cardiff satellite, she moved to Dublin in 2018 to train at the ECJJA headquarters and was promoted to black belt by O'Conaill on November 27, 2018. Her colored-belt run had already marked her as one of Europe's best prospects: European Open titles at blue and purple, a purple-belt IBJJF World No-Gi title in 2016, brown-belt Worlds gold in 2018, and ADCC European Trials gold in 2018 all came before her black-belt breakthrough.

The breakthrough arrived almost immediately. In late 2018 Davies won the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship at black belt, becoming the first UK athlete to take black-belt No-Gi Worlds gold. Her 2019 season widened the history-making arc: she won the IBJJF European Open, Pan Championship, UAEJJF Grand Slam London, and CBJJ Brazilian Nationals, becoming the first European to win Brasileiros at black belt. At ADCC 2019 she beat Rikako Yuasa and Beatriz Mesquita to reach the -60 kg final, taking silver after a toe-hold loss to Bianca Basilio. In 2020 she added European Open lightweight and absolute gold, a landmark absolute result for an athlete from the lighter divisions.

In early 2022 Davies began training in the United States at Essential Jiu-Jitsu, an Atos-affiliated academy, under JT Torres while still retaining the ECJJA lineage that shaped her black belt. That season became the defining stretch of her career: she won the IBJJF World Championship at lightweight in June, then captured ADCC -60 kg gold in September by submitting Adele Fornarino, beating Bia Mesquita 6-0, and defeating Brianna Ste-Marie 10-0 in the final. The result made her the first Welsh and British ADCC world champion. Davies defended her IBJJF gi world title in 2023 and then won lightweight and absolute gold at the 2023 IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, becoming the first European woman to win the No-Gi Worlds absolute division.

Davies' style blends judo balance, aggressive passing, back exposure, and a deep armbar threat. BJJ Heroes lists the armbar as her favorite technique, and her record is full of armbars, rear naked chokes, and back attacks, while FloGrappling's match logs show the same pattern against elite opposition. Away from major IBJJF and ADCC brackets she has held the WNO 125 lb title, defeated Mackenzie Dern by armlock at the 2024 Craig Jones Invitational, beaten Brianna Ste-Marie again at Polaris 27, and continued competing on UFC Fight Pass events. By 2025 she was also publicly tied to ARMA BJJ in London as head coach, adding a UK coaching base to a career built between Wales, Dublin, New York, and the international pro circuit.

## Lineage

Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Royler Gracie > Saulo Ribeiro > Alexandre Ribeiro > Darragh O'Conaill > Ffion Davies

## Instructors

- Darragh O'Conaill
- JT Torres
- Chris Rees

## Signature techniques / game

- Armbar
- Rear naked choke
- Back attacks / choke from the back
- Bow-and-arrow choke
- Judo throws and hip-toss entries
- Knee-cut passing and top pressure

## Major achievements

- 1st Place ADCC World Championship (-60 kg, 2022) - first Welsh and British ADCC world champion
- 2nd Place ADCC World Championship (-60 kg, 2019)
- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship - black belt lightweight (2022 / 2023)
- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi - black belt (2018 / 2021 / 2023, including 2023 lightweight + absolute double gold)
- 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2019 / 2020, including 2020 weight + absolute)
- 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2019) - first European black-belt champion at Brasileiros
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2019)
- 1st Place UAEJJF Grand Slam London (2019 / 2020)
- Who's Number One (WNO) 125 lb Champion
- FloGrappling Female Grappler of the Year (2023)
- Craig Jones Invitational superfight winner vs. Mackenzie Dern (2024)
- Polaris 27 winner vs. Brianna Ste-Marie (2024)

## Colored belt highlights

- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2018, brown)
- 1st Place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship (2016, purple)
- 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2015 blue; 2016 purple)
- 1st Place IBJJF European Open No-Gi (2018 brown, weight and absolute)
- 1st Place ADCC European Trials (2018)
- 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2016 / 2017, purple)
- 2nd Place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro (2018, brown)
- 2nd Place IBJJF European Open (2018, brown)

## Official / social links

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ffiffipengtinginlondon/

## Sources

- [BJJ Heroes - Ffion Davies](https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/ffion-davies)
- [Wikipedia - Ffion Davies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ffion_Davies)
- [FloGrappling - Ffion Davies](https://www.flograppling.com/people/6633036-ffion-davies)
- [FloGrappling - 2022 ADCC World Championship live results](https://www.flograppling.com/articles/7974080-live-updates-results-2022-adcc-world-championships)
- [IBJJF - Ffion Davies athlete results](https://ibjjf.com/athletes/ffion-davies)
- [UFC - Ffion Davies wants to capture the title in style](https://www.ufc.com/news/ffion-davies--wants-to-capture-the-title-in-style-bjj-6)
- [Instagram - Ffion Eira Davies](https://www.instagram.com/ffiffipengtinginlondon/)
- [Wikimedia Commons - Ffion Davies OF 02.jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ffion_Davies_OF_02.jpg)

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