Tarik Hopstock | 2025 IBJJF No Gi WORLD CHAMPION

First off, congrats on the win, how does it feel to be an IBJJF No-Gi Worlds Champion? 

It honestly feels surreal. At the same time, it feels like nothing has changed… and everything has changed. This is something I’ve been chasing for so long that I never really stopped to imagine what it would feel like to actually reach it. When it finally happened, it was almost quiet inside. Overwhelmed by emotions I reminisce about all the sacrifices it took to get here.

How did your preparation for Worlds look, and how did this camp differ from past ones given the confidence you would've gained from winning No Gi Euros? 

Winning No-Gi Euros definitely gave me a big confidence boost. I knew my game worked at the highest level. I had about six weeks to prepare for Worlds, and it was busy—very busy.

I spent almost two weeks in Australia training at Absolute MMA with Lachlan Giles and his team. Then I was home for about a day and a half before heading out again for seminars in Santiago de Compostela and Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. After that, back home for an end-of-the-year seminar in Bergen, a normal training week, and then another seminar in Umeå, Sweden.

So there was a lot of great training, but also a lot of work and travel. I like staying busy—it keeps me sharp and locked in.

After finishing Day 1, what was your mindset heading into Day 2? Did anything change in your approach? 

After Day 1, I knew things were only going to get tougher. But the communication between me and Tommy was really good, and that gave me a lot of confidence. We were on the same page the whole time, and I knew we had everything we needed to get it done.

 In the final, what were you thinking before it started and how did everything play out? 

The plan was to get a clean guard pull or a double-pull scenario and start attacking his legs. Marcelo was quick, though—he shot for a takedown at the same time I went to pull guard, which put me behind early.

From there, I knew I had to work to even things out. I went for a sweep, but he scrambled away. As we were getting close to the edge of the mat, I decided to sit and attack his legs again, hoping at least to force a submission attempt before going out of bounds. That worked, and the score evened out, with me taking the lead on advantages.

After that, he pulled guard and I played on top. When he got desperate trying to come up for a sweep, I caught him in a deep D’Arce choke. That forced him to concede his guard, giving me the passing points and a bigger lead. He eventually escaped and swept me, but I was still ahead on points. As the clock ran down, I locked him into a reverse closed guard and held it out until the end.

It’s now been 2 black belt major wins for you this year, whats changed in order for you to be able to achieve this? 

Honestly, not much has changed. The biggest difference is that the consistency has finally paid off. Of course, there are a lot of factors, but at the end of the day this is the result of many years of training, competing, and trusting the process.

Now that you’ve become a world champion, what’s next for you, any upcoming competitions or goals you’re focused on?

Next up is the IBJJF Europeans in Lisbon in January. Back to work.

Lastly, and most importantly, what was your first meal after becoming a world champion?

Two Double-Double burgers and a vanilla milkshake from In-N-Out!