Ffion Eira Davies was born in Swansea, Wales, on January 18, 1995. Ffion was enrolled in various sports from a young age due to her early interest in physical activity.
At the age of 8, Davies moved from rugby to judo and began actively participating. She won the junior category of the Welsh and British Open Judo Championships. She was also chosen for the Welsh National Judo Team.
Although judo played a significant role in Davies’ life, she had self-confidence issues as a teen and thought she lacked close connections on the team. When she was 17, she briefly returned to judo. But at that time, her enthusiasm for the sport had diminished, and she once again made the decision to stop.
After abandoning judo in her adolescence, Davies began competing in mixed martial arts in 2013 alongside Brett Johns. She won her first four MMA matches via first-round submission before deciding to concentrate on learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Davies trained with Chris Rees, the first Welshman to achieve black belt status in the art. She ended up receiving her blue belt from him at his academy in Swansea.
Even though she had been affiliated with the Rees family up until she earned her purple belt, Ffion and her partner immediately severed their links.
Davies won her first European Championship in the Lightweight class in 2015 while competing for Gracie Barra as a blue belt.
Following black belt Darragh O’Conail’s seminars, Davies relocated to Dublin and began training at East Coast Jiu-Jitsu. After divorcing her partner, Davies made the decision to train with coach O’Conaill while in Ireland in June 2018. O’Conaill promoted her to black belt on November 27, 2018.
A month after getting her belt, Davies won two gold medals at the Dublin International Open (Feather and Open Class) and gold at the World No-Gi Championship. She became the first black belt from the UK to win the World No-Gi Championship.
Davies won the European Championship, the Polaris Grappling Invitational, and the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam London at the beginning of 2019. After taking home the gold in California, she was crowned the Pan American Champion.
Davies became the first European to win the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship (also known as Brasileiros) a month later. She also won bronze at the 2019 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship (also known as Mundials).
Ffion Davies was given the opportunity to compete at the 2022 ADCC World Championship after winning Silver at the 2019 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship. She submitted the tournament’s favorite Bia Mesquita, in the semi-final in what has been dubbed “one of the most shocking upsets in jiu-jitsu history”.
Davies went on to win the British National when she returned to the UK, and in November she also won the Berlin International Open Championship.
Davies became the lightest grappler to win the European absolute division in 2020 by winning two gold medals at the European Championship in the Lightweight category and in Open Class. She defeated Super-Heavyweight Champion Jessica Flowers.
She won another Abu Dhabi Grand Slam London after leaving the country. Additionally, Davies won the World No-Gi title in her weight class a second time in 2021.
As a result of losing to Nathalie Ribeiro in the 2022 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship final, Davies took home the silver medal. After congratulating Ribeiro, Davies wrote on Facebook: “We all have the same goal and will likely all have our moment. Don’t dull anyone else’s shine.”
Early in 2022, Davies began practicing jiu jitsu at Essential Jiu Jitsu (an academy affiliated to Atos.) JT Torres served as her instructor.
Davies became the first Welsh and British black belt jiu-jitsu world champion after winning in the Lightweight class of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in June 2022. At the 2022 ADCC World Championship, she defeated Brianna Ste-Marie by a score of 10-0 in the final match.
In March 2023, Davies participated in the women’s under 66 kg Grand Prix at Polaris 23. In the first round, Davies overcame Giovanna Jara before being defeatd in the semifinals by eventual winner Elisabeth Clay.
Davies earned a silver medal in the lightweight category in the 2023 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship. She also won the IBJJF World Championship in the lightweight class for the second time in June 2023.
In August 2023 at Who’s Number One, Davies was scheduled to face Jasmine Rocha and defend her WNO flyweight championship. She was declared the winner by a unanimous vote and was successful in defending her title.
Ffion Davies’ native language is Welsh. She said she is a vegetarian in a 2020 interview.
Ffion Davies is recognized as one of the best featherweight competitors of her time. Davies established herself in the world of BJJ with her several significant victories while competing for the East Coast Jiu-Jitsu Academy (ECJJA) on the IBJJF circuit.
