I'm between 72kg and 75kg normally (sorry, I don't know that in freedom units), and I stopped competing at open weight about 5 years ago and also try to avoid heavier guys, even in training. I'll normally go about max 90kg with training partners. We've got a few guys we'll over 120 KG, and anytime I roll with them, which I normally avoid, I'm just avoiding getting injured.

Being the heavier guy is DEFINITELY an advantage. I always find it funny when I hear people say "size and strength don't matter", when it's also normally coming from heavyweights on steroids. Yeah, when there's a huge skill discrepancy, then things can balance out, but if two people have a similar level of skill, then the bigger and stronger guy is going to win.

Never, but I'm in the big boy class anyway at 275 lbs. And I guess the minor technicality that I don't compete. My wife competed a lot for a few years and the only time she ever competed in the correct class (~150 lbs) was at master worlds. Every other tournament she entered she was giving up 20-30 lbs, but she still did really well. She regularly trains with me, so those ladies probably felt light.

Any experience you've had could be used to your advantage. So, yes.

As a ultra heavy, never lol

That being said, I was right on the edge, like 235 so everyone was always 250+ usually 260 mark, with outliers 270-280.

It was good for me but really turned me off competition

back in the days in early 2000's, i was 56-57kg and there was literally nobody at this weight.... if i wanted to compete, i had to take on people heavier, no choice

For example, I won the european shooto runner-up tournament in the -65kg category weighing 56.5kg because there was nobody under 60kg so they can't do the category.

same about the training.... for a long time i had no sparring partner under 70kg ...

i would say that it push you to get your technique almost perfect to be effective, but your body don't like it on the long term.

now 47yo (herniated cervicals, torn ligaments etc), i only roll with light guys or long-time advanced partner who can roll smooth

I have cut down to 180 for tournaments.

3 times this past year I was moved to 195 which sucks but wasn’t an Issue.

And usually if I don’t Gold my division I’ll try the open class when doing IBJJF to try again.

I have to say that big boys hurt my ribs these days.

I usually try to register into open division because
1) Mostly its small competition and i dont have enough fights
2) Cool challenge i guess

I was between 215 and 220 and mostly competed at Ultra Heavy at the big events..

Down to around 205 right now trying to figure out what weight for next year

When I was competing regularly, I competed in the 170 to 215 lbs range. I was usually around 170-175. With the smaller tournaments, they would often group multiple weight divisions especially at brown belt. I would often find as a general rule that the lighter people often had better speed, technique and endurance. The bigger guys often relied more on strength. For me, I preferred a slower half guard game, which often worked better against larger opponents. With that being said, I didn’t feel like the size of previous opponents at other tournaments affected my performance against other weight divisions in future tournaments. However, I did feel that the more I competed, the better I got at competition both mentally and physically.