The favorite was Nicolas Limbach of Germany, the 2009 world champion and runner-up in both 2010 (to South Korea's Won Woo-young) and 2011 (to Italy's Aldo Montano).

The men's rotation started with foil (2008) and épée (2012), with sabre scheduled to skip its team event in 2016.

Next, 7 more men were selected from the world rankings based on continents: 2 from Europe, 2 from the Americas, 2 from Asia/Oceania, and 1 from Africa.

Finally, 5 spots were allocated by continental qualifying events: 2 from Europe, 1 from the Americas, 1 from Asia/Oceania, and 1 from Africa.

The sabre competition consisted of a six-round single-elimination bracket with a bronze medal match between the two semifinal losers.