We are one week away from one of the biggest weekends in submission grappling history. August 17-18, 2024, are the days set for the ADCC World Championship – the historic no-gi event – and the novel Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), two of the most polarizing events in recent memory that spawned a new rivalry in the sport. One of the first big feuds among promotions since the early 2000s quarrel between IBJJF and CBJJO.
The two events will take place on the same weekend August 17-18 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the ADCC tournament will be streamed via FloGrappling. In this piece, we will discuss the line-ups and favorites of the ADCC event.
MALE -66 KG DIVISION
The favoritism here is on the current champion, Diogo Reis (78-8-3) with Diego Pato being very close behind. Reis is the complete package with great wrestling & passing as well as a competent guard.
Diego Oliveira (131-18-0), AKA “Pato” is on a 26-match winning streak in his weight class and has beaten Reis twice since the last ADCC in 2022. He is a superb leg-locker and a real finisher, although wrestling has been his Achilles heel in the ADCC ruleset.
Dark Horse: The ADCC ruleset differs from the jiu-jitsu standard and opens the doors to hybrid grapplers with submission and wrestling skills. When it comes to that merge of jiu-jitsu & wrestling, few can top 18yo teen sensation Dorian Olivarez (10-0-0), the first athlete to ever rank in the top 10 in both FloWrestling and FloGrappling’s rankings. If you don’t know who this young man is, visit his BJJ Heroes profile here.
66KG ADCC LINE-UP:
1. Diogo Reis: ADCC 2022 Champion
2. Owen Jones: Europe Trial 1 winner
3. Dorian Olivarez: USA Trial 1 winner
4. Ethan Thomas: Asia Trial 1 winner
5. Gairbeg Ibragimov: Europe Trial 2 winner
6. Kennedy Maciel: Brazil Trial 1 winner
7. Fabricio Andrey: Brazil Trial 2 winner
8. Deandre Corbe: USA Trial 2 winner
9. Huaiqing Xu: Asia Trial 2 winner
10. Ethan Crelinsten: Invited
11. Kauã Gabriel: Invited
12. Ashley Williams: Invited
13. Josh Cisneros: Invited
14. Keith Krikorian: Invited
15. Gabriel Sousa: Invited
16. Diego Pato: Invited
MALE -77 KG DIVISION
The 77-kilogram division was meant to be the most challenging weight class in the ADCC tournament. Sadly, quite a few big names will be missing this year’s line-up, leaving one clear favorite on the roster, Mica Galvao (97-6-4). The 2024 IBJJF Grand Slam winner will arrive in Las Vegas with a 40-match winning streak (35 of those wins being submissions). Records don’t get much better than this.
Expect Mica’s toughest challenges to be PJ Barch (69-22-12) and Dante Leon (138-46-0). The Canadian, Dante, is himself running on a 31-match winning streak in his weight class. Dante is a powerhouse, very experienced, well-rounded, and mentally strong. He has one loss to Galvao via takedown at the last ADCC, in a match where Mica spent most of the time in the driver’s seat and we expect Leon to want to rectify that this year.
Dark Horse: There is no shortage of competence AT 77KG. Athletes like Elijah Dorsey, Oliver Taza, Vagner Rocha, Mateusz Szczeciński, etc, can beat anyone on any given day, but flying under the radar is late invite Jonnatas Gracie (55-16-0) of Atos HQ. Jonnatas doesn’t compete as often as we’d like, but when he does, he always puts on a great show of competence. He has decisively beaten names like Levi Jones-Leary, Jay Rod, Nicky Ryan, Oliver Taza, and more in the past couple of years and should not be overlooked.
77KG ADCC LINE-UP:
1. Elijah Dorsey: USA Trial 1 winner
2. Luiz Paulo: Brazil Trial 1 winner
3. Alexandre Jesus: Brazil Trial 2 winner
4. JT Torres: Invited
5. Mica Galvao: Invited
6. Dante Leon: Invited
7. PJ Barch: Invited
8. Jonnatas Gracie: Invited
9. Oliver Taza: Invited
10. Mateusz Szczeciński: Invited
11. Davi Ramos: Invited
12. Garry Tonon: Invited
13. Fabio Caloi: Invited
14. Jeremy Skinner: Invited
15. Vagner Rocha: Invited
16. Max Hanson: Invited
MALE -88 KG DIVISION
Much like the 170 lb division, the 88 (194 lb) has historically been one of the most challenging and talent-dense divisions in the ADCC tournament. This year, however, there is one clear favorite head and shoulders above the rest, the current champ Giancarlo Bodoni (62-22-1) of New Wave.
Although Bodoni’s path over the past 12 months has not been without turbulence, with 3 losses on his resume. All his losses were in the open-class and two of those were against bigger opponents. He is one of the most complete athletes in the game and whoever faces him will have a tough hill to climb to advance to the next round.
Outside the #1 pick, there are plenty of athletes capable of reaching the top of the podium. The “Hillbilly Hammer” Jacob Couch (45-11-0), Pedro Marinho (67-23-0), Gabriel Almeida (102-44-0), Jay-Rod (25-14-3), etc, all have clear shots, but there is one athlete with a similar style to Bodoni that is our Dark Horse of the 88kg race: Izaak Michell (18-3-0). The Australian brown belt has all the attributes to become a big name in the sport. Sadly, he seldomly competes and lack of activity is hardly ever a sign of good things at the highest level. Talent-wise, Michell is as talented as they come.
88KG ADCC LINE-UP:
1. Giancarlo Bodoni: ADCC 2022 Champion
2. Santeri Lilius: Europe Trial 1 winner
3. Jacob Couch: USA Trial 1 winner
4. Izaak Michell: Asia Trial 1 winner
5. Taylor Pearman: Europe Trial 2 winner
6. Charles Negromonte: Brazil Trial 1 winner
7. Pedro Marinho: Brazil Trial 2 winner
8. Gabriel Almeida: Invited
9. Jacob Rodriguez: Invited
10. Elder Cruz: Invited
11. Andre Porfirio: Invited
12. Ryan Aitken: Invited
13. Chris Wojcik: Invited
14. Josh Hinger: Invited
15. Felipe Costa: Brazil Trial 1 winner (-99kg) moving down
16. Achilles Rocha: Invited
MALE -99 KG DIVISION
On paper, this may be the most uneven division in the tournament. A fair few unfamiliar faces here and a clear front-runner in Nicholas Meregali (84-15-1), an athlete who has been on a tear since he started training and competing in no-gi after a successful career in the gi ruleset.
Nicholas hasn’t lost a match since September 2022 and his 16-match unbeaten run counts 13 submissions. All matches were against highly-ranked opponents with IBJJF and ADCC medals (except one match). These are truly impressive numbers for the Brazilian talent.
Just behind Meregali is Kaynan Duarte (139-22-0), the current ADCC champ. Duarte lost pretty decisively to Meregali at WNO 19 last year and his past two matches were losses. This is not to say he is not a force in this bracket. Kaynan is a great talent with resources in all areas of the game and a threat to double gold if his head is in the right space.
Dark Horse: The line-up has quite a few lesser-known faces of the pro-circuit who will be unpredictable as there is no point of reference on a stage as big as this. But from this line up there is one very talented part-timer to look out for. The full-time lawyer, Paul Ardila (34-11-0) is a superb athlete to watch. Very clean jiu-jitsu, has excellent wrestling available on tap when needed, and tends to compete well, despite his lack of full-time activity.
99KG ADCC LINE-UP:
1. Kaynan Duarte: ADCC 2022 Champion
2. Paul Ardila: USA Trial 1 winner
3. Declan Moody: Asia Trial 1 winner
4. Marcin Maciulewicz: Europe Trial 2 winner
5. Henrique Cardoso: Brazil Trial 2 winner
6. Michael Pixley: USA Trial 2 winner
7. Daniel Schuardt: Asia Trial 2 winner
8. Roberto Abreu “Cyborg”: Invited
9. Rafael Lovato: Invited
10. Elionel Braz: Invited
11. Nicholas Meregali: Invited
12. Alex Grandy: Invited
13. Patrick Gaudio: Invited
14. Javier Zaruski: Invited
15. Vinicius Ferreira: Invited
16. Daishi Goto: Invited
MALE +99 KG DIVISION
A weight class with similar dynamics to those of the under 99kg, we see Luke Griffith (30-5-0) as the man to take out here and the clear favorite. A massive submission rate for the South African at 93% and wins over many big names in the sport place the New Wave representative at the top of the heap. Luke’s favoritism will be followed by #2 Roosevelt Sousa (112-24-0), another big man with a love for submissions, although Roosevelt is the wilder, stylistically, over Griffith’s slower and more methodical approach to the game in good John Danaher school fashion.
Again, a hard prediction as to who will be the Dark Horse here as there are many athletes on this roster whom we know little about and a few others who may have passed their prime. That said, expect Big Dan Manasoiu to be the Dark Horse. Despite his purple belt rank, Manasoiu is a terrifying prospect in the division given his size and technique, though he may struggle against a big athlete with strong takedowns in the overtime rounds.
+99KG ADCC LINE-UP:
1. Heikki Jussila: Europe Trial 1 winner
2. Daniel Manasoiu: USA Trial 1 winner
3. Josh Saunders: Asia Trial 1 winner
4. Mark Macqueen: Europe Trial 2 winner
5. Victor Honorio – Brazil Trial 2 winner
6. Mike Perez: USA Trial 2 winner
7. Mansur Makhmakhanov: Asia Trial 2 winner
8. Felipe Pena: Invited
9. Vinny Magalhaes: Invited
10. Vince Pezzuto: Invited
11. John Hansen: Invited
12. Roosevelt Sousa: Invited
13. Haisam Rida: Invited
14. Luke Griffith: Europe Trial 1 winner (-99kg) moving up
15. Damon Ramos: Invited
16. Brandon Reed: Invited
FEMALE -55 KG DIVISION
A superb division at under 55 kilos. Every athlete here has a real shot at the podium. Expect Brenda Larissa (68-22-0) to start at the tail end of the race as she is the smaller competitor on the card and has the least experience in no-gi out of everyone here. All the athletes here have been looking fantastic on their run to the World Championship. Expect fireworks.
55KG ADCC LINE-UP:
1. Margot Ciccarelli: Europe Trial 2 winner
2. Anna Rodrigues: Brazil Trial 2 winner
3. Jasmine Rocha: USA Trial 2 winner
4. Adele Fornarino – Asia Trial 2 winner
5. Mayssa Bastos: Invited
6. Alex Enriquez: Invited
7. Brenda Larissa: Invited
8. Bianca Basilio: Invited
FEMALE -65 KG DIVISION
Another fantastic roster here in the under-65-kilogram weight class. Ana Carolina Vieira is starting as the front-runner, but many could take the ADCC crown. This will also be an opportunity to finally see teen phenom, Helena Crevar, compete against some of the best in her division, after tearing through the amateur circuit.
65KG ADCC LINE-UP:
1. Aurelie Le Vern: Europe Trial 2 winner
2. Ana Carolina Vieira: Brazil Trial 2 winner
3. Helena Crevar: USA Trial 2 winner
4. Sula-Mae Loewenthal: Asia Trial 2 winner
5. Brianna Ste-Marie: Invited
6. Bia Mesquita: Invited
7. Amanda Leve: Invited
8. Morgan Black: Invited
FEMALE +65 KG DIVISION
A real shame we didn’t get to see Andresa Cintra on this roster as we believe she would be a great addition given her multiple gold runs at the IBJJF World No-Gi tournaments, but there is plenty of excitement around this year’s ADCC Worlds.
Expect Amy Campo (49-11-0) to be the favorite in a division with two new faces, Nia Blackman and Maria Ruffatto, two new black belts that will bring some fresh blood to a division that needs it.
+65KG ADCC LINE-UP:
1. Amy Campo: ADCC 2022 Champion (+60kg)
2. Nia Blackman: Europe Trial 2 winner
3. Maria Ruffatto: Brazil Trial 2 winner
4. Elizabeth Mitrovic: USA Trial 2 winner
5. Nikki Lloyd-Griffiths: Asia Trial 2 winner
6. Nathiely De Jesus: Invited
7. Kendall Reusing: Invited
8. Rafaela Guedes: Invited
ADCC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERFIGHTS
SUPERFIGHT FOR OPEN-WEIGHT TITLE
– Gordon Ryan VS. Yuri Simoes
Simoes is an athlete who plays well to his strengths and knows how to compete, but if the Gordon Ryan of 2022 shows up, it is hard to envision a different outcome other than a submission win for the New Jersey native.
SUPERFIGHT N2
– Gordon Ryan VS. Felipe Pena
Stylistically, Pena has posed a problem for Ryan in the past but his performances over the past few years have been quite turbulent and showed signs that Felipe may be slowing down as an athlete. Their last clash, two years ago, was a one-sided affair for the American and it is hard to imagine anything different happening here if we are to judge the most recent performances of both competitors.
