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The ADCC World Championships returns this weekend. 100 of the best grapplers in the world are taking over Poland to try to put their name in the history books. I spent the past year watching the ADCC Trials to see who the most interesting newcomers are and today we’re going to discuss each division in detail.
If you’re only interested in MMA skip ahead to “Razhabali Shaydullaev Returns To Rizin”.
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Now let’s get into it.
What's In Today's Letter?
Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Championships
The Abu Dhabi Combat Club is back for their biennial World Championships. If you’re unfamiliar with ADCC, it’s the closest thing we have to a Bruce Lee movie.
The tournament began as an invitational event sponsored by the Abu Dhabi government to see which grappling style is the best. They created a hybrid ruleset designed to give wrestlers and submission grapplers of all persuasions equal opportunity to showcase how their techniques were perfectly designed to dominate.
Sumo wrestlers from South Africa, Dagestani judokas, and various other wrestlers have all won gold in years past. Today the event has turned into what many consider the Olympics of jiujitsu and submission grappling.
The organization travels the world hosting open tournaments for amateurs and professionals to compete and earn the right to make it to the world stage. Everywhere from Southern California to Bangkok puts down mat for men and women to earn their shot at glory.
Each ADCC World Championship invites a handful of wildcards to the divisions. This year we have former Beach Wrestling World Champions and MMA submission stars added to the roster. This event is also the first since since the landscape of the sport was pulled into a more professional place.
Two years ago Craig Jones shook up the grappling world with his short lived and lavishly paying event, The Craig Jones Innovational. CJI 1 gave out 1 million dollars each to the men who won the two featured divisions. Many men who were supposed to be at the ADCC World Champions went to CJI in 2024.
TKO also began promoting jiujitsu events under their UFC BJJ banner. Some UFC BJJ contracts forbade champions and certain marquee athletes from competing at the ADCC World Championships.
The combination of CJI, UFC BJJ, and some horrifying investigations in jiujitsu have left many of ADCC’s stars off of the roster. Some online are asking, why even watch?
We don’t watch ADCC to see champions comfortably cruise to gold. We watch for the moments no one could have predicted. The single maneuvers that break records, bodies, and our understanding of the sport. We watch for stuff like this.
Meregali wrestles up on a single. Pixley pushes on Meregali’s head to kill his momentum. Pixley steps across Meregali’s feet to launch him on his shoulder. Pixley grabs a d’arce and quickly gets a tap as Meregali holds his now injured arm.
Michael Pixley vs Nicholas Meregali
Michael Pixley was a credible college wrestler with a mean streak taking on a man who was self-financing a documentary about their rise to the top of no gi after deciding to take off the kimono in competition. No one told Pixley it wasn’t his time. He threw Meregali, injured his shoulder, and went on to steal the attention of the entire sport.
So, who’s going to make the most of this weekend?
-66 KG Division
Diogo “Baby Shark” Reis is the -66KG division champion. He won the title in 2022, defended it in 2024, and has largely withdrawn from competition this year due to an ongoing investigation into his coach and mentor Melqui Galvao’s sexual misconduct and connection to past shootings.
Reis’s longtime rival Diego “Pato” Oliveira has to be the favorite going into this tournament. Pato is coming off of another IBJJF World Championship title and he scored two leg lock submissions at the 2024 ADCC World Championships.
Pato is holding Crelinstein’s leg. Notice how Pato keeps reaching for Crelinstein’s leg while his foot pushes out Crelinstein’s base? That allows Pato to get on top. Then Pato steps over Crelinstein’s leg and closes it in his arm pit for the submission win.
Diego “Pato” Oliveira vs Ethan Crelinstein
Another favorite to keep an eye on is the ever active Dorian Olivarez. Olivarez is an elite all around grappler. He first qualified for ADCC as a teenager in 2023, the same year he won Folkstyle Nationals.
The action gets reset. Olivarez slaps at a single leg. He does it again and Corbe drops that knee. The third time ends with Olivarez picking up the leg. Corbe tries to counter with a chest wrap. Then he tries pushing Olivarez’s head away. Olivarez hops off to side control, walks up, and steps into mount.
Dorian Olivarez - Deandre Corbe
Olivarez has the perfect pace and style to run over many men in his division except one ADCC rookie who is perfectly set-up to stifle his game and surprise the rest of the event. Japan’s Ryoma Anraku.
Kotaru wrestles up on a single. He almost shelfs the leg but Anraku hops out and fights Kotaru’s hands. Then he sticks his leg between Kotaru’s. Kotaru grabs Anraku’s far hip. Anraku uses the position to throw an uchimata and get Kotaru off of him.
Ryoma Anraku - Tamefusa Kotaro
Anraku is the highest credentialed wrestler we’ve had at the ADCC World Championships in more than a decade.
He was a member of Japan’s Olympic wrestling team before switching to submission grappling. He took bronze at the 2023 United World Wrestling (UWW) Under 23 Freestyle World Championships. The only reason he isn’t still wrestling is because his former teammate, Kotaro Kiyooka, took Anraku’s spot on the team and won gold at the 2024 Olympics.
Anraku looks nearly impossible to score on.
Another one to keep your eye on is the man Anraku beat to win his spot at the ADCC World Championships, Bekzat Kapashov. Kapashov submitted 80% of his opponents across the two qualifying events he did to make it to ADCC Worlds.
Kapashov uses an uchi mata to off balance Deif for a slide by so he can climb to his back. Kapashov locks a body triangle. He trips Deif back with his outside leg. The referee restarts them in the center. Kapashov traps Deif’s high arm so he has an open lane for a rear naked choke.
Bekzat Kapashov vs Abdullah Deif
Read about the other interesting rookies in this division in this article below 👇.
-77 KG Division
Mica Galvao is the -77KG’s division champion. He is also not competing this weekend due to the same reason his teammate Reis is not competing. The situation hits that much harder as his father is the man being investigated.
Without Galvao in the event you have to assume PJ Barch is the new favorite. Barch took Galvao to overtime in a thrilling matchup many thought he won. He also has the perfect style for ADCC. Good offensive wrestling, strong submission defense, and tricky leg locks to counter anyone that would sit to guard against this wrestler.
Dorsey off balances Barch and scoops his right leg. He goes to outside ashi, reverse ashi, and then the two roll until Dorsey has inside ashi. Barch opens Dorsey’s feet to rip a heel hook variation known as the junny lock, named after Junny Ocasio.
PJ Barch - Elijah Dorsey
The man I’m most interested to see compete is Poland’s Mateusz Szczecinski. This guy is a straight up boogeyman. He holds an 85% submission rate in one of the most competitive divisions in the game. His hit list includes Barch, Garry Tonon, Jozef Chen, and William Tackett; to name a few.
Mateusz scoops Tacket’s left leg. Tackett stands and Mateusz switches to butterfly ashi. Tackett is keeping his foot on the floor and pulling on Mateusz’s head so Mateusz can’t extend through the leg. Mateusz balances Tackett to keep his hips up and foot off the floor. Tackett stands over Mateusz to push his feet down. This gives Mateusz room to spin under for a belly down ankle lock.
Mateusz Szczecinski - William Tackett
This submission set Mateusz as one of the deadliest leg lockers in the sport. Since then he has rounded out his guard to include upper body submissions and a berimbolo game.
Mateusz has a rear body lock and a crab hook with his right leg. He uses the hook to kick Taza’s legs away and mobilize his hips over Taza. Mateusz rolls all the way over to his to right hip but keeps the crab hook. Then Mateusz adjusts his grip, throws his left hook in, and pulls Taza back up into his lap.
Mateusz Szczecinski - Oliver Taza
I love watching Mateusz compete because he makes otherwise impossible looking moves seem effortless. But at the same time Mateusz’s game is not built for ADCC’s ruleset. He doesn’t have the wrestling to reliably score from the feet. One man that does is the rookie Magomed Dzharbaev.
Taza stands up with a single. Dzharbaev frees his knee and plants it to the mat. Then he reaches behind himself to grab Taza’s thigh and hold him in place. Taza tries to reach for a body lock. Dzharbaev counters with a whizzer and driving his forehead into Taza’s. Taza gets back to his feet and again Dzharbaev pulls him out of position by whipping his head around.
Magomed Dzharbaev - Oliver Taza
Dzharbaev is from Dagestan. Like most most of the people from his corner of the world he can wrestle his ass off.
Dzharbaev is not the most active on the feet nor floor, but when he locks up with his opponents he pushes them around easily. And even when they get close to scoring, or at least getting anything going he shuts it down. Quick.
Like Ryoma Anraku, Dzharbaev’s arrival represents elite international wrestling coming back to ADCC right now. I’m excited to see how this changes the tournament and the sport going forward.
Read about the other interesting rookies in this division in this article below 👇.
-88 KG Division
Both finalists from 2024’s -88KG Division are out. Gold Medalist Giancarlo Bodoni is coming off of recent surgeries and Silver Medalist Jacob Rodriguez chose to sign with UFC BJJ for more opportunities to make more money. I think this leaves Chris Wojcik and Felipe Costa as favorites to take the division. They actually met for a 3rd place match that had two distinct moments.
Early in the match Wojcik got to one of his signature leg locks and nearly ripped off Costa’s foot.
Costa is standing over Chris to pass when he sits back on an ankle lock. Wojcik keeps Costa’s feet open and attacks an aoki lock of his own. Costa rolls and ends up belly down. He has both of his legs inside of Chris’s so he’s able to get out. Wojcik is not able to come on top so he decides to sit towards an outside heel hook attack.
Felipe Costa - Chris Wojcik
Credit where credit is due. Costa literally had to clench his teeth facedown to avoid screaming in pain and taking a submission loss.
Costa settled in to passing on top for the match settling score in the final minute.
Costa is scooping Wojcik’s left leg while shin pinning his right for an over under pass variation. Wojcik tries to push Costa’s head away as Costa hops around his legs and lifts his hips. Wojcik turtles to avoid giving up points. Costa gets a seat belt, inserts his hooks, and stretches Wojcik out to win the match.
Felipe Costa - Chris Wojcik
Another competitor you should be looking forward to is grappling genius Jozef Chen. Chen exploded onto the scene with undue success early in his career.
He qualified for the ADCC World Championships at -77KG as a teenager after only a handful of years training. Since then he won the CJI 2 team event with Wojcik and the rest of B-Team and added considered size to his frame.
Chen is scooping Mohammed’s left leg and trying to over under pass. Mohammed denies it by getting his knee shield back in front and inverting. Chen backs out and goes back to trying to over under pass. Instead he hooks Mohammed’s right leg and sits back on the dog bar.
Jozef Chen - Mohammed Avtarhanov
Even though Chen qualified for the ADCC World Championships in 2023 this will be his first time on the big stage. He skipped the event to participate in CJI 1. I’m interested in seeing how his game and new frame hangs in this grueling event.
A rookie that has the potential to surprise many people is Marlon Tajik. He’s an all rounder with leg locks, guard passing, and a high workrate. Look at the effort he put into this re-attack to take his spot at the ADCC World Championships.
Both men are trading collar ties. Faris reaches for Tarik’s head. Tarik reaches back and Faris is already shooting. He climbs up the single leg to a rear body lock. They reset in the center. Faris tries to put a hook in before switching to a mat return. He tries to hop onto Tajik’s back. Tajik shakes him off and re-attacks to get his own rear body lock out of bounds.
Marlon Tajik - Faris Ben-Lamkadem
Read about the other interesting rookies in this division in this article below 👇.
-99 KG Division
This division features the return of its champion, Kaynan Duarte. He has to be the favorite to repeat too. Last ADCC he won both his division and the absolute division, submitting 7 of his 8 opponents. Half of those finishes were guillotines.
Duarte is hanging on Cyborg’s head and walking him around. When Cyborg pushes back, Duarte pulls him to the floor. Before Cyborg can reclaim posture Duarte has a front head lock. Duarte jumps a guillotine and back rolls to finish in mount.
Kaynan Duarte vs Cyborg Abreu
More worrying for his opposition, Duarte found the guillotine on the floor as a counter to people trying to wrestle up from the floor.
Duarte is walking side to side while disrupting Moody’s hooks. He’s alternating between stepping to headquarters and pushing Moody towards an inversion. As soon as Moody sits up Duarte is on his head for the guillotine.
Kaynan Duarte vs Declan Moody
It’s hard to bet against Duarte here. Since the last ADCC World Championships he’s only lost to Nick Rodriguez and Ruslan Abdulaev and neither of those men are in the division. One dark horse Declan I have my eye on is a man that lost to Duarte last time, Declan Moody.
Since ADCC 2024 he a dominated an Open Weight tournament and submitted 4 of his 6 opponents at the next ADCC trials. He has strong wrestling and a clever top game that favors loose passing and funky under hooks to get to the back.
Moody stands out of Marcin’s guard to throw his legs by. Marcin turtles to prevent the pass. Moody’s right arm is snaked under Marcin’s arm and behind his neck for a half Nelson. Moody circles toward his half Nelson before forward to rolling Marcin’s back. Moody locks a figure four and immediately attacks the rear naked choke to win.
Declan Moody - Marcin Maciulewicz
Moody’s countryman Nicholas Maglicic is another athlete I have my eye on. Nicholas Maglicic is the defending IBJJF No Gi World Champion at -97KG. He doesn’t have the best wrestling but he has a funky guard that’s rare for a man his size. I’m excited to see if he can pull off silly shit like this.
Everett shoots. Maglicic can’t sprawl in time. He grabs Everett’s lat with his left hand, puts in a right butterfly hook, and back rolls as Everett presses in to sweep him overhead. Everett turns away to turtle. Maglicic’s right arm goes deep to hold Everett’s hips as he puts his right knee behind Everett’s legs to keep him facing away.
Nicholas Maglicic - Harrison Everett
Maglicic qualified for the ADCC World Championships at +99KG but elected to go down to the -99KG division. Oher than him, most of the rookies in this division did not qualify but were invited at a later date. So you can read Maglicic and other interesting +99KG rookies in this division in this article below 👇.
+99 KG Division
Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Felipe Pena will try to defend his title in the +99 division. Pena is one of the older competitors at 34 but he’s been surprisingly active for a man his age with as many accolades as he has. Most recently he beat Nicholas Meregali in a slow super fight down in Brazil. Before that Griffith claimed a few submissions at CJI 2 last year.
Pena is playing full guard. He throws up his legs for a high guard attack. Griffith pops out but he’s off balance so Pena scoops his leg to attack a leg lock. Griffith falls back. Pena passes to north south, tries a choke, and settles on sitting back for an arm bar. He puts Griffith’s arm in his arm pit to secure the submission.
Felipe Pena - Luke Griffith
One dark horse with a major shot at taking the title is Scottish grappler Mark MacQueen. MacQueen has only been training seriously for about 6 years. Before that he was a competitive powerlifter. He is an International Powerlifting World Champion with a 2028 total made up of a 804.7 squat, 462.9 bench, and 766.1 deadlift. MacQueen did the majority of his camp with John Danaher’s camp at Kingsway in Austin, TX.
MacQueen is in ¾ mount trying for an arm triangle choke. Martinez pops his arm out. Martinez explodes over to turtle. MacQueen floats over him, switches to double under hooks, and gets back control. MacQueen switches to a body triangle to secure the position and get a rear naked choke.
Mark MacQueen - Abraham Coby Martinez
Who’s going to move this guy around enough to score on him?
At the other end of the spectrum is Tito John Carle. He’ll be the smallest man in the division but he’s faster than anyone in his weight class could hope to be with excellent wrestling technique behind his attributes.
Mourad is handing on Tito’s head. Tito drops to shoot. Mourad level changes and pushes him back. They trade collar ties before moving back to the center of the mat. Mourad shoots. Tito down blocks and catches an under hook. Tito walks backward and pulls Mourad into a sasae. Mourad goes rolling back. Tito sprints after him off the mats.
Tito John Carle - Habib Mourad
Tito reminds me of a faster, more active Orlando Sanchez. But, c’mon, who doesn’t want to see the smallest guy in the division win a few?
Read about the other interesting rookies in this division in this article below 👇.
Razhabali Shaydullaev Returns To Rizin
Super Rizin 5 takes place this Thursday. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu standout Roberto de Souza is fighting, the legend Shinya Aoki will return as well, and the main event is Razhabali Shaydullaev taking on A.J. McKee.
If you don’t know who Shaydullaev is I don’t blame you. He doesn’t fight in the UFC so the media treats him like he doesn’t exist.
Shaydullaev might be the best 145er in the world.
I’m not being hyperbolic. He’s 18-0 with a 100% finish rate and he’s only 25 years old. He is a featherweight Shavkat Rakhmonov with a nuclear right hand.
Shaydullaev lands a right leg kick. Koike steps in to take a right before retreating behind slappy hands. Koike flicks out a couple kicks on the ropes. Both men are bouncing. Shaydullaev steps through Koike’s left leg kick to land a thundering right. Koike bounces off the ropes, eats another punch, and falls face down.
Razhabali Shaydullaev - Kleber Koike
Shaydullaev will often use those bombs to herd opponents into the barrier and weave into takedowns.
Shaydullaev leaps in with a left hook and lands an overhand right behind it. Shaydullaev follows through the punch to take Kolesnik down with a body lock. Shaydullaev keeps his right arm as a tight under hook so he can let left hands loose. The ref steps in moments later to save Kolesnik.
Razhabali Shaydullaev - Viktor Kolesnik
And when Shaydullaev gets on the floor he has a respectable submission grappling style. He uses claw grips and ground and pound to control his opponents and force them to give up their limbs.
Archuleta turtles as Shaydullaev tries to mount him. Shaydullaev sneaks in a couple punches before under hooking Archuleta’s right arm. Archuleta builds up height so Shaydullaev grabs Archuleta’s left leg to attack his left arm. Archuleta tries to stack Shaydullaev. Shaydullaev’s leg curls onto Archuleta’s head so he can hip into the arm bar.
Razhabali Shaydullaev - Juan Archuleta
Shaydullaev will take on his hardest challenge to date. Former Bellator title holder A.J. McKee.
McKee is much larger than his Kyrgyzstani foe. Plus he has a weird guard game that’s rare for this day and age.
McKee is maintaining distance. Collard steps in to box and McKee drops on his legs. Collard starts to wrestle up and McKee grabs a guillotine. Watch McKee’s leg. As he sits back for the choke he throws it over Collard’s shoulder to set up his follow attacks.
AJ McKee vs Clay Collard
This fight was actually McKee’s last finish in MMA.
Collard tries to pull his arm and neck out. To do that he has to extend his trapped arm. McKee hooks over it to get a modified shotgun grip. When Collard does pull his head out, his arm hyperextends and he submits.
AJ McKee vs Clay Collard
If you’re a hardcore fan you have to watch this fight. It’ll be an internet PPV broadcast live on rizin.tv. And if you want to read more about Razhabali Shaydullaev before then read this 👇
More ADCC Articles To Read
Click here to read about when ADCC went head to head with CJI.
The most impressive performance from the last ADCC was Kaynan Duarte’s double gold with 7 submissions. Read about his run here.
THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS (you might have missed)
The UFC announced that all UFC BJJ events will now be streamed on Fight Pass. It’s clear that the UFC realized they’re not going to make money on BJJ with ad revenue on YouTube.
Nassourdine Imavov confirmed he is rematching Sean Strickland for the UFC Middleweight Title next at UFC 335. Good to see the rightful contender get the next shot at the bet instead of a Khamzat Chimaev or Dricus Du Plessis .
Another former KSW double champ has signed with the UFC. Roberto Soldic will fight in Salt Lake City at UFC 332. Very refreshing to see the UFC go after premium talent again.
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