ADCC is not a jiu-jitsu tournament - it is a grappling tournament that more heavily mixes in a bias for wrestling and competing on the feet. Where past years may have been full of collar-tie push/pull marathons, those grapplers have largely been lapped by a more aggressive and technical generation of stars who fight for the takedown in a more exciting way.

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That's not to say ADCC hasn't had great wrestling - it's where we have seen some of the best crossover athletes in submission grappling history. High caliber champions like Mark Kerr, Ben Askren, Gerardi Rinaldi, and more have crossed over and taken the mats. Now, though, the general level across the board is as strong as ever.

We picked out ten of the best wrestlers in the field who fans can get excited about as we get closer to the tournament in T-Mobile.

1. Michael Pixley

Michael is certainly the most accomplished wrestler in the field, with a long list of high school and collegiate accolades to his credit. The Pedigo Submission Fighting representative has the most notorious slide-by in submission grappling and his front headlock is a truly punishing position. He used this series to great success to win West Coast Trials with a high submission rate.

In a tournament and a division where so much of it will be decided on the feet, who can take down Michael Pixley? Who can he not take down? That alone makes him a danger to anyone in the bracket.

2. Dorian Olivarez

Dorian's style seems tailor-made for ADCC rules, with his folkstyle and freestyle background giving him the most impressive wrestling credentials in the -66kg division. He is a nationally-ranked high school wrestler right now, making him the only athlete ranked by both FloWrestling and FloGrappling.

Dorian is going to be a nightmare in the -66kg bracket for anyone. Even to beat him will take a Herculean effort, and his passing, takedowns, scrambling, and pace make him a possible candidate for gold.

3. Kendall Reusing

Kendall is likely the best women's wrestler in the field, and after disaster ended her 2022 run she is back with a vengeance at +65kg. With most of the field back, she will be relying heavily on her background in freestyle wrestling - including time spent on age level USA World teams - to make a run in not only her own division but potentially the absolute.

4. Gairbeg Ibragimov

This is a little bit of Dagestani-bias, but Gairbeg is a very impressive takedown artist who has stood with the likes of Fabricio Andrey and beat Ash Williams at Euro Trials. He's very positionally strong and hand fights hard, making him a defensive problem for everyone at -66kg.

5. Elder Cruz

Elder is another wrestling-based grappler who doesn't open himself up to many mistakes, and now at his new weight of -88kg he is a physical force capable of moving around anyone. The CheckMat black belt has a very quick shot and some of the best takedowns in the weight, especially when he is aggressively imposing himself.

6. PJ Barch

PJ deserves an inclusion just for securing the 'Takedown of the Tournament' in 2022, his big throw over 2-time champion JT Torres. The former division-1 wrestler and 10th-Planet rep is a very complete grappler who is perhaps the best pure wrestler at -77kg - not to mention huge for the weight.

7. Diogo Reis

The Baby Shark really announced himself - and his wrestling - last ADCC when he tore through the field to win -66kg. Now he is back to defend that title and if he wants to be successful it will take another wrestling based performance. 

8. Amanda Leve

Amanda is a physical force at -65kg, having dummied around many of her opponents at the North American Trials before losing by injury in the West Coast finals. Her ability to impose a pace and pressure on the feet is going to be unmatched at that weight class and Leve could take gold just off how strong that aspect of her game is.

9. JT Torres

While he doesn't have any wrestling base to speak of, JT has some of the best takedowns and takedown defense in the world of submission grappling. His arm drags, trips, shots, and more have been successful for many years as the New York-based black belt is a two-time ADCC World Champion.

10. Alex Enriquez

Alex is a really solid wrestler who is able to dictate matches at -55kg using that edge on the field. She has great transition wrestling and is very hard to take down, meaning she is likely to spend a lot of time on top at ADCC Worlds.

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