For the better part of the last two decades, America's "Meccas" of Brazilian jiu-jitsu have been concentrated in a handful of locations: New York City, Baltimore, South Florida, and Southern California. In the last three years, following the COVID-era relocations, the ascendance of the Tackett Brothers, and the arrival of B-Team and New Wave Jiu-Jitsu, Austin, Texas became a de facto hub of elite jiu-jitsu, especially for no-gi jiu-jitsu. 

It’s been about a decade since Atlanta was in the conversation among top jiu-jitsu cities in America. The city’s last big peak was in the early 2010s during the heyday of Alliance HQ as a championship training hub for the likes of Cobrinha, Lucas Lepri, Leo Nogueira, and more. Though a number of well-respected coaches and competitors have continued to call Atlanta ‘home’ – Roberto Traven, Bruno Frazatto, and Alec Baulding, to name a few – in the last ten years, Atlanta has receded from the spotlight relative to other cities with talent shining more brightly. 

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Entering ADCC 2024, however, a few high-powered hopefuls – Alex Enriquez, Ryan Aitken, and Paul Ardila – are keen on putting Atlanta back on the map as a hotspot for top-tier grappling. Unlike the Atlanta surge in the 2010s, concentrated under one academy, this crop of Atlanta-bred talent hails from different backgrounds, academies, and experiences. This year's cohort at ADCC has an unprecedented opportunity not only for their careers but for an entire city – to revitalize attention and interest in the Atlanta jiu-jitsu scene.

ADCC East Coast Trials Winner, Alex Enriquez

Originally from the Philippines, Alex Enriquez and her family immigrated to the Atlanta area when she was five. She started training before entering the sixth grade. Twenty years later, as the 3x All-American wrestler and No-Gi World Champion aims to add “ADCC Champion” to her resume, she predicts she’s far from the last homegrown grappler to hit the big stage.

“I believe the Atlanta jiu-jitsu scene is different from other metro areas,” Enriquez said. “We’re still a growing community where more stars are beginning to be built from the colored belts. In the next five years, the jiu-jitsu community will be seeing even more athletes from Atlanta.”

Returning to form after sustaining a severe concussion in late 2023, a fully-recovered Enriquez aims to bring her best self to the mats at ADCC this week, where she makes her debut in the rebooted -55kg women’s division, a bracket ripe with interesting new matchups (Brenda Larissa, Mayssa Bastos) and rubber matches (Adele Fornarino, Jasmine Rocha).

Training under Bruno Frazatto, Enriquez is perhaps the most-renowned grappler from Atlanta heading to ADCC. As she heads to the big show, she said she wants to demonstrate not only her own personal growth from her camp in the last ten weeks but also of the city’s burgeoning jiu-jitsu in the last ten years. 

“I hope to show the growth of high-level jiu-jitsu coming from Atlanta over the years since I began training jiu-jitsu, from age 11 to the present time.”

ADCC Rookie and EBI Absolute Champion, Ryan Aitken

Better known among the EBI and 10th Planet crowd, Ryan Aitken is something of a sleeper heading into the -88kg division at ADCC.

Born and raised in the Atlanta area, Aitken started jiu-jitsu as a high school freshman. Twenty years later, the teenage kid who struggled with his confidence and was bullied in high school isn’t someone to pick a fight with, now a two-time Combat Jiu-Jitsu Middleweight Champion and EBI Absolute Champion. 

From fighting MMA to focusing on BJJ, Aitken’s journey has been one of ups and downs, with 2020 serving as a major inflection point for Aitken: 

“COVID comes along, I realized that there’s a world class coach [Sean Applegate] for no-gi 30 minutes down the street, and I was like, ‘Okay, what if I go all in on the no-gi, I transition to a different gym, and I double down on these [10th Planet] guys that I'm frankly scared of facing in competition?’”

Ever since switching from Alliance to 10th Planet Atlanta and indexing on no-gi under the tutelage of Applegate, Aitken has been on the come-up. He currently boasts a 12-0 record across EBI and CJJ rulesets, with a recent notable win over New Wave’s “Big Dan” Manasiou in the EBI Absolutes championship. He also threw down against fellow -88kg ADCC invitee, Andre Porfirio, submitting him by rear-naked choke at the Engima Invitational earlier this summer. 

ADCC is an opportunity for the Atlanta athlete to break through in a different ruleset: 

“The last four times I've done Trials, I've made it to the top eight. It sucks. After the last one, I was just like, ‘I’m probably just always going to be a top eight guy when it comes to these points-based tournaments.’”

However, with the invite to ADCC and the mentorship of Sean Applegate, Aitken said that his confidence and understanding of the ruleset has improved, and he’s excited to put everything on the line on the biggest stage of the sport.

“When I first joined 10th Planet, winning the EBI absolute was the mission,” he said. “Combat Jiu-Jitsu was really cool, but winning EBI was the mission. I don't know if I can top [winning the EBI Absolute], honestly, but winning ADCC would be incredible.”

In -88kg, the Aitken has potential opportunity to take advantage of the big stage to run back previous ADCC Trials losses against Giancarlo Bodoni, Elder Cruz, and Chris Wojcik or to repeat his successes against Jacob Couch, whom he defeated by decision at the ADCC Chicago open last fall.

Regardless of the outcome, the Atlanta-based athlete is excited to be on the big stage and hopes to put on a show: 

“I love the cheering. I love getting the hand raised. Being able to submit somebody and then stand up and raise your hand: it’s the biggest high you can ever ask for.”

ADCC Veteran and Full-Time Attorney, Paul Ardila

Paul Ardila is somewhat less prominent on the scene than most grapplers at -99kg–not for lack of skill but for lack of time on social media. Ardila, a full-time lawyer with his own practice in the Midtown Atlanta area, has led an accomplished second life as a full-time athlete for the last fifteen years. 

Ardila and his family came to the US in the 90s, as political refugees from Colombia. He started wrestling at age fourteen and was introduced to jiu-jitsu by his brother, Sergio, in 2009 after a car accident when he was eighteen. He continued training and competing through college, law school, and, eventually, his career as a lawyer. 

Training out of American Top Team under Roan Carneiro, Ardila is a rare breed for balancing his off-the-mat and on-the-mat careers at the highest level, but perhaps what stands out most about Ardila is his consistency in performance over time. He’s won the ADCC North American Trials four times–West Coast Trials in 2015, 2017, and 2022 and East Coast Trials in 2023–and this week marks Ardila’s fifth appearance at ADCC, having competed in the event in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, and now 2024. 

Ardila has gotten some tough first-round matchups over the years at ADCC: Vinny Magalhães, Jackson Sousa, and Vinicius Trator, who will be competing again this year at -99kg. But his record against others in the division suggests that this could be a big year for the Atlanta attorney, depending on the draw. He’s submitted West Coast Trials Winner Michael Pixley and invitee Daishi Goto, and if he rematches Trator again, a change of tactics might allow Ardila to find a W the third time around. 

Whether he gets a rubber match or an opportunity to face off against other opponents–fellow American, Rafael Lovato Jr., reigning champ Kaynan Duarte, favorite Nicholas Meregali, Ardila is hunting the sub and proud to represent his home turf.

“I hope to do my best, get some exciting submissions, and show some of the talent we have here in Atlanta. The more eyes on us the better. Atlanta has been growing rapidly and I hope the jiu-jitsu community here keeps growing with it. As long as we keep pushing to stay together, keep negative influences and petty drama away, we can become a powerhouse. I hope one day anyone who thinks of Atlanta thinks of the best place to travel for the best jiu-jitsu in the world. I hope we stay a community that can come together and train together and that our competitive collective mindset remains: ATL vs the World.” 

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