The 2019 ADCC World Championship is almost exactly six months away, and in a few days we will know the names of seven more athletes confirmed to compete in Los Angeles. 

The ADCC South American Trials take place in Sao Paulo on March 30 and there are a total of 322 athletes registered to compete. There are a number of notable names that fans of jiu-jitsu will recognize, which we’ll highlight below. 

The 66kg division includes ADCC 2015 veteran Alexandre Vieira of Brazilian Top Team, and 2015 ADCC Trials silver medalist Fernando Carsalade Pena of Gracie Barra (aka youngest brother to ADCC champ Felipe Pena). There are two particularly young competitors signed up: 2019 Pan purple belt champ Fabricio Andrey of Alliance, and brown belt Raul Basilio of Almeida JJ, brother to ADCC veteran Bianca Basilio. 

Matheus Lutes

77kg is the biggest division by far with a staggering 88 entrants. Fans of jiu-jitsu will recognize the likes of Gabriel Rollo and Marcelo “Lapela” Mafra of Checkmat, both excellent no-gi fighters. Alliance are sending a number of high-profile athletes, including the surging Matheus Lutes, the brown belt double gold World No-Gi champion and KASAI veteran who trains with ADCC legend Marcelo Garcia. Also in is Fabio Caloi, one of the instructors at Alliance HQ in Sao Paulo. ADCC veterans Leonardo “Leozada” Nogueira and Milton Vieira, both luta livre experts, are also signed up, as is Servio Tulio of Gracie Barra, a black belt training partner of Felipe Pena. 

Matheus Diniz

Isaque Bahiense will take another crack at qualifying for ADCC. The 88kg grappler took silver at Trials in 2015 losing to Felipe Pena. Incredibly, Bahiense was still only a purple belt then, while Pena went on to place second in the -99kg division that year. We can expect to see Matheus Diniz of Alliance compete too, as well as Gabriel Almeida of Checkmat, who recently took silver at the IBJJF European Championships. 

Two notable ADCC veterans at 99kg are Cristiano Lazzarini of Gracie Barra, who competed in 2007 and 2013. Salomao Diego Ribeiro returns for another shot, following his first round exit at the 2017 ADCC in Finland. Also in are Helton Junior of Atos and Thiago Sa of Checkmat. 

The big names at +99kg include Antonio Braga Neto of Gordo Jiu-Jitsu, ADCC veteran Bruno Bastos, IBJJF World champion Gabriel “Fedor” Lucas of Checkmat and man-mountain Kitner Moura. 

Mayssa Bastos

The highlights of the women’s divisions are Mayssa Bastos of GF Team at -60kg– one of the smallest competitors at only 47kg, the IBJJF World No-Gi and EBI champion will have her hands full with competitors who outweigh her by up to 13kg (28lb). European champion and Pan medalist Carina Santi of G13 will compete in the +60kg division. 

The number of entrants per division are as below: 

• 66kg: 56 competitors 
• 77kg: 88 competitors 
• 88kg: 76 competitors 
• 99kg: 47 competitors 
• +99kg: 31 competitors 
• -60kg: 14 competitors 
• +60kg: 10 competitors 

For a full list of confirmed and qualified 2019 ADCC competitors click here.