Just about two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of competing in one of the biggest BJJ tournaments of my life – the 2024 ADCC World Championships.

Without exaggeration, the talent pool for this -66kg division at ADCC 2024 is as deep as it has ever been. Every name is a championship-caliber grappler who had to rise above a field of hungry contenders just to make it here.

CheckMat always sends one of the strongest teams to the IBJJF World Championships, and in 2023 they delivered again with two champions in the black belt division. Jansen Gomes had the run of the tournament, beating two defending world champions on his way to gold, and Sam Nagai won his first world title at black belt by defeating two familiar foes. Relive all the best moments from CheckMat below.

Alliance is one of the most historically successfully organizations in competitive Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and every year they crown champions and earn medals in the Pyramid. In 2023, Alliance saw strong results again with black belts like Fellipe Andrew, Melissa Cueto, and Isaac Doederlein, and colored belts like Eduardo Alves and Helena Crevar, bringing home accolades.

Relive all of Art of Jiu Jitsu's best moments from the 2023 World Championships, with 4 black belt world champions, two more finalists, and impressive, technical skill shown from the entire team. Also hear from the athletes and coach Gui Mendes live from the tournament as they reflect in real time on the event and performances.

Every year brings a new crop of colored belt world champions and medalists, a group that has won the toughest tournament possible at their current rank and proven ready for higher levels of challenge. Below is a list of the 2023 IBJJF World Champions that have been promoted to the next highest rank since winning their bracket. The list will be updated every few days for the next few months to reflect ongoing promotions.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu has never seen the depth of talent that it has today, and because of that every year we see incredible athletes left off the IBJJF World Championship podium. Success in other major events, wins over champions, consistent deep runs in the bracket, and years of proven colored belt success can still only go so far when the best are competing for the top prize of being the gold medalist. Here are five world-class athletes that still have not won a medal at IBJJF Worlds, but have proven they are capable of not only beating the best - but potentially winning the tournament.

As the dust settles after the 2022 ADCC World Championships, ADCC has released the winners of their four prestigious awards given out at every ADCC Worlds. The awards are for best athlete, best takedown, best match and fastest submission.

Great news for the grappling world as Mo Jassim has been selected as the Head Organizer for the ADCC World Championships in 2024. This event will again be held in Las Vegas with a targeted date of September 2024, with trials kicking off at the East Coast Trials in November 2023.

The European trials have often been considered one of the "easiest" methods by which an athlete can earn entry to ADCC, especially compared to North American and South American trials.

Those who follow Amy Campo know that this season has been her breakout year, both in and out of the gi. In less than nine months, Campo racked up an outstanding victim list that brought her out of relative anonymity and increasingly into the competitive spotlight. She was runner-up at ADCC East Coast Trials (November 2021), brown belt double gold IBJJF World champion (December 2021), winner of ADCC West Trials (April 2022) and runner-up in the absolute division of her first IBJJF Worlds at Black Belt (June 2022).

The 2022 ADCC World Championships made history at every turn. It was the most well-attended ADCC of all time, during which several records were broken. Kade Ruotolo became the youngest-ever ADCC champ, Gordon Ryan became the first to hold titles in three different weight classes, Ffion Davies became the first Welsh Champion, Brianna Ste-Marie and Dante Leon shared honors as the first Canadian ADCC medalists.

O ano de 2022 vai estar para sempre na memória de Diogo Reis. O Baby Shark tornou-se o novo campeão do ADCC, maior torneio de grappling do jiu-jitsu, aos 21 anos de idade em sua primeira participação. Ele não teve tarefa fácil, precisou vencer atletas duríssimos e um amigo de equipe durante sua jornada até o ouro na divisão 66kg.

Yuri Simões está no seleto grupo de campeões do ADCC, além de ter conquistado a medalha de ouro em três categorias diferentes. Yuri foi campeão até 88kg em 2015, depois até 99kg em 2017 e, agora em 2022, é o novo rei do absoluto mais disputado do planeta.

Last week, eight athletes wrote their names into the ADCC history books, becoming champions of the 2022 edition of the tournament and the biggest grappling tournament in history. See the champions, the context, and each of their matches en route to gold below.