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.

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.

ADCC is where we saw the heel hook really evolve into the dominant submission hold we see today and where leg locking truly became an art. Now, every competitor needs to have serious skill in recognizing and defending leg locks or they risk losing (and potentially losing very quickly).

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.

Em sua terceira participação no maior torneio de Grappling do mundo, Ffion Davies conquistou o ouro do ADCC na categoria até 60kg, tornando-se a primeira atleta nascida na Grã-Bretanha a subir no lugar mais alto pódio do ADCC. Davies, que é do País de Gales, derrotou Brianna Ste-Marie na final da divisão por 10 a 0.

Kade Ruotolo cravou seu nome para sempre na história do ADCC. Em sua campanha na edição 2022, Ruotulo conquistou a medalha de ouro na categoria até 77kg após finalizar todos os seus adversários e, aos 19 anos, se tornou o campeão mais jovem da história do ADCC.

Gordon Ryan gravou seu nome nos livros de história do ADCC com sua vitória por finalização sobre Nick Rodriguez na final acima de 99kg, tornando-se o primeiro atleta da história a conquistar títulos em três categorias de peso diferentes no evento. No último final de semana, Ryan venceu a categoria acima de 99kg e a super luta contra André Galvão para se consagrar pentacampeão do evento.

Ffion Davies won ADCC gold in the -60kg division on her third appearance at the tournament, becoming the first British-born athlete to stand atop the ADCC podium.