ADCC World Championship: Everything You Need to Know

The ADCC World Championship is one of the most prestigious no-gi submission tournaments in the world. Participating in such a tremendous grappling competition is always a huge honor, no matter the size of the competition.

This article provides an in-depth look at the ADCC world championship, including the rules, weight divisions, and qualification process. Be sure to read it to stay up to date!

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The ADCC World Championship: An Overview

The ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship is a grappling competition featuring the world’s best grappler athletes.

The ADCC, which means “Abu Dhabi Combat Club,” started the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship in Abu Dhabi. Then, the tournament has been held in several countries such as Brazil, United Kingdom, and United States.

This esteemed submission grappling competition takes place every two years and is regarded as one of the best in the world.

ADCC World Championship Qualification Process

Competitors must defeat their foes first in continental qualifying events (known under the name ADCC trials) to unlock access to the legendary ADCC event.

The second way is to get an invitation from the ADCC organization. Again, you can be a celebrity or an athlete with a lot of success, but it is not mandatory.

The third way is to earn the automatic qualification by winning the medal in the previous World Championships or participating as the former ADCC division title holder.

Related: Learn all you need to know about the qualifications for the ADCC World Championship by reading our in-depth article. Click here!

ADCC World Weight Divisions

Each male divisions contain sixteen fighters – eight qualifiers, seven invitations, and the reigning defending ADCC champion.

However, this is not the strict rule because the returning champion or a trial winner (even an invitee) has the right to change the weight class.

There are only five professional male weight classes: -65.9kg, -76.9kg, -87.9kg, -98.9kg and +99kg. This is the place for the best of the best grappling phenoms.

Regarding women’s divisions, the situation is slightly different. Only eight athletes per weight class will get the chance to compete in ADCC World 2022 in Las Vegas. This includes the defending ADCC champion, three invitees, and four athletes who make it through the qualifications.

This means the following – female winners of North And South American 2^nd Trial, Asia & Oceania Trial, or European Qualifier gets the opportunity to grapple in the ADCC world.

Only two professional female weight classes are -60 kg and +60 kg. This event reminds me of a potential Olympic Grappling Tournament (unfortunately, grappling’s not the Olympic sport yet, but let’s hope it will change in the years to come).

World ADCC Championship Rule Set

Aside from other BJJ grappling tournaments, ADDC rules are a bit more liberal. For example, the referee will tolerate a slam if you’re trapped in a submission.

However, if your opponent lets it go, you must forget about the slam, or the referee will sanction you.

You can win via any choke, but your hand mustn’t close the windpipe. Arm bars, shoulder locks, and wrist locks are perfectly legal.

Besides, all kinds of leg locks are allowed (heel hooks are also allowed, among the most compelling submissions in BJJ).

Yet, some rules are kinda controversial. For example, you mustn’t front roll when the opponent is on your back, nor lock your opponent into “full Nelson” or crucifix.

Interestingly, crossface guillotine twisting the chin is also prohibited (it is way more dangerous than, for example, a crucifix trap).

Related: Competitors should be aware of the regulations and guidelines for participating in the most important contests. Doing so will give them a valuable learning experience. Click here for further information!

How Do a Competitor Will an ADCC Match?

An ADCC competitor is declared the winner if he arrives to tap out his opponent. However, if the submission does not occur during the fight, the winner will be determined according to the scored points or the judge’s decision when there is equality.

The following is the ADCC scoring points system, the actions that give competitors points:

Passing the guard = 3 points;
Knee on the belly = 2 points;
Mount position = 2 points;
Back mount with hooks = 3 points;
Takedown (ends guard or half guard) = 2 points;
Clean Takedown (ends passed the guard) = 4 points;
Sweeps (ends guard or half guard) = 2 points;
Clean Sweep (ends passed the guard) = 4 points.

ADCC World Championship 2024

ADCC World Championship 2022 (Results)

Men 66kg Results

Round of 16 Results (66kg)

Sam McNally Move to the quarterfinal by defeating Garry Tonon by points 3:0.
Diogo Reis outperformed Ashley Williams by points 2:0 and moved to the quarterfinal.
Jeremy Skinner defeated AJ Agazarm and moved to the quarterfinal.
Fabricio Andrey conquered Cole Abate by the referee’s decision and moved to the quarterfinal.
Diego Oliveira conquered Keith Krikorian and moved to the quarterfinal.

Otherwise, Josh Cisneros, Gabriel Sousa, Diego Oliveira, and Kenny Maciel also moved to the quarterfinal.

Quarterfinals Results (66kg)

Diogo Reis advances to the semi-finals after beating Fabricio Andrey by a referee’s decision.
Joshua Cisneros advances to the semi-finals after defeating Sam McNally by the referee’s decision.
Diego “Pato” Oliveira advances to the semi-finals by submitting Kennedy Maciel with a leglock.
Gabriel Sousa advances to the semi-finals with a mounted triangle choke on Jeremy Skinner.

Semi-finals (66kg)

Gabriel Sousa vs Diego “Pato” Oliveira: Diego “Pato” Oliveira lost against Gabriel Sousa by referee decision.
Joshua Cisneros vs Diogo Reis: Joshua Cisneros lost against Diogo
Reis by points 0-2.

3rd Place (66kg)

Joshua Cisneros vs Diego “Pato” Oliveira: Diego “Pato” Oliveira beat Josh Cisneros via negative points to become the new -66kg ADCC World bronze medalist.

Final (66kg)

Gabriel Sousa vs Diogo Reis: Diogo “Baby shark” Reis defeated Gabriel Sousa via points to become the -66kg ADCC 2022 World Champion.

Men 77kg Results

Round of 16 Results (77kg)

JT Torres outperformed Kenta Iwamoto by the referee’s decision and moved on to the quarters.
Mateusz Szczecinski conquered William Tackett by a leglock submission and advanced to the quarterfinal.
PJ Barch defeated Tommy Langaker and moved on to the quarterfinal.
Mica Galvao dominated Oliver Taza. He won by points 5-0 and to the quarterfinal.
Dante Leon defeated Magid Hage via reverse triangle choke submission and secured his set in the quarterfinal.
Nicky Ryan lost against Renato Canuto by points 5-0 after an overtime period.
Kade Ruotolo surprised Lachlan Giles by arm attack and eliminated him from the tournament.
Roberto Jimenez Defeated Andy Varela by an RNC Choke.

Quarterfinals Results (77kg)

JT Torres lost against PJ Barch
Kade Ruotolo surprised Roberto Jimenez with a quick heel hook submission.
Mica Galvao conquered Renato Canuto by a sneaky armlock.
Dante Leon won Mateusz Szczecinski.

Semi-finals (77kg)

PJ Barch vs Kade Ruotolo: Kade Ruotolo defeated PJ Barch using an armbar submission.
Mica Galvao vs Dante Leon: Mica Galvao took out Dante Leon by a point 2-0 after overtime.

3rd Place (77kg)

Dante Leon vs PJ Barch: Dante Leon submitted PJ Barch by an armbar and won the 2022 ADCC World 77Kg bronze medal.

Finals (77kg)

Mica Galvao vs Kade Ruotolo: Ruotolo defeated Mica Galvao to become the youngest ADCC World Champion. The 77kg bracket was highly competitive, but Kade managed his fights well and won them by submission.

Men 88kg Results

Round of 16 Results (88kg)

Matheus Diniz defeated Roberto Dib Frias by points with a late takedown.
Lucas Barbosa conquered Santeri Lilius by points 3-0.
Vagner Rocha bested Izaak Michell via the referee’s decision after an overtime period.
Giancarlo Bodoni outclassed Isaque Bahiense via points 6-0.
Mason Fowler defeated Alexandre De Jesus by a guillotine choke.
Xande Ribeiro lost against Eoghan O’ Flanagan via points 3-0. Xande tried everything to pass Eoghan’s guard, but he wasn’t successful.
Pedro Marinho defeated Jacob Rodriguez by points 3-2 during an epic match.
Josh Hinger outclassed Tye Ruotolo by points 2-0.

Quarterfinals Results (88kg)

Matheus Diniz lost against Giancarlo Bodoni by a triangle choke submission after taking down Diniz and passing his guard.
Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa conquered his teammate Josh Hinger by points 7-0.
Mason Fowler lost against Eoghan O’ Flanagan by a heel hook submission.
Vagner Rocha overcame Pedro Marinho in a mostly standing bout by referee decision after overtime.

Semi-finals (88kg)

Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa vs Vagner Rocha: Barbosa outclassed Vagner Rocha by the referee’s decision after the overtime.
Giancarlo Bodoni vs Eoghan O’Flanagan: Bodoni defeated Eoghan O’Flanagan using an exceptional toe hold.

3rd Place (88kg)

Vagner Rocha vs. Eoghan O’Flanagan: Rocha defeated Eoghan O’Flanagan via toe hold and won the -88kg ADCC World 2022 bronze medal.

Finals (88kg)

Giancarlo Bodoni Vs. Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa: Giancarlo Bodoni won Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa by RNC submission to become the new -88kg ADCC World Champion.

Men 99kg Results

Round of 16 Results (99kg)

Kaynan Duarte conquered Owen Livesey by points 8-0.
Elder Cruz Won Patrick Gaudio by a referee’s decision after the overtime.
Craig Jones defeated Joao Costa after 18 seconds from that start by heel hook submission.
Vinicius Ferreira Dominated Paul Ardila by a referee’s decision after the overtime.
Devhonte Johnson lost against Kyle Boehm via the referee’s decision in overtime.
Rafael Lovato Jr. defeated Perttu Tepponen via RNC choke in the overtime after taking down Perttu and back-take him.
Nicholas Meregali won Henrqiue Ceconi by a kimura lock.
Luke Griffith lost against Yuri Simoes.

Quarterfinals Results (99kg)

Kaynan Duarte defeated Elder Cruz by points 5-2.
Rafael Lovato Jr. outclassed Vinicius “Trator” Ferreira by points 2-0.
Craig Jones defeated Kyle Boehm by a guillotine choke after Boehm shot a failed double leg.
Nicholas Meregali outclassed Yuri Simoes by a referee’s decision after overtime in a fight that was mostly standing.

Semi-finals (99kg)

Nicholas Meregali vs. Craig Jones: Craig Jones defeated Nicholas Meregali by the referee’s decision after the overtime.
Kaynan Duarte vs. Rafael Lovato Jr : Duarte defeated Rafael Lovato Jr.

3rd Place (99kg)

Nicholas Meregali vs. Rafael Lovato Jr: Nicholas Meregali is the -99kg ADCC 2022 World Bronze medalist, defeating Rafael Lovato Jr.

Finals (99kg)

Craig Jones Vs. Kaynan Duarte: Kaynan Duarte won Craig Jones by points to become a two-time ADCC World Champion in two different weight classes.

Men +99kg Results

Round of 16 Results (+99kg)

Gordon Ryan Dominated Heikki Jussila using an RNC choke.
Victor Hugo dominated Daniel Manasiou by points 3-0 after Hugo took Daniel’s back.
Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu lost against Haisam Rida via a quick armbar.
Joao Gabriel lost against Roosevelt Sousa via a heel hook submission.
Felipe Pena won Josh Saunders via points 8-0.
Orlando Sanchez lost Max Gimenis via an arm triangle choke.
Nick Rodriguez won Damon Ramos points 8-0.
Vinny Magelhaes give up against John Hansen due to an injury.

Quarterfinals Results (+99kg)

Gordon Ryan dominated Victor Hugo via points 8-0.
Haisam Rida lost against Roosevelt Sousa by points 2-0 after a successful takedown.
Felipe Pena defeated Max Gimenis by an RNC choke.
Nick Rodriguez outclassed John Hansen via RNC choke after taking the back control.

Semi-finals (+99kg)

Gordon Ryan vs. Roosevelt Sousa: Gordon Ryan defeated Roosevelt Sousa using a heel hook submission after only 11 seconds.
Felipe Pena vs Nick Rodriguez: Nick Rodriguez outclassed Felipe Pena by points 3-0 after passing Pena’s guard.

3rd Place (+99kg)

Felipe Pena vs Roosevelt Sousa: Sousa won Felipe Pena via Walkover since Pena chose not to compete. So, Sousa is the +99kg weight class ADCC Wold 2022 bronze medalist.

Finals (+99kg)

Gordon Ryan vs. Nick Rodriguez: Ryan beat Nick Rodriguez via heel hook submission to become the only ADCC World Champion in three different weight classes (-88kg, -99kg, +99Kg).

Absolute Weight Class Result

Yuri Simoes won Nicholas Meregali via negative points to become the new Absolute ADCC World champion.
Tye Ruotolo defeated Roberto Cyborg Abreu to become the Absolute ADCC World 2022 bronze medalist.

ADCC 2022 Superfight Winner

Gordon Ryan won the 2022 ADCC Super fight by deafening Andre Galvao via RNC submission 4 minutes from the bout’s end.

Women -60kg Results

Quarterfinals Results (W -60kg)

Bia Basilio took out Julia Maele by a rear naked choke.
Elvira Karppinen lost against Brianna Ste-Marie by points 3-0.
Ffion Davies dominated Adele Fornarino via rear naked choke.
Bia Mesquita took out Mayssa Bastos.

Semi-finals (W -60kg)

Bia Basilio vs. Brianna Ste-Marie: Ste-Marie took out Bia Basilio.
Ffion Davies vs. Bia Mesquita: Ffion Davies defeated Bia Mesquita by points 6-0.

3rd Place (W -60kg)

Bia Basilio vs. Bia Mesquita: Bia Mesquita defeated Bia Basilio via RNC choke to become the women -60kg ADCC World 2022 bronze medalist.

Final (W -60kg)

Ffion Davies Vs. Brianna Ste-Marie: Ffion Davies dominated Brianna Ste-Marie by her massive pressure from the top. Then, three minutes from the bout’s end, Ffion submits Brianna using an RNC choke.

Women +60kg Results

Quarterfinals Results (W +60kg)

Gabi Garcia took out Nikki Lloyd-Griffiths by an armbar submission.
Amy Campo conquered Elizabeth Clay by point 3-0 after mounting over Clay.
Eleftheria Christodolou lost against Rafaela Guedes by points 2-0.
Giovanna Jara lost against Kendall Reusing via guillotine choke.

Semi-finals (W +60kg)

Gabi Garcia vs. Amy Campo: Amy Campo outclassed Gabi Garcia in a great fight and moved to the final.

Rafaela Guedes vs. Kendall Reusing: Rafaela Guedes got the pass to the final by defeating Kendall Reusing via submission.

3rd Place(W +60kg)

Gabi Garcia vs. Kendall Reusing: Gabi Garcia won the women’s +60kg World ADCC 2022 bronze medal by outclassing Kendall Reusing.

Finals (W +60kg)

Rafaela Guedes vs. Amy Campo: Amy Campo beat Rafaela Guedes by points 3-2 after a late back take. So, she becomes the new women’s +60kg World ADCC 2022 champion.

Conclusion

The ADCC Submission Fighting Championship in 2022 will be fantastic, as it always is. There will be many prestigious fights, including the super fight Gordon Ryan vs. Andre Galvao, which will excite the audience and increase their adrenaline.

ADCC Submission Fighting Championship didn’t take place in 2021, but postponement should lead to even greater desire and better fights. The best of the best grapplers are coming to Las Vegas to show us the greatest shrimps, sweeps, transitions, submission switches, and superb finishes and evades!

The superstars of the grappling scene will keep you entertained; this event is worth it! Buy a seat, or if you can’t travel, don’t forget to download your FloGrappling app and enjoy the most excellent grappling events; click here!

Related Article: Click here to learn about Gordon Ryan vs. Andre Galvao ADCC 2022 Super fight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Has Won the Most ADCC World Championships?

André Galvão currently holds the most ADCC World Championship titles. He has won six ADCC World Championships, including four super fights.

Who Won the Previous ADCC Championships?

Augusto Mendes, JT Torres, Matheus Diniz, Gordon Ryan, and Kaynan Duarte were the ADCC 2019 male weight class winners. Yet, Bianca Basilio and Gabrielle Garcia were the ADCC 2019 female weight class winners.

The following table represents the ADCC champions since 2013.

Weight Class / Year	2022	2019	2017	2015	2013
Men -66 kg	Diogo Reis	Augusto Mendes	Rubens Charles	Rubens Charles	Rubens Charles
Men -77 kg	Kade Ruotolo	JT Torres	JT Torres	Davi Ramos	Kron Gracie
Men -88 kg	Giancarlo Bodoni	Matheus Diniz	Gordon Ryan	Yuri Simoes	Romulo Barral
Men -99 kg	Kaynan Duarte	Gordon Ryan	Yuri Simoes	Rodolfo Vieira	Joao Assis
Men +99 Kg	Gordon Ryan	Kaynan Duarte	Marcus Almeida	Orlando Sanchez	Marcus Almeida
Men Absolute	Yuri Simoes	Gordon Ryan	Felipe Pena	Claudio Calasans	Roberto Abreu
Women -60 kg		Bianca Basilio	Beatriz Mesquita	Mackenzie Dern	Michelle Nicolini
+60 kg		Gabrielle Garcia	Gabrielle Garcia	Ana Laura Cordeiro	Gabrielle Garcia