After an additional year’s wait due to travel restrictions, the first ADCC event since the pandemic took place this past weekend and was a night to remember. The stage was set in Las Vegas, Nevada for the largest no-gi grappling event of the year. And boy, did it deliver.
Lightweight
The 66kg began in style. Number one seed Garry Tonon was eliminated by the Irish Sam McNally. After scoring a back take with a minute left on the clock, McNally eliminated the ONE FC star on points.
McNally would then go on to lose to eventual 4th place Josh Cisneros in the quarterfinals by decision. Cisneros was then bested by the eventual winner of the bracket Diogo Reis. “The Baby Shark” made his way through Cisneros and then defeated Gabriel Sousa on points for gold.
Results:
1st: Diogo Reis
2nd: Gabriel Sousa
3rd: Diego “Pato” Oliveira
4th: Josh Cisneros
Welterweight
The Australian leg lock machine Lachlan Giles looked like he was off to a promising start when he locked in a heel hook against Kade Ruotolo. But after managing to roll out and pass, Ruotolo took out the “Giantslayer” with an armbar.
Ruotolo was unstoppable throughout the tournament, finishing all opponents by submission and ending with his own heel hook against Mica Galvao in the finals.
Results:
1st: Kade Ruotolo
2nd: Mica Galvao
3rd: Dante Leon
4th: PJ Barch
Middleweight
Xande Ribeiro’s final ADCC would end in disappointment with his first-round loss to Eoghan O’Flanagan. The UK native scored a late back take leading to a points victory.
After making his way to the semi-finals, O’Flanagan was himself then eliminated by a rare Estima lock from Giancarlo Bodoni.
Bodoni then went on to finish Lucas Barbosa in the finals by rear naked choke to put the final touches on a phenomenal tournament.
Results
1st: Giancarlo Bodoni
2nd: Lucas Barbosa
3rd: Vagner Rocha
4th: Eoghan O’Flanagan
Light Heavyweight
Fan-favourite Craig Jones had a strong start to his first ADCC since splitting from the Danaher Death Squad. In the first round, the “B-Team” instructor finished Joao Costa in under a minute with a shoulder lock. He then hit a mean arm-in guillotine against Kyle Boehm to secure his semi-final spot.
Despite this, the weekend was owned by the man who defeated Jones in the finals. Kaynan Duarte added another ADCC gold medal to his trophy case after defeating Craig in the finals. Despite 8 penalty points being removed from Duarte’s score, he secured the victory over Craig after securing 12 points throughout the bout – with a net 4 points to Jones’ zero.
Results:
1st: Kaynan Duarte
2nd: Craig Jones
3rd: Nicholas Meregali
4th: Rafael Lovato Jr.
Heavyweight
Haisam Rida shocked the world when he finished Cyborg just 1 minute and 15 seconds into their match in the first round.
But the main story from the 99+kg division is of course that of Gordon Ryan. After just a few minutes of regulation time, he submit Heikki Jussila via rear naked choke in the first round. After defeating Victor Hugo on points in Round 2, Ryan won his semi-final match against Roosevelt Sousa in devastating fashion when he secured a heel hook in just 11 seconds.
The Danaher student then just needed two minutes to finish his former teammate Nicky Rod in the finals to become the first athlete ever to win ADCC in three different weight classes.
However, for Gordon Ryan, his event was not over as he had to then take on André Galvão in the super fight. Gordon Ryan dispatched of Galvão after taking his back, putting an end to his long undefeated super fight reign.
Results
1st: Gordon Ryan
2nd: Nicky Rod
3rd: Roosevelt Sousa
4th: Felipe Pena
Absolute
With Gordan Ryan sitting out of the absolute division this year, the title seemed more up for grabs than ever to the competitors. Yuri Simoes suffered a decision loss to Nicholas Meregali in the second round of the heavyweight tournament. In the absolute division, Yuri went through Lachlan Giles, Nick Rodriguez and Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu to secure his spot in the finals against none other than the man who eliminated him during their heavyweight clash.
In a bout that was decided by negative points, Simoes avenged his loss and became the Absolute division Champion in the process. He will now face Gordan Ryan in the 2024 ADCC super fight.
Results:
1st: Yuri Simoes
2nd: Nicholas Meregali
3rd: Tye Ruotolo
4th: Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu
Women’s Divisions
In the ever-growing women’s divisions, we saw all of the favourites make it through the initial rounds and into the semi-finals.
In the -60kg division, Wales secured its first and only ADCC champion with Ffion Davies pitching a complete shutout against Canada’s Brianna Ste-Marie. This also makes her the sole competitor hailing from the United Kingdom to secure a medal at this year’s event.
Results:
1st: Ffion Davies
2nd: Brianna Ste-Marie
3rd: Bia Mesquite
4th: Bianca Basilio
On the other side of the weight limit, the 2019 women’s 60+kg champ Gabi Garcia lost to eventual winner Amy Campo in the semi-finals. In a bout that went off the mats and onto the concrete, Campo made the last 20 seconds count to move through to the finals on points.
Campo became the first ADCC Women’s 60+kg champion when she won a close 3-2 match on points in the finals against Rafaela Guedes.
Results:
1st: Amy Campo
2nd: Rafaela Guedes
3rd: Gabi Garcia
4th: Kendall Reusing
What were your favourite matches from ADCC 2022?
Featured image credits to ADCC
