Keenan Cornelius may be renowned for his achievements in the gi -- including his ever-evolving lapel game -- but he is no slouch at no-gi.

A multiple-time IBJJF world no-gi champion and two-time ADCC medalist, Cornelius will be heading to Espoo, Finland, this weekend to fight in the ADCC 2017 World Championships.

His goal? To capture what has eluded him twice already: the gold medal.


Keenan vs Yuri Simoes in the 88kg final at ADCC 2015. Photo: Hywel Teague

Cornelius' first taste of the ADCC rule set was shortly after he received his brown belt, following his IBJJF World Championship win in 2012. Two months later, he entered the ADCC North American Trials and won both the 88kg and absolute division, securing his spot to compete at the 2013 ADCC Championships in Beijing, China.

At the time, Cornelius was competing under Team Lloyd Irvin. Following the TLI scandal that erupted in early 2013, he and several teammates picked up and headed west, joining Atos' growing competition team, led by Andre Galvao.

The move proved fortuitous for Cornelius' ADCC prospects. Having won the 2011 ADCC absolute division -- and the coveted 2013 ADCC Super Fight spot -- Galvao set up a rigorous training camp to prepare for the championships.

Cornelius took double bronze that year in China, losing to Romulo Barral in the 88kg division semifinals and Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu in the semis of the absolute division. Shortly after, he was awarded his black belt by Galvao. He then received an invite to the 2015 ADCC Championships in Sao Paulo, where he took silver in the 88kg division, losing only to Yuri Simoes in the finals.

A win at the 2017 ADCC Championships will put Cornelius directly in the footsteps of Galvao's ADCC journey.

"If I can win gold this year, I will be on the exact same track as Andre, because Andre took double bronze his first year he competed," Cornelius said. "The second year he didn't do absolute, but he took silver. So this year if I can win gold, we will exactly mirror each other's first years.

 That's the goal. And then I'll win one absolute and then three super fights and it will be exactly the same.

All joking aside, if there's any American in the sport today who can pull that off, it's Cornelius.


Keenan Cornelius ready to go at ADCC 2015. Photo: Hywel Teague

Of Keenan's 146 recorded career matches -- both gi and no-gi -- he has won an incredible 122 (83 percent). Of those, 77 have been via submission. In this year alone, Cornelius has won 38 out of 39 matches, losing only to fellow teammate Josh Hinger in the 91kg no-gi division finals at the American Nationals.

This year, Cornelius' ADCC division looks to be favorable toward this end.

"I think for me, I'm pretty comfortable against everyone," he said. "I don't think there's anyone in the division that I haven't fought unless they're not one of the bigger names. But of all the big names in the division, I've pretty much faced them all.

I know what everyone has to offer. I have the same, if not more, experience than all of them. So I think I'm in a very good spot.

The 88kg division features an interesting mix of seasoned ADCC veterans such as multiple-time ADCC champion Xande Ribeiro, former ADCC champions Pablo Papovich and Romulo Barral, and tough up-and-comers including Gordon Ryan, Dillon Danis, and Cornelius' own teammate Kaynan Duarte, who won the South American Trials as a purple belt. Multiple-time IBJJF World Champion black belt Leandro Lo will also be making his ADCC debut in the bracket.

Cornelius expects experience to be a key factor. Because ADCC features a rule set very distinct from that of IBJJF and many submission-only tournaments, he expects the less-experienced competitors to struggle.

"I think the division is stacked as far as names go -- like popular names in the jiu jitsu scene -- but as far as the toughness level of the fighters, I think it's a little… I don't want to say overrated but maybe overhyped," he said. "A lot of these guys have very big names, but they don't have the competition experience.

"That's a huge part of ADCC, is experience. And a lot of the guys in there, the younger guys that are just coming in, have only fought one or even no ADCCs at all. That's not going to be an issue when fighting against the other young guys, but it is going to be an issue fighting against the super experienced guys."


Keenan tying up with noted wrestler Rustam Chsiev at ADCC 2015. Photo: Hywel Teague

For the typically guard-playing Cornelius, fighting no-gi almost brings out an entirely different jiu-jitsu player, one who shoots for takedowns and looks for leg locks.

"Yeah, I have to change a lot about how I grapple," he said. "Basically ADCC doesn't give you a lot of creativity in how you can fight. You have to just go out there, the first five minutes you just go hard as f*ck, try to submit the guy, hope you can submit him in five minutes, and if you can't, then it's a wrestling match, and then the better wrestler wins at that point."

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