The AIGA is set to hold its next quarterfinal qualifier October 18-20 with teams from some of the biggest names in North American grappling, with all of the action streamed live on FloGrappling. The 2023 season saw a lot of ups-and-downs, with Team Modolfo ultimately winning the team title and the big cash prize. There were tons of upsets, great matches, and interesting matchups that we otherwise wouldn't have seen.

In the 2023 season, something that really stood out was how many of the global athletes were able to beat or stay competitive with known champions, with many who would go on to have success at the ADCC Trials first popping up through AIGA's Champion's League - including Gairbeg Ibragimov, Huaiqing Xu, and more.

Iff you aren't familiar with how it works here is a simplified explainer so you can follow and understand the team on team action.

How The Team vs Team Quarterfinals Work

• The team on team matches will be 7 vs 7, with weight categories similar to those of the ADCC Opens:
  • -60kg, -65kg, -70kg, -76kg, -83kg, -91kg, +91kg
• Whichever team wins at least four out of seven matches in any way will win the team head-to-head. If teams are tied to advance, criteria like head to head results and margin of victory will be considered.
• The team matches could start at any weight, those will be determined at the opening of the match after a coin flip gives one team the choice.

How AIGA Matches Work

• In the individual matches, the basic ruleset is ADCC points and penalties but with some modifications. That means:
  • Takedown - 2 points
  • Sweep - 2 points
  • Mount - 2 points
  • Guard pass - 3 points
  • Back mount - 3 points
• Like ADCC rules, establishing points for a takedown or sweep requires you to hold an opponent's back on the mat.
• The matches are structured as close to MMA as possible. Each bout is scheduled for three rounds of five minutes with a one minute break in between. Like ADCC, there is a no points period (in this case the first two minutes of each round).
  • Penalties and takedown points are still counted in those first two minutes.
• In the match, points are reset to 0 at the beginning of each round. Like MMA, whoever wins the most rounds wins the fight. A submission at any time ends the match, regardless of score.
  • Even if the total points favor one athlete, it's still just total rounds won that determines victory. If Athlete A wins round one 10-0 but Athlete B wins rounds two & three 2-0, then Athlete B wins the match.