The road to ADCC 2025 picks up again this weekend as the Asian & Oceanic Trials bring some of the region’s best into one high-stakes tournament. Returning standouts like reigning Trials champion Jozef Chen, ADCC veteran Izaak Michell, and Japanese powerhouse Kenta Iwamoto headline a deep field loaded with fresh talent and rising regional prospects. Whoever wins the five men's divisions will be on their way to the ADCC World Championships in Krakou, Poland next year - so there's tons on the line for every athlete in those brackets.

All of the action will be going down in a one day tournament this weekend, starting on Saturday December 6th at 10pm Eastern Standard Time.

-66kg

This field is headlined by Canadian/Australian David Stoilescu but he's got a lot of tough matches here for the ticket. David has been traveling around the world training in different rooms and entering tons of big tournaments, so this may be a case of seeing all that experience pay off now. David was in East Coast Trials where he lost a tough one to top-4 placer Reece LeFever. Also in the mix here will be up-and-comers like purple belt IBJJF no-gi world medalist Spencer Quayle of Absolute MMA, Takuma Sudo, Connor Kearney, and Tamefusa Kotaro. All bring a lot of talent and youth, which has shown to be dangerous in these extended ADCC tournaments.

• David Stoilescu
• Spencer J. Quayle
• Takuma Sudo
• Connor Kearney
• Tamefusa Kotaro

-77kg

The big headline here is that Izaak Michell is down at -77kg after a few cycles winning Trials at -88kg. If he beats the scale, he will become of the bigger guys in the world at this weight. In his way will be a deep class of contenders, headlined by 3-time Trials champion Kenta Iwamoto. Both these guys came to wrestling a little later in life but have turned it into a main focus of their game - I expect some sick exchanges in this one and I don't know who to favor coming in. Also in the way will be last cycle's -66kg Trials winner Huaiqing Xu, guard specialist Ariel Tabak, and Brodie Greco.

• Kenta Iwamoto
• Izaak Michell
• Huaiqing Xu
• Ariel Tabak
• Brodie Greco

-88kg

This is the weight with the clearest favorite, as Jozef Chen is in for -88kg. He's a prior Trials champion in Europe at -77kg and now he bumps up here. It remains to be seen if this is just because his friend Kenta is at -77 (and he will eventually slide back down) or if this is a longer-term move. Either way, expect Jozef to do some cool stuff at Asian Trials this weekend. Also in the bracket will be some tough guys like Sousuke Oshima and James Watson, Watson especially has shown to be a dangerous submission threat who could rack up wins without much mat time.

• Jozef Chen
• Sousuke Oshima
• James Watson

-99kg

With Declan Moody already qualified for ADCC, this leaves a much more even group where a bunch of different guys will come in with a solid shot to win. The only world-ranked guy coming in is Daniel "The Manchild" Schuardt, who won these Trials in 2024 and competed at the ADCC Worlds. He continues to be a devastating leg locker who is racking up solid wins. Bob Frias is a powerful wrestler who has won these Trials before as well and will certainly be a factor, but he's over 35 and will be facing an uphill climb as the tournament wears on (not impossible he repeats tho). Two more young guys worth keeping an eye on are Nico Maglicic and Sebastian Attard. Nico is one of the area's most interesting prospects and he recently became one of the few men to beat ADCC Worlds place winner Josh Saunders in a no-gi match. He's training all the time at Atos in San Diego and could really break out here. Attard was on a great upward trajectory in his career but shortly after he got his black belt, he broke his leg and has been on the shelf. Still, the brash and powerful Attard has a great style and has big wins over some really tough guys. I am taking this more as a chance to see where he's at since his injury return. Also shoutout to Anton Minenko in the bracket, he's always super tough and will be a difficult match for any of these guys.

• Daniel Schuardt
• Bob Frias
• Nico Maglicic
• Sebastian Attard
• Anton Minenko

+99kg

Not the biggest division here in terms of entrants, but Mansur Makhmakhanov stands as the man to beat. He won the last Trials at this weight before losing to Luke Griffith at Worlds. Now he gets to show his new level after that experience, and often we see grapplers make a leap after that first ADCC trip. The toughest name in the way would probably be Tito John Carle, who won IBJJF No-Gi Europeans and has a lot of solid momentum coming in. That's the scrap to watch among the big men.

• Tito John Carle
• Mansur Makhmakhanov

-55kg

Kanae Ikeda headlines this field, she was in the Trials finals last cycle against Adele Fornarino and gave her a tough match then. The Japanese black belt represents IGLOO and is a really underappreciated grappler in this division with an IBJJF world medal and dominance in the IBJJF Pan-Pac fields. She will have some tough tests but will be favored in every bout.

• Kanae Ikeda

-65kg

I would say this is a pretty even field coming in, with no one major favorite jumping out from the nine listed entries. Someone I'd definitely watch out for is Mainz Richardson-Grau who medaled at brown belt at IBJJF No-Gi Worlds last year, which is as strong a result as you'll find from anyone in the field. Michelle Wanda, Iosha Clements, and Lara Dempsey all are also strong contenders coming in. Machi Fukuda is an MMA fighter & judoka with a lot of experience who could be a wildcard here.

• Mainz Richardson-Grau
• Michelle Wanda
• Iosha Clements
• Lara Dempsey

+65kg

There are no entrants at +65kg for this event.