The road to the 2026 ADCC World Championships runs straight through Serbia, and this cycle's final ADCC European, African, & Middle Eastern Trials are shaping up to be one of the deepest and most competitive editions in recent memory. With only one ticket to Worlds available per division, and with the first women's invitations on the line in this cycle, every bracket is stacked with seasoned veterans, breakout prospects, and returning Trials standouts who are all ready to perform.

The action kicks off this weekend on FloGrappling, and before the matches kick off we break down the biggest names to watch in every weight class, the contenders most likely to control their brackets, and the dark horses who could shake up the entire field as Europe crowns its next wave of ADCC qualifiers.

-66kg

The lightest weight class is also the one with the highest level of chop, with new contenders showing up faster and more often than in other divisions. This is a very open division. The veteran is #16 Ash Williams, who has won these trials before and is always impressive - but has also lost to young guys like an emerging Owen Jones & Gairbeg Ibragimov before. He's the likely favorite if you had to name one, but it's going to be battles from at least the quarters on for him. Yigit Hanay is a very talented black belt with IBJJF world medals - but he's very big for this weight class. If the weight cut goes well, he can win. If not, he can stumble in basically any round if he loses steam. Last time out at these Trials, it was teenager Niko Mikulysyn beating Ukrainian Andrii Chernitsktyi. Chrnitskyi is back and we'll find out a lot about his consistency at this event. One guy I think is really dangerous in this bracket is the Russian Muhammad Shakbanov. He's the bad draw here who can play a vey strategic game.

Favorites

#16 Ash WIlliams

Yigit Hanay

Contenders

Jack Sear

Muhammad Shakhbanov

Andrii Chernitskyi

Dark Horses

Shaï Gerena

Spyridon Karkanas

Eneko Raguan-Hernandez

Simone Grillo

Hejraat Rashid

Richard Bukovcsan

-77kg

It's really interesting seeing former -88kg Trials champion Taylor Pearman down at -77kg. He was also down for Polaris so this seems like a long-term move for the Londoner. He's going to be a heavy favorite against everyone in the field (except for maybe Davis) with his dangerous submission offense and experience against elite opposition. Honestly if he can look good here, Taylor becomes a very interesting dark horse at ADCC Worlds (but still lots to go before then). Davis is the biggest name on the list for an upset, with the Kingsway contender looking impressive under multiple rulesets. The Kingsway purple belt has a good arm triangle and is positionally sound enough to navigate his way to a win against anyone here.

Favorites

#10 at 195lbs Taylor Pearman

Contenders

Davis Asare

Dark Horses

Sebastian Patyk

Damiano Grillo

Daniel Deeder

Carson Coles

Natan Sap

-88kg

This is probably the deepest men's weight here, with multiple interesting contenders who can win here and then also do well at Worlds. Faris is the most recognizable name for the field after a breakout 2025. He's got really good wrestling, he's very physically & tactically strong, and he's shown success in this ruleset before. In his way will be Santeri Lillius who is a specialist in ADCC. He's won this division multiple times and was in a close decision in the last finals. What's most impressive is Santeri's ability to score late - for example, when he beat Chris Wojcik last cycle with a pass in the final few seconds. He's hard to move, hard to score on, hard to beat. Marlon is another guy that has to be considered here with his prodigious leg locking, back taking, and scrambling ability. He's on a heater too, with double gold at No-Gi Worlds as a brown belt before his recent promotion to black belt. This could be a real coming out party for him if he can get it done.

Favorites

#16 Santeri Lillius

#11 at 205lbs Faris Ben-Lamkadem

Marlon Tajik

Contenders

Ben Bennett

Dark Horses

Linus von Schrenk

Ramazan Shihshabekov

Mateusz Flaga

Mateusz Mazur

Karol Kania

Guiseppe Lamanna

-99kg

Like last Trials, this is a two-man race coming in with Eoghan O'Flanaghan and Marcin Maciulewicz having proven themselves to be the two most outstanding talents in the field. Eoghan really broke out after his great performance at the 2022 ADCC Worlds and then was a part of the inaugural CJI. Now he's back for another ADCC run and has recently really shown off some stellar wrestling to compliment his submission game. With all of that clicking, he's going to be very tough to beat. Marcin Maciulewicz is still hunting for that ticket to the Worlds happening in Krakau, and he's going to be relying on his physical power, aggression, and leg locks to get over the hump. Him and Eoghan is the likely final, but there's always tough guys emerging at Trials who will push those two and could upset the established order.

Favorites

#13 at 205lbs Eoghan O'Flanaghan

#11 Marcin Maciulewicz

Dark Horses

Uros Culic

Moritz Kollensperger

Philiippe Geyer

Jean Maltese

Murat Kurbanov

+99kg

After back to back top-8 finishes at ADCC Worlds, Haisam Rida is back at Trials looking to secure his place at the 2026 tournament. The Ghanian judo stylist has shown flashes of brilliance with his throws, armbars, and length. We haven't seen very much of him lately, which is certainly going to bring up some questions about his training situation, but if he's at his usual self then he is the likely favorite to win. Heikki Jussila won Trials in 2023 and was just in the black belt world finals, and is more than capable of winning this bracket. Also worth watching is Christian Ozbek, who has really powerful throws and I think is likely to put on a fun show in at least the first few rounds.

Favorites

Haisam Rida

Heikki Jussila

Contenders

Christian Ozbek

Dark Horses

Daniel Ladero

Abraham Coby Martinez

Tommy Turner

-55kg

Ana Mayordomo has been on a tear and she looks to set a record this weekend by winning her third ADCC Trials in the same cycle. Last time out, against largely the same field, she went all submissions to get gold in what was her first big breakout run. If she can do it again, she finally qualifies herself for Worlds. In her way will be a tough field of contenders, but none have shown the same success on the highest level (yet).

Favorites

#6 Ana Mayordomo

Dark Horses

#20 Ashley Bendle

#17 at 135lbs Fiona Mortell

Guilia Angiolini

Elizabeth Genge

Janette Gloger

Cara du Plessis

-65kg

I really like this weight, with multiple talented women all capable of winning this bracket. Injana Goodman won the first Trials but this field is substantially tougher, with at least five other women with a good case to win as we head into the tournament. Injana brings really good wrestling and passing, which will serve her well against several of the top guard players in this field. She's owned the series lately with Nadia Frankland, who will also be in this field, but Frankland is one of the division's best guard players and leg lockers so she's always capable of finding success. I think Sula-Mae has shown she can win these Trials before and has since looked the part of a contender on the rise. Ane Svendsen, Martyna Kapuścińska, and Peyton Letcher are all really talented and capable of beating anyone in this division, and I think on their best day they can break through to gold here - but it would have to include them winning several matches against people better than anyone they've beaten before. Watch out for a tough class under that which are capable of knocking off anyone, including Selma Vik and Rana Willink.

Favorites

#9 at 155lbs Sula-Mae Loewenthal

#8 Injana Goodman

#11 Nadia Frankland

Contenders

#5 at 155lbs Ane Svendsen

#19 at 155lbs Martyna Kapuścińska

Peyton Letcher

Dark Horses

Rana Willink

Emma Rosini

Selma Vik

Julija Stoliarenko

Stephanie Egger

+65kg

A spot at Worlds is on the line and a lot of world class women have shown up, headlined by Anabel Lopez. The young UK-based black belt world champion is one of the most underrated grapplers in the world today and I think capable of a deep run at the ADCC worlds if she's able to qualify. In her way will be Nia Blackman, fresh off a trip to the finals at IBJJF No-Gi Worlds. Nia is another young grappler who has racked up tons of experience as a colored belt and now is achieving at a high level soon into the black belt ranks. Salla Simola and Maria Malyjasiak both have shown the ability to compete and beat elite women, with Malyjasiak especially being a consistent force in these divisions for years now.

Favorites

#5 Anabel Lopez

#11 Nia Blackman

#3 at 155lbs Salla Simola

Contenders

#18 Maria Malyjasiak

#11 at 155lbs Jessika Torttila

Dark Horses

Hannah Griffith

Magdalena Loska