The journey to the world’s most demanding grappling tournament continues this weekend as the ADCC South American Trials heads to Rio de Janeiro. Hundreds of athletes will take the mats, each chasing one of the sport’s most coveted rewards—a place at the ADCC World Championship.
This is the second Trials for the region in as many weeks, with five men punching their ticket last week in Rio de Janeiro. Now we see a similar crowd back for their final chance but with a new mix of talent also descending onto the more southern-based event. Of note, all the women's divisions will have a spot on the line at these Trials, which was not available last event. Because of this, those divisions are way more packed with talent.
Every match will be streaming live this weekend, starting 8am CT on FloGrappling. Tune in for our coverage and stay up to date on social media. Before the action begins, here’s a look at some of the biggest names heading into the ADCC South American Trials, streaming live this weekend on FloGrappling.
-55kg
- Monserrat Perez
- Bianca Giannini
- Ana Keyla Cunha Quieroz
- Ana Carolina
- Izabel Seki
- Maria Luiza
- Caroline Brunacio
- Raquel Ferreira
- Ana Carolina de Souza Lima
- Mayssa Bastos
Mayssa Bastos, the tiniest terror in grappling, is back to qualify again for the ADCC Worlds. She has won these Trials before and is a supremely technical and talented grappler. The only issue is that she doesn't have the strongest wrestling and she undersized for this division - often competing at IBJJF rooster. Still, her guard, passing, and submission offense are all amazing. In her way will be young colored belts like Ana Keyla Cunha Quieroz and Ana Carolina de Souza Lima. Maria Luiza is a very experienced gi player who can make a deep run here. I would also keep an eye on Caroline Brunacio who just had a great silver medal run at No-Gi Worlds. She has a real chance of being big enough and good enough to sneak one against Mayssa if they meet. Monserrat Perez is the returning champion from last weekend. She showed really solid wrestling that will make her a threat to anyone in this ruleset.
-65kg
- Livia Barasine
- Ana Silva
- Julia Boscher
- Gabriela Miranda
- Giovanna Carneiro
- Jaqueline Amorim
Ana Silva comes in as the champion from Rio and now looks to punch her ticket to Poland. Someone I think worth keeping an eye on is Livia Barasine, a FloGrappling Prospect of the Month in February. She's young, very talented, and could use this event as a breakout tournament for her. Julia Boscher is the veteran of this group, bringing strong wrestling and experience competing against the best.
+65kg
- Agatha Nigro
- Yara Soares
- Maria Clara Cardoso
- Ingridd Alves
- Maria Ruffatto-Gilpin
This is probably the deepest women's division this weekend, with five very possible options for gold coming in. Ingridd Alves has made a strong transition to no-gi, winning ADCC Trials last weekend in Rio. Now she gets her chance to qualify but she will need to prove herself against more experienced women in a deeper field. Maria Ruffatto-Gilpin won these Trials last season and looks to repeat, but got score on and beat by Maria Clara Cardoso last weekend. Watch out for a potential rematch between those two, I think it'll be intense. Agatha Nigro is in as well and the purple belt from DreamArt is a really good prospect who has been very successful as a gi player in the IBJJF circuit.
-66kg
- Kaua Gabriel
- Lucas Canto
- Hoanes Nacib
- Felipe Nacib
- Joshua Flores
- Santino Cataldo
- Arthur Sousa
- Bernardo Delibero
- Victor Delibero
- Yuri Hendrex
- Felipe Machado
- Fabian Ramirez
- Ary Farias
- Diego Ortiz
Last weekend I was calling Kaua Gabriel the favorite. That may still be true, but now he's much closer to the rest of a deep pack of young and hungry contenders. Diego Ortiz was on fire last weekend, submitting his way to the finals. That made him a must-watch guy here in Indaiatuba as he hunts for his ticket. Watch out for the young guys Arthur Souza from Melqui Galvao and Joshua Flores of Vanguard (teammate of Ortiz). Felipe Machado is a showman and a submission threat, though he is a little smaller than some others here.
-77kg
- Arthur Figueiredo
- Gabriel Andrade Monteiro
- Alessandro Botelho
- Arley Pacheco
- Martin Abeal
- Marco Albuquerque
- Alexandre Robinho
- Marcelo Fausto
- Felipe Porto
- Nicolas Thorne
This is a really fun, deep division with a few guys who could win. Robinho, Alexandre de Jesus, was cruising last weekend as the favorite before he misjudged a situation and gave up points - without even realizing it until after the match - to Gabriel Andrade Monteiro. Now he is back with his last chance to qualify for another ADCC. In his way includes Marcelo Fausto and Martin Abeal, both top threats and submission-oriented grapplers. Abeal submitted his way to the finals last weekend but fell short to Martins. He will be fun to watch this weekend.
-88kg
- Vitor Pantoja de Oliveira
- Gabriel Brod
- Tyrone Gonsalves
- Francisco Lo
- Enrico Said
- Lucas Gualberto
- Joao Costa
- Pablo Rosales
- Rafael Paganini
- Charles Negromonte
- Emerson Feitosa
- Gustavo Batista
- Magid Hage
Charles Negromonte has said this will be his final Trials and he will be the number one guy I am watching in this bracket. He was in the world quarters last season and is a tough battler but lost in a very close decision early last week to eventual champion Franco Diaz. Deep weight here. Francisco Lo, Gabriel Brod, and Magid Hage stand out as the other top contenders. Gustavo Batista is here. He's a force in the gi, one of the top-10 pound for pound black belts, but his no-gi has not proven as effective. He's shown lethal leg locks before, watch out for more of those. If you want a young, tough guy to watch out for - Pablo Rosales out of Melqui. He's strong, tough, technical, and knows the rules well.
-99kg
- Ramiro Leon
- Joao Zeferino
- Inacio Santos
- Fellipe Trovo
- Jean Maltese
- Vinicius Lessa
- Rafael Trabuco
+99kg
- Yatan Bueno
- Pedro Alex
- Daniel Silva
- Pedro Lucas
We have basically the same division from last weekend, but now without the gold medalist Roosevelt Sousa. What we do have left is a very deep division that features top-10 in the world Yatan Bueno looking to solidify his ADCC debut. Pedro Lucas is a dark horse given his size, power, and experience.