• Absolute: Felipe Pena (3x ADCC champ)
• -66kg: Kennedy Maciel
• -77kg: Ruslan Dzharbaev
• -88kg: Pawel Jaworski
• -99kg: Luke Griffith
• +99kg: Victor Hugo
• -55kg: Jasmine Rocha
• -65kg: Ana Carolina Vieira (2x ADCC champ)
• +65kg: Helena Crevar
• Superfight: Yuri Simões (4x ADCC champ)

Felipe Pena submitted Roosevelt Sousa in the ADCC absolute final with a rear naked choke from the back, becoming the first champion in ADCC history to win the absolute division twice.

Sousa was aggressive in attack on Pena's legs. But in classic Preguiça fashion, he escaped Sousa's most ambitions leg attack and transitioned directly to back control, where he locked the choke. It's the same counter with which he defeated Gordon Ryan by points in the 2017 ADCC absolute final.

Pena went three for four in submissions in the absolute division, falling behind in many of the matches early before re-surging in later parts of the match.

He withdrew from the third place match in his bracket after losing in the semifinal. He earned two submission in the first two rounds of the +99kg division.

Pena is a three time ADCC world champion. He won the absolute in 2017, the +99kg category in 2024, and is once again the absolute champion in the 2026 edition of ADCC. He's slated to face Yuri Simões in the 2028 ADCC superfight.

Kaynan Duarte blew his shoulder in a scramble in the ADCC superfight against Yuri Simões, awarding the victory to Simões.

The match was three minutes into overtime, 23-minutes into the bout in total, when — in the first significant exchange of the bout — Duarte posted on the mat and injured his arm.

Simões had not appeared in a grappling match since his last ADCC superfight in 2024 where he lost to Gordon Ryan. His most recent prior victory was in the 2022 ADCC superfight, when he defeated Nicholas Meregali.

He won the -88kg category in 2015, the -99kg category in 2017, the absolute division in 2022, and now holds a superfight title, making him a four-time ADCC winner. That puts Simões among an elite group of ADCC competitors to win four or more titles:

• Gordon Ryan - 7
• Andre Galvão - 6
• Marcelo Garcia - 4
• Gabi Garcia - 4
• Kaynan Duarte - 4
• Mark Kerr - 4
• Mario Sperry - 4
• Ricardo Arona - 4
• Yuri Simões - 4

The ADCC absolute final is up next: Felipe Pena vs Roosevelt Sousa.

-88kg silver medalist Marlon Tajik put up a challenging guard, but Abdulaev showed tremendous agility in his passing game to score six points. Abdulaev, who fell in the +99kg division quarterfinal, collected a bronze medal in the absolute.

In his third consecutive match, Felipe Pena is forced into overtime. This time, it's against Russian wrestler Ruslan Abdulaev. Yet again, Preguiça finds a way to get it done. In overtime, Pena used the arm drag-inside trip combo to down Abdulaev, passed to mount, and finished with a smother choke in the span of 30 seconds. He'll face Roosevelt Sousa in the final.

Roosevelt Sousa will appear in the ADCC 2026 absolute final, securing a smother submission over Marlon Tajik at the five-minute mark in the match. Tajik, who took silver in the -88kg division, will have a chance at another medal in the third place match.

Sousa will fight in the absolute final for the first time in his ADCC career. He's landed three consecutive submissions in the absolute division for a total match time of less than 12 minutes.

Live now: 

• Felipe Pena vs Ruslan Abdulaev
• Marlon Tajik vs Roosevelt Sousa

Roosevelt Sousa submitted Felipe Costa with the calf slicer in the quarter final of the absolute. He'll face Marlon Tajik in the final.

Felipe Pena defeated Eoghan O'Flanaghan via points 3-0 in the quarter on the other side, and will face Ruslan Abdulaev in the semi.

He'll face the winner of Felipe Pena and Eoghan O'Flanaghan.

Marlon Tajik secures his second submission in the absolute division, defeating Javier Zaruski in less than 90 seconds to secure a spot in the semifinal. That marks his fourth submission in six matches this weekend.

Felipe Costa defeats Steffen Banta in a 0-0 decision and advances to the quarterfinal. In the next round we'll see:

• Felipe Pena vs Eoghan O'Flanaghan
• Elijah Dorsey vs Ruslan Abdulaev
• Marlon Tajik vs Javier Zaruski
• Roosevelt Sousa vs Felipe Costa

A judoka classic: Ruslan Abdulaev dove over the top of the turtled Chris Wojcik to collect an armbar.

On the adjacent mat, Roosevelt Sousa passed to Tommy Langaker's back to finish with a rear naked choke.

Javier Zaruski methodically passed Nick Hartman's guard for a 3-0 victory in regulation.

Abdulaev will face Elijah Dorsey.

Zaruski will face Marlon Tajik.

Roosevelt Sousa awaits the result of Felipe Costa vs Steffen Banta.

The Tajik show continues in the absolute, as the Swedish grappler (-88kg) secures a devastating inside heel hook on +99kg Pouya Rahmani. He'll advance to take on the winner of Nick Hartman vs Javier Zaruski.

Eoghan O'Flanigan has some of the most spectacular wrestling in all of jiu-jitsu. He opened the match with a no-touch duck to put Braz under siege. In overtime and behind by two points, he hit the same technique as a wrestle up to even the score, and won the decision. He'll face Felipe Pena in the quarterfinal.

Pena had a rough start to the absolute, falling behind in position against Franco Pena and having to endure attempts at a smother from the big guy.

In overtime, Pena put his intricate leg entanglement reversals on display and got his way to the top, where he returned the favor and finished with a smother.

The smallest entrant in the absolute division, Elijah Dorsey (-77kg) defeated Dan Manasoiu (+99kg) with a takedown in overtime. He'll move on to face the winner of Ruslan Abdulaev vs Chris Wojcik.

• Franco Pana vs Felipe Pena
• Elijah Dorsey vs Dan Manasoiu
• Eli Braz vs Eoghan O'Flanaghan

• Felipe Pena vs Franco Pana
• Eoghan O'Flanighan vs Eli Braz
• Dan Manasoiu vs Elijah Dorsey
• Ruslan Abdulaev vs Chris Wojcik
• Marlon Tajik vs Pouya Rahmani
• Javier Zaruski vs  Nick Hartman
• Roosevelt Sousa vs Tommy Langaker
• Steffan Banta vs Felipe Costa

• -55kg: Jasmine Rocha
• -65kg: Ana Carolina Vieira (2)
• +65kg: Helena Crevar
• -66kg: Kennedy Maciel
• -77kg: Ruslan Dzharbaev
• -88kg: Pawel Jaworski
• -99kg: Luke Griffith
• +99kg: Victor Hugo

ADCC is taking a brief intermission to draw up the absolute bracket. News to come from the absolute, soon.

Kennedy Maciel submitted Gavin Corbe in the overtime period of a tightly contested final in the -66kg division of ADCC 2026 to win gold. This was Maciel's fourth appearance at ADCC. 

In his debut in 2019, he reached the semifinal, taking silver to Tanquinho Mendes. In his next two appearances, he fell in the opening rounds. This time around, he defeated David Santos, Fabricio Andrey and Diego Pato on his route to gold.

Maciel joins his father Rubens Corbinha Charles as an ADCC champion. That makes them the only father-son duo to hold that title.

Gavin Corbe had a remarkably similar run to Kennedy's initial run to the ADCC final back in 2019. Like Maciel, Corbe was a late replacement to the tournament within two weeks of the tournament, and earned silver during the performance. Maciel, in 2019, replaced his father in the tournament.

Magomed Dzharbaev won a war of attrition, a 40-minute hard-nosed wrestling bout against American PJ Barch to win gold at ADCC. The win makes him the second Russian in ADCC history to win a gold medal.

Dzharbaev defeated Alexandre Robinho, Vagner Rocha and Mateusz Szczecinski in his climb to ADCC gold. He controlled the hand fighting against Barch for the great majority of the match, which remained scoreless through two overtime periods.

Pawel Jaworski defeated Sweden's Marlon Tajik in the -88kg final to become the first-ever Polish ADCC Champion in front of a home crowd in Krakow, Poland. Jaworski won the final via one penalty, demonstrating the constant threat and impressive flexibility of his guard.

Jaworski submitted each of his first three opponents, all with leg locks, a skill for which he's been renowned.

Jaworski is just the fourth ADCC medalist from Poland, joining his teammate Mateusz Szczicinski who won bronze at -77kg this year.

He is just the third male European ADCC champion in history and the fourth European champion overall. He joins Jon Olav Einemo (Norway, 2003) Kareem Barkalaev (Russia, 1999) and Ffion Davies (2022, Wales).

His opponent, Marlon Tajik, was the first ADCC medalist to represent Sweden. Their match marked the first ADCC final since 1999 to feature two Europeans (Kareem Barkalaev RUS vs Alexander Savko BLR, -88kg).

Jasmine Rocha got behind Ana Rodrigues in overtime to score three and progress directly to a choke, earning ADCC gold in her second appearance at the World Championships.

The regulation period of the bout was cagey, with Rocha shooting and Rodrigues remaining stalwart defensively, often attacking with counter headlocks.

In overtime, Rodrigues incurred two quick penalties, putting the onus on her to attack. Rocha hit a go behind and took Rodrigues' back then went immediately to the strangle.

Jasmine Rocha is the first of her family of three ADCC veterans to win gold. Her brother, Achilles, took fourth on the weekend. Her father, Vagner, is a multiple time silver and bronze medalist who retired this weekend after falling in the quarterfinal.

Kaynan Duarte has rarely looked better than he did in the first 15 minutes of his bout against Luke Griffith. But Griffith remained dangerous despite Duarte's pressure, pace and control. He countered a bad shot with five minutes remaining in regulation, immediately taking the back and locking in a choke.

That's a reversal of roles from his last outing at ADCC, where he dominated the initial exchange against Felipe Pena before conceding a submission loss.

Griffith has developed a style as a slow starter, often conceding position for lengthy periods of matches before sniping an opportunity and finding the finish. He's always dangerous and can never be counted out.

Griffith becomes the first South African ADCC winner since 2007 (Penny Thomas), and the first male South African since 2001 (Mark Robinson).

In the early moments of the second overtime period, Ana Carolina Vieira stuffed takedown attempt, forcing her opponent, Sarah Galvão, to pull guard. Vieira snuck to Galvão's back and locked in a one-handed choke to win her second ADCC world title.

The match, which endured for nearly 33 minutes, was largely a stalemate. For the first 10 minutes of regulation and the totality of overtime, the -65kg finalists traded noncommittal takedown attempts. The pressure was on in overtime, and as Galvão took a shot, Vieira responded taking advantage of her best opportunity of the match.

Victor Hugo was a speculated favorite to win absolute gold at ADCC 2026, especially after his four-submission run to gold. Instead, Big Man Flow left his rashguard on the mat, announcing his retirement "from championships." Hugo left the idea of future superfights on the table, but steps away from brackets. Hugo is the 2026 ADCC World Champion at +99kg, a four-time IBJJF gi world champion and an IBJJF no-gi world champion.

Victor Hugo conceded two penalties early in his final against Josh Saunders. Saunders tried to pressure forward, but left his arm trapped, giving Hugo the angle to back-step into a rear mount triangle, where he synched an armlock to complete the perfect run.

Hugo submitted Heikki Jussila and Ruslan Abdulaev on the first day, then collected then finished a leg lock over Mark Macqueen.

Helena Crevar submitted Anabel Lopez in the ADCC +65kg final in regulation to complete her perfect weekend and earn ADCC gold.

At just 19 years old, Crevar is now the youngest female ever to win an ADCC title. She takes the spot which belonged to Kyra Gracie, who won her title one day before her 20th birthday.

Crevar took Lopez' back and submitted her with a choke. Earlier in the weekend, she submitted Elizabeth Mitrovic with an Aoki lock and Matilda Reid with a choke.

With the finals set, we can now say for sure that the podium will feature athletes representing nine different countries. That's the most in ADCC history by a landslide. In 1999, six countries were represented on the podium (Japan, Russia, Belarus, Australia, USA, Brazil). That was the record for 27 years.

This year, the podium will feature athletes from:

• Brazil
• USA
• Spain
• Poland
• United Kingdom
• South Africa
• Australia
• Russia
• Sweden

Now on the mat: Helena Crevar vs Anebel Lopez in the +65kg category.

Mateusz Szczecinski earned the handraise to a roar of support from his home crowd in Poland, defeating Jacob Bornemann via penalty in overtime. Szczecinski defeated Julio Martins and Elijah Dorsey en route to the semifinal before losing to Magomed Dzharbaev.

That makes him the first Polish male competitor, and the second Polish competitor overall to win an ADCC medal (Maria Malyjasiak).

Jozef Chen maintained calculated control and demonstrated his unique, precise passing game in a 13-0 win over Gabriel Brod, winning the bronze medal in the -88kg division despite a reported injury.

Chen originally qualified for ADCC in 2024, but withdrew from the event. He re-qualified for the 2026 ADCC World Championship, where he defeated Franco Diaz and Chris Wojcik before losing in the semi to Marlon Tajik.

Ana Mayordomo caught a mounted guillotine over Mayssa Bastos in overtime of the -55kg bronze medal match, becoming the first person to submit Bastos in her black belt record. According to BJJ Heroes, Bastos had not previously been submitted since receiving her black belt in 2018.

Mayordomo becomes the first ever Spaniard to win an ADCC medal. She will be joined by fellow Spanish grappler Anabel Lopez, who will compete later today in the +65kg final.

Diego Pato wins bronze via walkover, as his opponent, Dominic Mejia withdraws from competition. That's Pato's third ADCC medal in as many attempts (2022: bronze; 2024: silver).

Joslyn Molina was already in the history books at this ADCC as the youngest ever athlete to compete at the ADCC World Championships. The 14-year old won bronze, defeating Mo Black 6-0 to become the youngest ever to win an ADCC medal, as well as the youngest ever to reach the semifinal. What a remarkable debut performance from the teenager.

Daniel "The Manchild" Schuardt caps off his breakout ADCC performance with another submission, a lateral kneebar over the difficult-to-submit Achilles Rocha. Schuardt took out a murder's row of opponents on his run, submitting Michael Pixley and Eoghan O'Flanaghan on Day 1.

Early in the match, Clymer secured the armbar to win third, a devastating submission over opponent Liz Mitrovic. That's her second submission of the tournament.

At +99kg, Mark Macqueen was named the bronze medalist by default, as Felipe Pena withdrew from the match.

ADCC 2026 is in an intermission as we gear up for the third place matches, the finals, then the absolute.

There's a lot of grappling before we get a look at the absolute bracket, and I have no knowledge of which athletes will enter, nor which athletes will be approved by the ADCC organizers. But a man can dream.

Here's my complete and utter guess (hope, wish, dream) as to what the absolute bracket may look like:

• 1 Victor Hugo vs Jozef Chen
• 8 Mark Macqueen vs Achilles Rocha
• 4 Luke Griffith vs Nick Hartman
• 5 Josh Saunders vs Mateusz Sczcecinski
• 2 Dante Leon vs Fabricio Andrey
• 6 Pawel Jaworski vs Elijah Dorsey
• 3 Felipe Pena vs Tommy Langaker
• 7 Daniel Schuardt vs Roosevelt Sousa

Here are the 2026 ADCC final matchups:

+65

• Helena Crevar vs Anabel Lopez
• Third Place: Elizabith Mitrovic vs Paige Ivette Clymer

-65kg

• Ana Carolina Vieira vs Sarah Galvao
• Third Place: Mo Black vs Joslyn Molina

-55kg

• Jasmine Rocha vs Ana Rodriguez
• Third Place: Mayssa Bastos vs Ana Mayordomo

+99kg

• Victor Hugo vs Josh Saunders
• Third Place: Felipe Pena vs Mark Macqueen

-99kg

• Kaynan Duarte vs Luke Griffith
• Third Place: Achilles Rocha vs Daniel Schuardt

-88kg

• Pawel Jaworski vs Marlon Tajik
• Third Place: Jozef Chen vs Gabriel Brod

-77kg

• Magomed Dzharbaev vs PJ Barch
• Third Place: Mateusz Szczecinski vs Jacob Bornemann

-66kg

• Gavin Corbe vs Kennedy Maciel
• Third Place: Diego Pato vs Dominic Mejia

Gavin Corbe collected his second heel hook submission on the weekend, defeating Dominic Mejia to advance to the ADCC final. Corbe was the final invite to the ADCC -66kg division, a late replacement on less than one month's notice. On his debut, he'll compete for gold.

His opponent: Kennedy Maciel, who knocked off the no.1 seed Diego Pato on a decision in overtime.

This will be Maciel's second trip to the final. His first was in 2019, when he won a silver medal, losing to Tanquinho Mendes. Kennedy situation seven years ago closely resembled Corbe's. In 2019, Maciel was a last-minute replacement for his father, Cobrinha Charles.

Ana Rodrigues staved off an overtime with a two-point pickup in the final seconds of her semifinal against Mayssa Bastos. Bastos was on the attack throughout the match, but a defensive movement forced Bastos into a bad position, putting points on the board as the clock ticked to zero.

ARod will face Jasmine Rocha in the final later today. It will be the first ADCC final for both competitors.

Bastos will have an opportunity to compete for third against Ana Mayordomo.

Jasmine Rocha is headed to her first ADCC final on her second try. Rocha endured a footlock from opponent Ana Mayordomo, then went on attack, forcing the turtle off a pass attempt and angling toward an armbar for the finish.

Rocha is two for two on submissions this weekend, coming off a first round choke over Kanae Ikeda.

She's awaiting the result of Ana Rodrigues vs Mayssa Bastos, live now on Mat 2.

Poland's son Pawel Jaworski has been possessed before his home crowd. He was in complete control in the semifinal, keeping Gabriel Brod under siege by leg locks. When he found significant control, he capitalized with a teeth-gritting inside heel hook.

Jaworski is three for three on submissions in his ADCC debut, first sniping the formidable Roberto Dib Frias, then taking out the division top dog Felipe Costa.

The -88kg division now guarantees a European champion, as on the other side of the bracket, Sweden's Marlon Tajik outscored Jozef Chen in the semifinal.

On his third appearance to ADCC, PJ Barch will make his first trip to the final. He scored nine in overtime over ADCC debutant Jacob Bornemann after a scoreless regulation period.

The initial period was a display of some of the best wrestling you can ask for in submission grappling. When Barch got a lead, he continued to capitalize.

Barch will face Russian Ruslan Dzharbaev in the -77kg final today.

Bornemann will face Mateusz Szczecisnki for bronze.

It was clear that the biggest weakness in Szczecinski's game would be the takedowns. It was an intelligent strategy, then, for the Russian to force an overtime period. Dzharbaev shut down Szczecinski's guard in regulation, then scored a takedown in overtime, disappointing the vast majority of the crowd in Krakow, Poland, who held Szczecinski as one of their best hopes for ADCC gold this year.

Dzharbaev will face the winner of BJ Barch vs Jacob Bornemann.

Poland supporters have another chance, as Pawel Jaworski will soon be taking the mat in the -88kg semifinal.

Kaynan Duarte is just making it up at this point. After back to back submissions in Day 1, including a cloverleaf in the opening round, the reigning double champ locked in a crossface over opponent Daniel Schuardt to earn his third submission in the tournament.

Duarte will face Luke Griffith in the final, and remains slated to compete in the ADCC Superfight against Yuri Simões in the penultimate bout of the event.

I'm looking forward to Daniel Schuardt vs Achilles Rocha in the bronze medal bout. They've been two of the most thrilling spectacles of the tournament. Kaynan Duarte is simply on another level this weekend.

Reigning -65kg champ Ana Carolina Vieira will return to the ADCC final, where she'll meet Sarah Galvão.

On his third trip to ADCC, Josh Saunders makes it to the last dance. In a bout that went to overtime, Saunders opened with heavy top pressure against the reigning world champ, Pena. He won the 0-0 decision after a scoreless overtime.

Of note, Pena was donning two tape boots, a likely result of a near submission attempt from quarterfinal opponent Nick Hartman yesterday.

Saunders will see the conclusion of his mega performance in the final later today against Victor Hugo.

Yesterday, he defeated Francis Pana and Roosevelt Sousa.

Sarah Galvão took Joslyn Molina;s back to win the semifinal and advance to the ADCC final in her debut.

It was a strong showing from Galvão, but a late flurry made a convincing argument for the uncanny abilities of her opponent, 14-year old Joslyn Molina. Make no mistake; the teenager is the real deal. She was never outmatched against Galvão, and put significant pressure on the black belt's guard.

Galvão will await the winer of Mo Black and Ana Carolina Vieira, live now on Mat 3.

Luke Griffith vs Achilles Rocha showed early promise with a dynamic initial exchange. But when the match was stopped to assess the legality of Rocha's slam to escape a submission, the pace slowed. Rocha received a penalty for passivity before several near miss guard pass attempts. 

Rocha got close, but not close enough to score. Down a penalty, he couldn't find the necessary score as time ticked to zero. 

Luke Griffith will advance to his second ADCC final, awaiting the winner of Kaynan Duarte vs Daniel Schuardt.

Achilles will fight for third, where I'll hope to enjoy more of the spectacle that has been his run in this edition of the ADCC World Championships.

Anabel Lopez' passing game impressed. The Spaniard locked down three points, from a well-timed guard pass. That was enough to secure the victory over Paige Ivette Clymer.

Lopez will face Helena Crevar in the +65kg final later today.

Helena Crevar will return to the ADCC final for her second time in as many appearances. Just as points came on in her bout against Elizabeth Mitrovic, she synched a bite on an Aoki lock, eliciting a scream tap from her opponent, Elizabeth Mitrovic.

Crevar is two for two on submissions this weekend. She now awaits the result of Anabel Lopez and Paige Ivette Clymer, which is live on Mat 1.

It takes confidence and strength to pull guard and play underneath a competitor the size of Mark Macqueen. Victor Hugo elected to pull and work from X-guard against the Scotsman, where he attempted a knee bar twice. The second time he went to the well, he found pay dirt: his third submission in three matches on the weekend.

In his second ADCC appearance, Victor Hugo will make his first trip to the ADCC World Championship finals.

Will he face Felipe Pena or Josh Saunders in the final? We'll have the answer soon.

Earlier in his run on Day 1, Hugo submitted Heikki Jussila and Ruslan Abdulaev.

On the mat first:

• Anabel Lopez vs Paige Ivette Clymer (+65kg) | Mat 1
• Victor Hugo vs Mark Macqueen (+99kg) | Mat 2
• Helena Crevar vs Elizabeth Mitrovic (-65kg) | Mat 3

This is who advanced, and how the semifinals are shaped:

+99kg

Felipe Pena vs Josh Saunders

Mark Macqueen vs Victor Hugo

-99kg

Kaynan Duarte vs Daniel Schuardt

Achilles Rocha vs Luke Griffith

-88kg

 Pawel Jaworski vs Gabriel Brod

Jozef Chen vs Marlon Tajik

-77kg

Magomed Dzharbaev vs Mateusz Szczecinski

PJ Barch vs Dante Leon vs Jacob Bornemann

-66kg

Diego Pato vs Kennedy Maciel

Gavin Corbe vs Dominic Mejia

+65

Helena Crevar vs Elizabith Mitrovic

Anabel Lopez vs Paige Ivette Clymer

-65kg

Ana Carolina Vieira vs Mo Black

Sarah Galvão vs Joslyn Molina

-55kg

Jasmine Rocha vs Ana Mayordomo

Mayssa Bastos vs Ana Rodrigues