New Trend: ADCC Athletes Opening Doors For Same Divison Competitors

This year for ADCC we have seen a trend starting to develop where athletes are welcoming their division competitors to train alongside them during their ADCC camps. This openness is shocking, especially considering the high probability they might face each other in Anaheim. Traditionally, competitors tend to keep their training and strategy private during the weeks leading up to ADCC. 

This year, Cyborg has invited Mahamed Aly to come train at Fight Sports for three weeks in September. Aly was quoted saying that he came from Lloyd Irvin to Fight Sports because he was in search of more training partners in his weight class. We reached out to Cyborg about Aly coming down and this is what he had to say.

"Its a privilege to have someone like Mahamed training with us. He is a great friend, he and Durinho are from different teams are having camp here with us and we would love to see them succeed at ADCC. Mahamed is a beast right now and has everything he needs to win the title. Hopefully, I won't be on the same side of the bracket. But if we do have to fight, it will be a battle, and if I lose to him, ill be happy for him and I know this truth goes both ways. We won't be taking anything away from each other. If he wins it's because it's his time and I'll be happy to somehow be apart of his success. The jiu-jitsu journey is much bigger than the medals we collect and we are happy to have that understanding."

–Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu

We have also seen competitors like Gordon Ryan and Keenan Cornelius sharing the mat and rolling together in the blue basement even though they are in the same bracket. Will this new development help competitors leading up to ADCC or hurt them? We will see at ADCC 2019, live on Flograppling.