ADCC 2015 Event Recap
The Abu Dhabi Combat Club or ADCC is one of the most prestigious jiu-jitsu competitions in the world. Enough so that this California native was willing to wake up at 5AM in order to watch some of the epic matches. This year it was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Many of the best grapplers in the world competed. Some were invited and others made their way through trials. Names like Garry Tonon, Keenan Cornelius, and Michelle Nicolini were among the many who graced the mats.
The event also hosted a super fight between Andre Galvao and Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, two previous absolute champions. Galvao was aggressive, and remained on the offensive a majority of the time. He was able to take Cyborg’s back on multiple occasions gaining the victory.
Claudio Calasans took gold in the absolutes defeating Joao Rocha in a long grueling match. In the over 99kg division Gracie Barra’s Orlando Sanchez defeated Jared Dopp. Rodolfo Vieira beat Felipe Pena in the under 99kg division by Ref’s decision. Yuri Simoes defeated Keenan Cornelius in the 88kg. South American trials winner Davi Ramos defeated Lucas Lepri with a spectacular jumping arm-bar earning the 77kg championship. Closing out the men’s division, Cobrinah defeated Bruno Frazzato to earn his 2nd Gold at ADCC.
In the women’s division relatively unknown Gracie Barra competitor Jessica Oliveira (trials winner) defeated the heavily favorite Gabi Garcia in a close match. Oliveira eventually went on to take 2nd with fellow Gracie Barra team mate Ana Laura Cordeiro taking 1st. The always-exciting Mackenzie Dern got past her team mate Beatriz Mesquita with a close decision victory to advanced to the finals with Michelle Nicolini. Dern and Nocolini battled it out with Dern taking home gold once again this year.
The next ADCC will take place in 2017 and rumored to take place in Japan.