The ADCC European, African, & Middle Eastern Trials have concluded, and we now know six of the athletes who will be competing at the ADCC World Championships next year.
In the -60kg division, MMA fighter and BJJ purple belt Peyton Letcher of South Africa submitted Ashley Bendle with a rear naked choke to win the final.
The +60kg division saw decorated Polish grappler Magdalena Loska, who also has an MMA fight under her belt, take home the win with a kneebar against Slavka Holubjakova. Loska is a Polaris Squads superfight veteran, having competed against Ffion Davies last September.
European grappling standout Ashley Williams took home the win in the men’s 66kg division, earning submissions in his first three matches to make it to the finals against Gairbeg Ibragimov. Williams went on to win via penalties, scoring his ticket to next year’s prestigious event.
The men’s 77kg division was arguably the most anticipated category of the tournament. John Danaher black belt Oliver Taza fulfilled expectations by winning gold, but in a division packed with names like Ross Nicolls and Magomed Dzharbaev, it wasn’t easy. He and Dzharbaev met in the finals, ending up evenly matched on points, with Taza getting the win via penalty.
Polaris veteran Eoghan O’Flanagan heel hooked his way through to the finals of the 88kg division, where he took on Thomas Loubersanes for gold. Here, again, O’Flanagan caught his opponent with an inside heel hook, this one earning him the win he needed to earn his place at the ADCC Championships next year.
In the 99kg division, Perttu Tepponen of Finland won the Trials for the second time, defeating Samuel Karas via points to punch his ticket to the big event in 2022. Tepponen also won the European Trials in 2018 and competed against Lucas Barbosa in the first round of ADCC 2019.
The winner of the +99kg division was decided by, well, a decision. Heikki Jussila faced off against Mateusz Juskowiak in the final, with neither grappler earning the points they needed to keep it out of the judges’ hands. In the end, it was Jussila who punched his ticket to the World Championship next year.
