Every Athlete Currently Invited To ADCC World Championship 2026
The ADCC World Championship 2026 is starting to look very real.
After years of the tournament being heavily associated with Las Vegas and the American grappling boom, ADCC is heading to Kraków, Poland, where the world’s most important no-gi tournament is set to take place on September 12–13, 2026. The location is different, the field is still forming, and the usual ADCC chaos is already brewing.
As always, the ADCC roster is not built like a normal tournament. Nobody just signs up, pays the fee, and wanders into the most prestigious no-gi bracket on Earth. Athletes either qualify through regional Trials, return as reigning champions, or receive one of the highly debated invitation spots.
That means every name added to the list matters. Some are world champions defending their throne. Some are Trials killers who survived massive brackets. Some are legends being brought back for one more run. And some are the kind of invitees that immediately make fans start arguing online, which is basically half the sport at this point.
Below is the current list of athletes confirmed for ADCC World Championship 2026.
Men’s 66 kg
The 66 kg division already has a dangerous mix of proven champions, rising prospects, and veterans who know exactly how ugly ADCC matches can get.
Confirmed athletes:
- Diogo Reis — reigning ADCC champion
- Nikodem Mikuliszyn — 2025 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Dorian Olivarez — 2025 ADCC East Coast Trials winner
- Ryoma Anraku — 2025 ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials winner
- Yigit Hanay — 2026 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- David Santos — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 1 winner
- Kaua Gabriel — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 2 winner
- Gianni Grippo — 2026 West Coast Trials winner
- Fabricio Andrey — invited
This bracket already feels like it could become one of the most chaotic divisions of the event. Diogo Reis comes in as the reigning king, but Dorian Olivarez, Fabricio Andrey, and Gianni Grippo all bring very different problems to the table. Grippo’s return is especially interesting because ADCC is not exactly built to be a friendly re-entry point for anyone, veteran or not.
Men’s 77 kg
The 77 kg division is traditionally one of ADCC’s glamour divisions, and 2026 is shaping up the same way.
Confirmed athletes:
- Mica Galvão — reigning ADCC champion
- Magomed Dzharbaev — 2025 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Jacob Bornemann — 2025 ADCC East Coast Trials winner
- Izaak Michell — 2025 ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials winner
- Nikolay Vetrov — 2026 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Julio Martins — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 1 winner
- Alexandre Jesus — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 2 winner
- Michael Sainz — 2026 West Coast Trials winner
- Mateusz Gamrot — invited
- Mateusz Szczeciński — invited
Mica Galvão is the name everyone will circle first, but this division has serious depth. Izaak Michell is always a problem. Mateusz Szczeciński adds elite leg-lock danger. Mateusz Gamrot brings MMA-tested scrambling and wrestling. This is the kind of bracket where one bad hand-fight can turn into a 12-minute existential crisis.
Men’s 88 kg
The 88 kg division is not quite full yet, but the names already confirmed are brutal.
Confirmed athletes:
- Giancarlo Bodoni — reigning ADCC champion
- Pawel Jaworski — 2025 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Jon Blank — 2025 ADCC East Coast Trials winner
- Jozef Chen — 2025 ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials winner
- Marlon Tajik — 2026 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Franco Diaz — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 1 winner
- Gustavo Batista — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 2 winner
- Nathan Haddad — 2026 West Coast Trials winner
Giancarlo Bodoni enters as the defending champion, but this is already a nasty bracket. Jozef Chen is one of the sport’s most interesting young technicians, Jon Blank is a submission threat against anyone, and Gustavo Batista brings the kind of pressure that makes people reconsider their hobbies.
Men’s 99 kg
At 99 kg, ADCC 2026 has a fascinating mix of technical grapplers, physical monsters, and people who seem specifically designed to make matches miserable.
Confirmed athletes:
- Kaynan Duarte — reigning ADCC champion
- Declan Moody — 2025 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Achilles Rocha — 2025 ADCC East Coast Trials winner
- Nicholac Maglicic — 2025 ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials winner
- Eoghan O’Flanagan — 2026 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Elioenai Braz — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 1 winner
- Vinicius Lessa — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 2 winner
- Elder Cruz — 2026 West Coast Trials winner
- Adam Wardziński — invited
Kaynan Duarte is still the obvious headline name here, but Adam Wardziński’s invite adds a very interesting stylistic wrinkle. Wardziński is best known for his gi accomplishments, but his game is technical, layered, and weird enough to make him a real wildcard in a no-gi ADCC setting.
Eoghan O’Flanagan is another name to watch. He has the kind of leg-lock and finishing ability that can make a bracket feel unstable very quickly.
Men’s +99 kg
The big boys are always fun at ADCC because the matches can swing from slow hand-fighting to sudden disaster in about three seconds.
Confirmed athletes:
- Felipe Pena — reigning ADCC champion
- Mark Macqueen — 2025 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Brandon Reed — 2025 ADCC East Coast Trials winner
- Tito John Carle — 2025 ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials winner
- Haisam Rida — 2026 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Roosevelt Sousa — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 1 winner
- Pedro Ribeiro — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 2 winner
- Nick Hartman — 2026 West Coast Trials winner
Felipe Pena enters as the defending champion, and depending on what happens with the Super Fight situation, he could be one of the most important names of the entire weekend. Haisam Rida and Roosevelt Sousa give the division some serious athleticism and finishing upside, while Brandon Reed brings a wrestling-heavy threat that could be difficult for traditional jiu-jitsu players to deal with.
Women’s 55 kg
The women’s 55 kg bracket is still filling out, but the confirmed names are already excellent.
Confirmed athletes:
- Adele Fornarino — reigning ADCC champion
- Janette Gloger — 2026 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Mayssa Bastos — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 2 winner
- Sheliah Lindsey — 2026 West Coast Trials winner
Adele Fornarino is the defending champion, but Mayssa Bastos entering this bracket immediately changes the temperature. Bastos is one of the most accomplished lighter-weight grapplers in the world, and her presence gives the division a true super-fight feel before the bracket is even complete.
Women’s 65 kg
The women’s 65 kg division has a strong mix of established elite names and new blood.
Confirmed athletes:
- Ana Carolina Vieira — reigning ADCC champion
- Injana Goodman — 2026 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Livia Correa — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 2 winner
- Sarah Galvão — 2026 West Coast Trials winner
Ana Carolina Vieira is the defending champion, but Sarah Galvão’s qualification is one of the most interesting storylines in the women’s field. Galvão has been viewed as a future star for a while, and ADCC is the kind of stage where “future star” either becomes “current problem” or gets tossed into the deep end.
Women’s +65 kg
The women’s +65 kg division has already picked up one of the biggest legend names in the sport.
Confirmed athletes:
- Rafaela Guedes — reigning ADCC champion
- Anabel Lopez — 2026 ADCC EMEA Trials winner
- Yara Soares — 2026 ADCC South American Trials 2 winner
- Paige Borras — 2026 West Coast Trials winner
- Gabi Garcia — invited
Rafaela Guedes is the reigning champion, but Gabi Garcia’s invitation gives this bracket a very different kind of energy. Garcia is one of the most recognizable women in ADCC history, and her return adds both star power and a massive physical presence to the division.
What About The Super Fight?
The ADCC Super Fight is still listed as TBA.
Traditionally, the Super Fight features the reigning Super Fight champion against the previous absolute champion. That would point toward Gordon Ryan vs. Kaynan Duarte, but Ryan’s competitive future has remained uncertain, leaving the 2026 headliner unresolved for now.
That uncertainty matters. If the Super Fight changes, it could affect the overall structure of the event and potentially the division lineups around Kaynan Duarte.
The Big Picture
ADCC 2026 is not full yet, but the skeleton of the tournament is already in place.
The reigning champions are back. The Trials winners have punched their tickets. The invitation spots are starting to create debate. And with the event moving to Poland, this edition has a different feel from the Vegas-era ADCC shows.
The most interesting storylines right now are obvious:
Can Mica Galvão repeat at 77 kg?
Does Kaynan Duarte stay in the 99 kg bracket, move toward a Super Fight, or both?
How dangerous is Dorian Olivarez at 66 kg?
What does Gabi Garcia’s return look like in 2026?
And most importantly: how many more invite announcements are going to make the internet mad before September?
Because this is ADCC. The brackets are only half the tournament. The discourse is the other half.
