History, Memorable Moments, and Lessons for Practitioners


ADCC 2022. Gordan Ryan is on top of the world. Source: Flograppling

Launched in 1998, Abu Dhabi Combat Club — ADCC is today the greatest grappling tournament in the world. While wrestlers, judokas, MMA, and sambo practitioners, have traditionally competed in ADCC, it has always been seen as the prime arena for Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners to display their skills.

In this article, I want to give a quick overview of the ADCC history and some of the notable lessons for practitioners.

The 1990s and Jean Jacques Machado

The first few events in the late nineties saw notable wins by legends of the sport — Renzo Gracie, Royler Gracie, Jean Jacques Machado, Saulo Ribeiro, and others.

One athlete worth attention is the nephew of Carlos Gracie (the older brother of Helio Gracie) — Jean Jacques Machado. He stands at the very origins of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is known as the coach of Eddie Bravo and Joe Rogan. Perhaps the most incredible thing about Machado is that he has been able to compete at the highest levels of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu despite his disability — the amniotic band syndrome — he has only a thumb and a little finger on his left hand. While obviously affecting his grips and jiu-jitsu ability, it did not stop Machado from competing at the highest levels — he won the Brazilian national championship for 11 consecutive years (!), and made his mark on ADCC by winning his division in 1999. He then won silver in 2000 and silver again in the absolute division in 2001 with a total record of 11 wins and 4 losses. 9 of his wins are by submission, while all his losses are by points.



Jean-Jacques Machado

Eddie Bravo once remarked that Machado’s disadvantage forced him to develop an extremely strong overhook since he could not grip with his left hand. Jean Jacques Machado’s jiu-jitsu was far ahead of its time, so much so that his matches do not seem extremely old-style even today. In addition to all the classics of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu of his time, he used the seated guard and butterfly guard, sumi gaeshi sweep from butterfly guard, particularly combining side-to-side sweep threats and even using the shoulder crunch sweep that has been re-popularized by Gordon Ryan.



Machado chokes his opponent out. ADCC 1999 final

Quick Lesson for BJJ practitioners: Find a way to turn your disadvantages into advantages. Recall how Machado worked around his disability to build a strong overhook game.

The 2000s and Marcelo Garcia

The first decade of the 2000s saw the arrival of a new generation of champions — Roger Gracie, Marcelo Garcia, Ronaldo Jacare Souza, Demian Maia, Xande Ribeiro, Fabricio Werdum, and Braulio Estima.

The fighter I want to highlight in this era is one of my favorites — Marcelo Garcia. One of the legends of no-gi grappling, Marcelo Garcia’s first ADCC was in 2003. Fun fact — Garcia actually did not make it through the trials, losing in the semi-finals. He was brought in as a late alternate and made the most of this opportunity. Competing in the -77kg category, Garcia went on to win gold in 2003 (defeating Renzo Gracie and Vitor Shaolin), 2005, and 2007. He won bronze in the absolute category in 2005, defeating Xande Ribeiro. He won silver in the absolute category in 2007. In 2009, he won silver in his weight class, only to come back to win his weight class again in 2011. Garcia thus won his weight class in 4 different ADCCs across almost a decade — an incredible achievement given the pace of evolution of jiu-jitsu. What is interesting is that at each ADCC, his game would include new elements that would puzzle his opponents and catch them unprepared. He also has an insane 89% submission rate! Shockingly, his submission rate in the absolute division where he almost always was much smaller than his opponents is 100%. Garcia’s record in ADCC is an incredible 27 wins and 5 losses.


Don’t let that smile fool you.

Garcia also made an important contribution to the development of the technical aspects of the sport. He made positions such as single-leg X-guard, X-guard, crucifix, and north-south mainstream, his arm drags, guillotines and back attacks continue to be dissected and studied to this day.


The famous Marcelotine — Garcia’s version of the guillotine.

Quick Lesson for BJJ practitioners: Find a way to continuously learn, grow and reinvent yourself. Whatever your level is, studying and exploring jiu-jitsu should never stop. Recall how Garcia constantly introduced new elements to his game which allowed him to keep winning ADCC after ADCC.

The 2010s and Gordon Ryan

As the second decade of the 2000s kicked in, Andre Galvao, Vinny Magalhaes, Rafael Mendes, Roberto Cyborg Abreu, JT Torres, and Marcus Buchecha Almeida heralded the arrival of the new guard, paving the way for arguably the first BJJ superstar.

Enter Gordon Ryan. Hailed as the best no-gi grappler of all time, no one since Rickson Gracie has been universally recognized as the best of the best as much as Gordon Ryan. Ryan has won ADCC in 2017, 2019, and 2022 in three different weight classes with a stunning 73% submission rate. He is at a level where winning alone is not enough. Only submission is something he considers success. Ryan’s opponents seem proud of their achievement if they survive the match — dominated, but not submitted. After the 2022 ADCC, Ryan’s competition record as a black belt is an incredible 94 wins, 3 draws, and 5 losses. And his last loss was over 50 matches ago. Insane.


The King.

In terms of his jiu-jitsu game, Gordon Ryan represents Jon Danaher’s New Wave Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and is known for his extraordinary ashi-garami and leglocks game, guard, particularly open guard, guard passing, top pressure, and back attacks. You name it, Ryan excels at it. For a few years now, he rarely seems to be in danger — a testament to his excellent defense. He has also become bigger and physically stronger, which on top of his technical skills makes it all the more difficult for anyone to withstand his attacks.

Quick Lesson for BJJ practitioners: Polish and sharpen your fundamentals, and build a comprehensive game focusing on high-percentage techniques. Most importantly, have a problem-solving approach to improving at jiu-jitsu. Recall how Gordon Ryan continuously improves even in the areas where he is considered to be world-class. He works on improving fundamentals as well as devising new techniques and strategies.

Another important lesson from Ryan’s experience is — to find a quality instructor. As Ryan never forgets to mention, his coach Jon Danaher is the main reason for his achievements.

Re-watching ADCC matches can be an excellent way to improve your level of jiu-jitsu. This is the cutting edge of no-gi jiu-jitsu.

Watching and learning from matches is probably more valuable as you advance in your evolution since it can be difficult for white belts to understand what is going on in world-class matches.

Here are ten matches to give you a taste of ADCC. These are some of my favorites, but there are, of course, many, many more.

2001 — Jean Jacques Machado vs Ricardo Arona

2003 — Marcelo Garcia vs Vitor Shaolin

2005 — Marcelo Garcia vs Rico Rodriguez

2003 — Eddie Bravo vs Royler Gracie

2005 — Roger Gracie vs Ronaldo Jacare Souza

2011 — Marcelo Garcia vs Kron Gracie

2013 — Kron Gracie vs Gary Tonon

2017 — Gordon Ryan vs Keenan Cornelius

2019 — Gordon Ryan vs Marcus Buchecha Almeida

2022 — Gordon Ryan vs Andre Galvao

Enjoy! :)