ADCC 2024 has come and gone now and just like every other edition of the event, several competitors emerged as breakout stars. Obviously things were very different this year, as some of the best grapplers in the world decided to leave the event to compete for a million dollars at the Craig Jones Invitational instead. There were still plenty of legends and elite grapplers in every division though, and some of them were stopped by underdogs along the way. There were great performances from many competitors but these 5 in particular stood out and their stock has increased dramatically after the event.
5 Biggest Breakout Stars At ADCC 2024
The biggest breakout stars emerging from ADCC 2024 are all competitors who came in to the weekend with a certain level of expectation around them, but left having far exceeded that. Mica Galvao finished his super grand slam run at 77kg and Kaynan Duarte put on an almost perfect performance to win double gold, but both of them came in to the tournament with high expectations to begin with. These breakout stars were either predicted by many to go out early in the tournament or they finished far higher on the podium than anyone could have foreseen.
Adele Fornarino
Adele Fornarino was already a pretty big name and she was actually our female no gi breakout grappler of the year at the Jits Magazine BJJ Awards 2023. That was a great debut year as a black belt and she was coming into ADCC 2024 as a contender in the under 55kg division. Becoming the first Australian ADCC champion was a big enough achievement but she did it by beating two of the best female grapplers ever, Mayssa Bastos and Bianca Basilio. Fornarino also won the ADCC 2024 absolute division despite being the lightest woman in it, beating another champion and ending the weekend with a 6-0 record and 4 submissions to become one of the biggest breakout stars.
Owen Jones
Owen Jones was one of the top prospects in the UK before ADCC 2024 and the young brown belt announced his arrival to the highest level of the sport in style. He won the ADCC European Trials last year at under 66kg and after working so hard to earn an invite, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Jones hit a beautiful armbar against one of the favorites in his division, Gabriel Sousa, in the opening round and it was one of the best submissions of the event. He scored a quick submission over Gairbeg Ibragimov in the quarter-final and his only loss came to Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira.
Michael Pixley
Michael Pixley is an NAIA and NCAA Division II champion wrestler so it made sense that everyone was in no rush to stand with him. What little wrestling he did get to show off was of a higher level than the vast majority of ADCC competitors, but his ability to chain it to submission threats quickly is where he really excelled. Pixley’s submission win over Nicholas Meregali was the biggest upset of the entire tournament, but he also got another big submission win over Vinicius ‘Trator’ Ferreira before that. Pixley finished in fourth at under 99kg with a 2-2 record but he established himself as a real threat in the division moving forwad.
Elijah Dorsey
The signs were all there that Elijah Dorsey had mixed results leading into ADCC 2024 but he left the tournament as one of the breakout stars. He had probably the toughest draw of the under 77kg division but that didn’t stop him from making a run, as he managed to beat former medalist Dante Leon and two-time champion JT Torres on points to make it to the semi-final. Dorsey finished the weekend in fourth with a 2-2 record and he showed that he’s an incredibly well-rounded grappler who can beat anyone on the right day.
Helena Crevar
Helena Crevar has been a top prospect for what feels like forever now, but as a teenager it’s always difficult to get matches against elite opponents. She’s done amazingly well in the high-level matches she has had so far, but it’s been tough to gauge where she stands among the best around. She submitted Aurelie Le Vern and beat the returning silver medalist Brianna Ste-Marie on her way to winning a silver medal in the under 65kg division. Crevar fell just short of a perfect run but as a teenager standing on the podium in a bracket full of elite black belts, she achieved something that very few people ever could.
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