The 2022 ADCC world championships have finished and the official awards for the world’s most prestigious no gi grappling event have now been announced as well. Not only do these awards come with cash prizes attached but they also cement each of these grapplers into the history books as well. Out of all four of the awards given only one of them was truly objective, and that was the one for fastest submission. Of course, this went to Gordon Ryan for his stunning victory over Roosevelt Sousa in the semi-finals of the over 99kg division. Ryan sat to guard and immediately transitioned to a heelhook, forcing Sousa to tap after just eleven seconds.
Of course, ADCC isn’t all about the submissions. The event prides itself on encouraging high-level wrestling as well as Jiu-Jitsu and there’s also an award for best throw of the tournament as well. That award went to Nicholas Meregali, who was a surprise invite to the event given that he had never competed in any major no gi tournament prior to ADCC 2022. Meregali had a fantastic performance overall, as he managed to earn a bronze medal in the under 99kg division and a silver medal in the absolute division, but his award was given for a throw he landed in the semifinal match of the absolute division against Tye Ruotolo.
The award for best match of the entire weekend went to one that took place very early on actually, between Vagner Rocha and Izaak Michell. This was the opening round matchup of the 88kg division and although Rocha emerged victorious, it was an incredibly tough back-and-forth match that resulted in a judge’s decision as there was no clear winner on the scoreboard. Finally, the most prestigious of all of the awards to come out of ADCC 2022 was the one for best athlete. Given that he became the first person in the history of ADCC to win both a weightclass and the superfight in one weekend, it was only natural that this award went to Gordon Ryan.
Our full play-by-play of the 2022 ADCC World Championships, including all of the athletes and matches that won the above awards, can be found here. Our full play-by-play of the absolute division of the event can be found here, while our play-by-play of the superfight between Gordon Ryan and Andre Galvao can be found here.
Each of the ADCC 2022 Awards were announced in a post to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
