This article is part of our ADCC 2024 coverage. To get live results, play by play, and commentary, we’ll have a live updates article running all weekend.
ADCC 2024 is scheduled for August 17th and 18th, 2024 and we’ve put together a full preview of the men’s under 77kg division. The full competitor list for all 5 men’s divisions and all 3 women’s divisions can be found here, but this article will be breaking down the individual chances of each competitor in this weight class. Every single grappler in the lineup is at the very top of the sport and any one of them could win, although some do have better chances than others on paper. ADCC is the world’s most prestigious no gi grappling tournament, so every competitor will be giving it everything they’ve got for the biggest title in the sport.
Before seeing our full preview of the men’s under 77kg division at ADCC 2024, take a look at the full play-by-play of the last edition here.
ADCC 2024: Men’s Under 77kg Division Full Preview
There are 16 elite competitors in the ADCC 2024 men’s under 77kg division, so this preview will split them into groups of 4 judging by how good their chances are of winning the tournament. The favorites, as the name suggests, are the 4 most likely to win the tournament and will probably end up as the semi-finalists depending on the draw. The contenders are the 4 who are most likely to make it to the quarter-finals and although they aren’t favorites, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see them go further. The dark horses and underdogs are the 8 who will most likely go out in the opening round, but the dark horses have the best chance of causing an upset and making a run in the bracket.
Favorites
Mica Galvao
Mica Galvao was the silver medalist back at ADCC 2022 and with the champion not returning, he’s definitely a favorite to win the under 77kg division in this preview of ADCC 2024. He’s been one of the best grapplers in this weight class for quite some time anyway but he’s reached whole new heights this year, as he’s already won an IBJJF Grand Slam. He’s had the goal of joining Rubens ‘Cobrinha’ Charles as one of the only two men to do that and win ADCC in the same year, and he stands a really good chance of doing so.
Dante Leon
Dante Leon has been in the semi-finals at both ADCC 2019 and 2022, improving steadily both times. He finished fourth on his first attempt and left with a bronze medal last time, so he should be able to do at least as well this time around. Leon has only lost to a handful of elite competitors since 2022 and most of them have been significantly bigger than him too. All signs point to Leon standing on the podium once again and the likelihood is that he manages to improve on his previous standings.
JT Torres
JT Torres isn’t the only former ADCC world champion in this division, but he is the most recent one. Torres actually won two titles in 2017 and 2019, and he won a bronze medal back in 2013 as well. Although suffered an upset loss in the quarter-final last time around, he still stands out as one of the top competitors in the division. Torres’ main strengths are his strong wrestling and positional dominance, which combine to give him the perfect style for success under the ADCC ruleset.
PJ Barch
PJ Barch is one of the top 10th Planet competitors in the world right now and he’s very well-rounded, so he’s got the ability to take advantage of anyone’s weaknesses. He’s got excellent counter-leglocking skills too, and that makes it very dangerous to try and attack his legs. He finished fourth in his debut at ADCC 2022 and beat the reigning champion Torres along the way, something that many didn’t think could be done. Barch has since gone on to win the Polaris welterweight grand prix too, and he should be able to go far here.
Contenders
Elijah Dorsey
Elijah Dorsey had a superb performance at the ADCC East Coast Trials last year and he won the opportunity to compete here by beating a pair of ADCC veterans. One of those men is returning in the division this year and Dorsey has since beaten another two of his potential opponents as well. Things bode well for his chances in the early rounds and Dorsey should be able to make it to the quarter-finals at the very least, but going even further than that isn’t out of reach either.
Jonnatas Gracie
Jonnatas Gracie has been a top competitor for about 5 years now but this is actually the first time he will be competing at ADCC. He is another man who has the perfect style to succeed under ADCC rules and although he’s not as good of a wrestler as some of his potential opponents, he’s got a better top-game than most. Once Gracie gets on top he’s very good at staying safe while steadily progressing through positions to win on points or by decision. There are some really challenging opponents waiting for him and it’ll take something special for him to win the whole division, but he can beat most people once he gets his game going.
Mateusz Szczecinski
Mateusz Szczecinski is one of the best competitors in Europe at the moment and he has some of the best leglocks in the world. His unique style of ankle-locks have really made an impact on the sport and changed the way a lot of elite grapplers attack the legs over the last few years. Szczecinski is absolutely lethal if he can get his game going and unless he comes up against one of the favorites in the opening round, he should be able to submit someone.
Alexandre De Jesus
Alexandre De Jesus has had a ton of matches under ADCC rules this year, as he made it to the semi-finals on his first attempt and then won the second ADCC South American Trials. That was actually the second time that De Jesus has won ADCC Trials and he beat Gracie in the final of that tournament too, so he’s shown he can make a big impact in this division. He used to compete at under 88kg so now that he’s moved down to the under 77kg division for ADCC 2024, he should be considered a real threat in anyone’s preview.
Dark Horses
Vagner Rocha
Vagner Rocha is going to be one of the oldest competitors in the entire tournament at 42 years old and it’s always tough to overcome the odds against younger opponents in lighter weight classes. Rocha does have an advantage of his own though, as he has a huge amount of experience under ADCC rules at the highest level and his style is built for success under these conditions. He has won ADCC Trials several times over and has stood on the podium three times too, so he could still make a run if things go his way.
Oliver Taza
Although Oliver Taza is one of the more experienced competitors here, he’s been unable to make it past the opening round in previous editions of ADCC. He’s won a ton of medals from various editions of ADCC Trials over the years and that has meant that he’s appeared at every ADCC since 2017. If Taza draws one of the favorites in the opening round then it might mean another early exit but there’s a lot of winnable matches for him here and he should be able to improve on his previous record.
Luiz Paulo
Luiz Paulo earned his place here by winning the first ADCC South American Trials earlier this year, putting on a solid performance with some big wins. His most recent match against one of his potential opponents was in the Polaris welterweight grand prix when he faced Barch in the opening round, losing by decision. That was still a good showing against one of the best in the division though and Paulo does have the ability to make a run in this bracket on the right day.
Garry Tonon
It might seem strange to put Garry Tonon as one of the dark horses given that he’s also one of the biggest names in the division, but he’s also been very inactive as far as BJJ goes. Tonon has been focusing on his impressive MMA career with ONE Championship for a while now and he’s only had two grappling matches in the last four years, both of which he lost. He went out in the first round at ADCC 2022 but he is still a bronze medalist and veteran competitor, so he is more than capable of winning a few matches if he can find the form he had during the peak of his career.
Underdogs
Fabio Caloi
Fabio Caloi has gotten within inches of qualifying through ADCC Trials, winning a silver and bronze medal along with a fourth place finish in his last three attempts. Unfortunately for Caloi the men who beat him in his last two runs are both in this division; Gracie and Paulo. He also had a submission loss to Szczecinski late last year and other than that, he hasn’t faced any of his potential opponents recently. It’s going to be very tough for Caloi to make it to the later stages at ADCC 2024 and he’d have to pull of an upset in order to do so.
Davi Ramos
Davi Ramos is actually a former ADCC world champion, but that was quite a long time ago now. He won this division in 2015 and submitted both Gilbert Burns and Lucas Lepri along the way, a truly incredible feat. He started to focus more on his MMA career after that and even made it to the UFC, but his grappling career suffered as a result. Ramos hasn’t actually won a grappling match in the last 5 years and although he was the best in the world at one point in time, he will have to turn back the clock to make a run in this bracket.
Max Hanson
Max Hanson has been one of the best-kept secrets in the professional grappling world for a while now, and he has steadily improved over the last few years. He’s followed in his coach Leon’s footsteps by becoming a very well-rounded grappler and he’s turned into a formidable opponent in the process. The problem for Hanson is that he will likely get a tough match in the opening round and if he does make it through that test, he’ll almost certainly be facing Leon straight after. He may well get past his first opponent, but things will only get even more difficult from there.
Jeremy Skinner
Jeremy Skinner made his ADCC debut in the under 66kg division back in 2022 and went 1-1 in a respectable performance, but he has since bulked up quite a bit. That has led to Skinner moving up to this weight instead and although he did well in the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials, he wasn’t able to win gold at either edition. Skinner is a great leglocker and has even gone 1-1 with Hanson in the last two years so he definitely can win some of these matches, but it will be tough going.
The full ADCC 2024 live event, including the men’s under 77kg division, is available to watch live on August 17th and 18th, 2024 on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
