All ADCC Trials events that are scheduled for the future will now stage their weigh-in the day before the tournament instead of on the same day. It’s undoubtedly going to be well-received by a lot of competitors taking to the mats, because the men’s ADCC weight classes are all 11kg apart and there’s a lot of athletes who will be stuck in the middle of those divisions. There is going to be a fair few female ADCC competitors who will also see the benefit of this change, as the women’s divisions are also 10kg apart even after the introduction of a third weight class.
The news has been announced just in time for the start of the cycle of Trials events for ADCC 2024, so all competitors who are looking to qualify for it will have the same advantage available to them. It’s pretty short notice for the upcoming ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, and African Trials 2023 as that tournament is only a matter of days away, but it’s probably just enough time for the grapplers competing to start their weight-cut if they choose to do so. The real deciding factor then will be if they think the risk of failing to make weight is worth the benefit of dropping down to the next division.
It’ll be interesting to see how much of an effect this decision has on the outcome of each division, as it’ll definitely change things up a little bit. There are undoubtedly going to be a few competitors who normally would have narrowly missed out on qualifying from one division, and might be able to win an invite against smaller opponents. This might turn out to be a point of contention if those smaller grapplers fail to qualify against the new additions to their weight class, but so far the response from competitors seems positive.
ADCC announced the news that a day-before weigh-in would be available at all future ADCC Trials events in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
