The ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials 2023 are booked for November 25th, 2023 as the ADCC schedule has already started to pick up the pace ahead of ADCC 2024. As this is only the first edition of these continents’ Trials for ADCC 2024, there will be no invites available for the winners of the women’s divisions. There will be five invites available for the winners of each of the men’s divisions though, and the confirmed lineup for ADCC 2024 will now grow to 15 competitors once the dust has settled on the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials 2023.
ADCC Asia And Oceania Trials 2023 Full Preview
Men’s Divisions
Under 66kg
Favorites – David Stoilescu is the returning silver medalist from last year’s ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials and seeing as the man who beat him in the final isn’t returning, he’s the favorite to win here. He’s going to be difficult for anyone to beat but Daiki Yonekura has been in fine form, he left the IBJJF No Gi Pan Pacific Championship with two gold medals and he could emerge victorious here too.
Dark Horse – Jakob Brooks is one of the only Pedigo Submission Fighting representative at the tournament and he’s traveled all the way over to Singapore to compete. Although he hasn’t won any major titles yet, he might be able to cause an upset here if things go his way.
Under 77kg
Favorites – There’s going to be some fantastic matchups in the under 77kg division, particularly as there’s two of last year’s winners competing. Kenta Iwamoto is the reigning champion and the man to beat in this weight class but he has a very interesting stylistic matchup waiting for him, as last year’s 66kg champion Jeremy Skinner has moved up in weight. Siraj Soufi is the returning silver medalist here and he might be able to do better this time around, but he’ll have to get past at least one of Iwamoto and Skinner.
Dark Horse – Bobby Sandhu is one of the most exciting prospects coming out of B-Team Jiu-Jitsu and it’ll be interesting to see how far he will go here. He has everything stacked up against him though, as this is probably the deepest division in this preview of the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials 2023.
Under 88kg
Favorites – Roberto Frias is the returning champion at 88kg and he stands out as the clear favorite as a result. This would have been the case regardless of who else had signed up to the division, but he’s been helped out even more by the fact that half of the top 4 from that edition will not be returning. The only other person returning is the bronze medalist, Kaya Rudolph, who looks like Frias’ biggest opposition.
Dark Horse – It really does look like Frias will run away with this division unless Rudolph can stop him and it’s hard to imagine anyone else beating either of these men, never mind both of them. Hayden Limebeer made it pretty far last year though and he could surprise a few people if things go his way a little bit.
Under 99kg
Favorites – There’s no returning champion at under 99kg but there are three silver medalists from last year in the bracket thanks to competitors moving up and down in weight. Anton Minenko won silver in this division and Daniel Schuardt did it at over 99kg, so both of them stand a great chance of winning gold here. The most likely winner is actually Declan Moody though, as he’s hit a great run of form that includes a recent win over Schuardt and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Dark Horse – Although Ben Hodgkinson won silver last year, that was at 88kg. He’s going to find it very tough to do better than that at a higher weight class and with so much talent condensed in one small division. It’s certainly not impossible, but Hodgkinson has an uphill battle and will have to beat some fantastic competitors to win here.
Over 99kg
Favorite – There is only 8 men competing in the over 99kg division at the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials 2023 so picking a favorite for this preview was easy. The returning champion Josh Saunders only has to win three matches and after a good performance at ADCC 2022, he’s proven that he should be able to do that pretty comfortably.
Dark Horse – Marc Grayson is Saunders’ teammate and another top competitor in Australia. If Saunders wasn’t competing here then Grayson would probably be the most likely winner, but he’s going to need to pull something fantastic out of the bag to beat Saunders when they cross paths.
Women’s Divisions
Under 55kg
Favorites – Adele Fornarino is the clear favorite in this division, and as a former ADCC Trials winner she has a significant advantage in experience. It’s hard to imagine anybody in this bracket managing to beat her and in truth, the most likely outcome at under 55kg is that she submits every one of her opponents.
Dark Horse – Fornarino pretty much doesn’t lose unless it’s on the world-stage so it’s hard to imagine anyone causing an upset at under 55kg. If anyone’s able to do it, Ju Chin Shih stands out as the top candidate. She’s a solid grappler who made it pretty far in the under 60kg division last year, but Fornarino should still beat her this time around.
Under 65kg
Favorite – Unfortunately there’s only 5 competitors in this division, so there’s no real room for multiple favorites and a dark horse competitor. Shakira Pacana is the most likely winner here and although Nadine Dixon might be able to spring a surprise on her, she’s still a pretty safe bet to stand on top of the podium.
Over 65kg
Favorite – This is the smallest division in the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials 2023 and there’s really no clear favorite to choose for this preview. With only 4 competitors, each of these women are pretty evenly-matched and it’s unlikely that any of them really runs away with it. If we had to pick anyone, we’d be going with Taylah Bisshopp.
The full ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials 2023 will be available to watch live on November 25th, on FloGrappling.
