ADCC Head organizer Mo Jassim has added some substance to the previous accusations against Robert Drysdale of participating in fixed matches, confirming that the American did so during his 2007 absolute championship win. As Jassim explained, the final presented an opportunity for Marcelo Garcia to make history and cement his place as one of a select few double champions in ADCC history. Moreover, Garcia came into the final after having submitted all of his opponents in the 77kg weightclass and his first three opponents in the absolute division, had he managed to submit Drysdale too then he would’ve become the second man to finish an ADCC World Championship with a 100% submission-rate, after Roger Gracie.
However, the accusations are that Robert Drysdale had a much less intensive path to the final, as one of his matches along the way was fixed and he was guaranteed to be named the winner. The match in question was between him and the man who would go on to become a double champion in his own right just four years later, Andre Galvao. In fairness to Jassim, his accusation isn’t entirely out of nowhere as Galvao himself has previously admitted that the match was fixed as Drysdale was a teammate of his at the time.
Alongside this, Galvao also provides a little proof himself in the fact that he walked away from ADCC 2007 with two bronze medals and yet for some previously unexplained reason he was forced to earn his place in the next edition by winning a trials event. Normally, a competitor with that kind of pedigree would be able to look forward to receiving an invite to the event instead of having to earn their way there again. Screenshots of Galvao’s admission have been uploaded to the official Instagram account for BJJ World:
