The ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, and African Trials 2025 are scheduled for September 6th, 2025 and we’ve put together a full preview of all 8 divisions in the tournament. By the time the day is over, fans will know the first 5 athletes who will be competing at ADCC 2026 as the men’s champions will all receive invites to the world championship. There’s no invite available for the 3 female champions this time around but there’s still several elite grapplers in the brackets regardless. There will be plenty of fun matches across every division and we’re on hand to break down how they’re most likely to play out, but there’s always a few surprises.
ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, And African Trials 2025 Full Preview
Men’s Divisions
Under 66kg
Favorites: This is the biggest division of the whole event, with 84 competitors battling it out here. The top contender is probably going to be Yigit Hanay, as he stood on the podium in both of the last editions. None of the men who beat him are in the bracket either, so this may very well be his breakthrough moment on the international stage. He has two elite leglockers as his main opposition though, as Jack Sear has been at the top of the UK circuit for a while and Robert Degle is known around the world as one of the best in the game in that area. Unless they run into each other earlier on, it wouldn’t be surprising to see all of these three standing on the podium.
Dark Horse: Hejraat Rashid is going to be one to watch here, as he’s been steadily making a name for himself in the UK over the last few years. Depending on how the draw goes and who he comes up against, Rashid could make a good run here and even surprise one or more of the favorites.
Under 77kg
Favorites: Oliver Taza is one of the clear favorites here and he has a bunch of medals from different ADCC Trials over the last decade to prove it. He’s well-rounded and performs well under ADCC rules, but he’s not invincible and there’s two men in particular who are big threats for him. His own teammate Davis Asare has a 1-1 record against him and Mateusz Szczecinski has lost two close matches to him in the past. Asare might have more paths to victory but Szczecinski is one of the most dangerous leglockers in the world and can finish anyone off the back of a minor error or split-second loss of focus.
Dark Horse: With 82 men in the bracket there’s plenty of room for surprises, but Jed Hue is the one most likely to make a run to the final outside of the favorites. Hue has had excellent performances on all the biggest stages in Europe and he actually holds a win over Taza, so he can’t be counted out here.
Under 88kg
Favorites: Santeri Lilius has won this division two times now, the most recent being in 2023. He has a style that is built to succeed under ADCC rules and he has a decade of experience at the highest level, meaning that most competitors will need to rely on trying to submit him rather than beat him on points. Pawel Jaworski is the ideal man to do that though, as he’s an incredible leglocker with a very tricky guard. He isn’t alone either, as Tarik Hopstock is another submission-hunter who happens to have a fantastic ankle-lock. Both Jaworski and Hopstock are a little undersized for the division though, so Lilius is still the top contender.
Dark Horse: This is another big division with 76 competitors in it, but Faris Ben-Lamkadem stands out for similar reasons to Lilius. He has a great style for the ruleset but he hasn’t had the same level of success as Lilius just yet. If he can play tactically against the finishers in the division then he could go very far, and a match with Lilius would likely be his toughest test.
Under 99kg
Favorites: As the weights get bigger, the divisions get smaller. There’s just 38 men here and two really strong frontrunners who are the most likely champions, with both of them having won ADCC Trials before. Marcin Maciulewicz has burst on to the scene over the last year or so and a lot of those opportunities have come from him winning the last edition of this tournament in 2024. He has a really tough opponent who will probably be waiting for him in the final, depending on how the bracket is drawn. Declan Moody actually won the Asia and Oceania Trials in 2023 and he’s making the journey all the way to Poland to win a second invite, but Maciulewicz is the more aggressive finisher and he’ll have to stay disciplined throughout their potential match.
Dark Horse: Maciulewicz and Moody being drawn on the same side of the bracket would obviously shake things up but even if they’re not, there’s still a few men who could upset the balance of things in this division. Jean Maltese is probably the most likely to do so, as he’s medalled here before, is tough to submit, and is always a game opponent for anyone.
Over 99kg
Favorites: The undeniable favourite here is Heikki Jussila; who is a gigantic man with solid wrestling for the weight class, making him almost impossible to score against. Jussila already two Trials gold medals to his name, winning an invite in 2023 and all the way back in 2021 too. On the other hand, Mark Macqueen is an equally-terrifying human and a former world champion powerlifter who has adapted to Jiu-Jitsu very quickly. With just 16 men in the bracket, it’s hard to imagine anyone else standing on top of the podium than these two.
Dark Horse: Mateusz Juskowiak is another former champion here, but his only gold medal was back in 2019 and he’s already 39 years old. Age matters much less at this weight though so he still has a chance of making run in a fairly small division.
Women’s Divisions
Under 55kg
Favorites: Josefine Modig won this tournament back in 2023 but unfortunately for her, there was no invite to ADCC on the line back then. She should be able to win another gold medal in a pretty thin division of just 15 women here, but there’s another woman who’s familiar with the podium at ADCC Trials. Ashley Bendle has been at the top of the UK circuit for a few years now and she’s won silver and bronze medals at the last two editions of this event, so she might be able to make that final step to gold this year.
Dark Horse: Ana Mayordomo might be fairly unknown but she’s had some big wins over in the US lately and has been hard at work developing her skills on the ADCC Open circuit there too. She’s definitely capable of beating the top contenders at this weight class, but she’ll have to put everything together on the day in order to do so.
Under 65kg
Favorites: This is the biggest women’s division in this preview of the ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, and African Trials 2025, but there’s still just 19 women competing. Injana Goodman has won a silver medal here two years ago and has made huge strides since then, so she’s coming in as the favourite this time around. Selma Vik is probably going to be her biggest threat and she’s definitely got a good chance of winning here instead, but Goodman is probably the woman to bet on.
Dark Horse: Zara Di Tofano is still just 22 years old but the Irish black belt has been beating some of Europe’s finest for a few years now. She’ll still be the underdog on paper here but she definitely has what it takes to win, and each year she gets that little bit closer to the highest level.
Over 65kg
Favorites: Salla Simola has medalled at this event several times now and she’s been delivering some big results on the IBJJF circuit at the same time, including a gold medal at No Gi Worlds last year. She’s probably going to have to beat a champion in order to take home the title here though, as her biggest opposition is going to be Eleftheria Christodolou. It’s been a few years since Christodolou won ADCC Trials but she’s just as skilled as she was back in 2022 and she’ll be a very tough match for Simola.
Dark Horse: This is the smallest division of the whole tournament and with 12 women in it, there’s really not much room for surprises. Jessika Torttila has also stood on the podium here before and she was actually right next to Simola at the time; something that will likely repeat itself this year. Torttila is still an underdog to win the whole division, but she could go all the way if things go well for her on the day.
The full ADCC European, Middle-Eastern, and African Trials event, including all of the above divisions in this preview, will be available to watch live on May 11th, 2024 on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
