The ADCC North American East Coast Trials 2025 is scheduled for November 15th and 16th, 2025 and we’ve put together a full preview of all 8 divisions. As always, there are hundreds of elite grapplers competing and every one of them will be leaving it all on the mat in the hunt for an invite to ADCC 2026. All five of the male champions will secure their place in the world’s most prestigious no gi grappling tournament but the female winners will not. Instead they will be given free travel and entry for the ADCC North American West Coast Trials next year, where they will then be able to compete for an invite.
ADCC North American East Coast Trials 2025 Full Preview
Men’s Divisions
Under 66kg
Favorites: This isn’t the biggest bracket of the tournament but it’s definitely the most top-heavy, with so many elite competitors involved. Realistically, there’s going to be some amazing grapplers who don’t even make it to the quarter-finals. Dorian Olivarez and Keith Krikorian have both won this bracket before and they have a very good chance of doing so again, particularly the incredibly consistent Krikorian. Gianni Grippo and Max Hanson are two other ADCC veterans who will clearly go far in the bracket, and nobody should be counting out ADCC Trials medalist Gavin Corbe and the always exciting Julian Espinosa.
Dark Horse: There’s 143 in the under 66kg division so there’s plenty of room for upsets, but David Stoilescu is the one to watch. The Canadian black belt has been having some good performances lately and he hunts for the finish relentlessly, so he could surprise some of the more established competitors.
Under 77kg
Favorites: Even though this is the biggest division with 175 competitors, there aren’t many competitors here with a ton of experience at the highest level. Those that do will have a clear advantage, starting with young phenom Jett Thompson. In fact, it looks like under 77kg is probably going to be won by a top prospect. Thompson is just 18 years old and the other top contender is 19 year-old black belt Michael Sainz. The most likely man to stop them meeting in the final is Nick Mataya, who seems to have turned a corner in a big way lately and may well end up taking home the invite to ADCC 2026.
Dark Horse: There’s another exciting teenager in this division who has a decent chance of winning; Sid Tavolaro. He’s one of the best products of Greg Souders’ training methodologies ar Standard Jiu-Jitsu and he can hang with some of the best at this weight. With such a wide-open division, he definitely has the ability to make the podium at least.
Under 88kg
Favorites: This is the only other division in this preview of the ADCC North American East Coast Trials 2025 to break over a hundred entrants, with 102 competitors registered. Previous winner Alec Baulding stands out as a pretty safe bet to make it to the semi-finals, but the most likely final matchup here is probably going to be Jon ‘Thor’ Blank vs David Garmo. The bracketing might remove that possibility of course, but they should both be seeded fairly highly. Steve Joachim is going go be another one to keep an eye on but it’ll be tough for him to make it to the podium ahead of these three.
Dark Horse: Sean Yadimarco is an exciting grappler who’s been quite a few of the men competing in this event, and he has the skills to beat many more. He’s in a tricky position where he would win a lot of these direct matches but would be underdog against the very top of this bracket, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can get past them.
Under 99kg
Favorites: Daishi Goto stands out as the top contender here and he has a great style for success under ADCC rules in the heavier weight classes, but his biggest threats will likely come from smaller competitors. Achilles Rocha is moving up after competing at under 88kg at ADCC 2024 and although he’ll be smaller than most here, he’ll make up for it with hist fast-paced and aggressive style. John Combs is the other man moving up in weight and he actually won the North American Trials at under 77kg back in 2019. He’s got one of the best guillotines in the world and under this ruleset, that’s such a valuable weapon.
Dark Horse: Corbin Laporte is a fantastic grappler training at Simple Man Martial Arts and he’s already beaten ADCC Trials winners despite being just 20 years old. He should be able to make a decent run here but winning the title will still be tough for such a young competitor.
Over 99kg
Favorites: Damon Ramos and Brandon Reed have both reached the podium here before and both then been invited to ADCC off the strength of their performances. With just 44 men in the bracket here, they should both hit the podium again. Obviously seeding might affect whether they run into each other before the final but they should both be seeded pretty highly as ADCC veterans. The match between them will likely decide the champion anyway, as meeting earlier just means the winner will have a clearer run to gold.
Dark Horse: Kyle DeSantos is the most interesting question here, as the 18 year-old wrestler will have some very tough matches but does have the right style to succeed under the ruleset. If he can stay safe then he should win most decisions, but his biggest challenge will be doing that against the talented grapplers here.
Women’s Divisions
Under 55kg
Favorites: Ana Mayordomo is one of the breakthrough stars of the sport this year and she is the clear favorite to win this bracket, even though there’s some more experienced competitors in it. Bre Stikk is always a tough opponent though and Danielle Kelly has shared the mats with many of the best grapplers in the world, on the biggest stages. It’ll be interesting to see how Mayordomo handles the challenge from Stikk and Kelly, but she’s the favorite for a reason.
Dark Horse: There’s 36 women competing here but the three favorites are the most likely to reach the podium, even if the order is a bit of a surprise. Just on the outside of them is 10th Planet Las Vegas brown belt Shye Lilly, who has already put on good performances at a high level. A gold medal here would be her biggest achievement yet though, as she’s the underdog in a handful of these direct matchups.
Under 65kg
Favorites: Morgan Black has been here before and she’s reached the final of the last two North American Trials, even winning gold at the East Coast Trials in 2023. She isn’t the only woman that’s stood on the podium at Trials before though and one of the other contenders is the woman she beat in the semi-final last year; Leilani Bernales. Finally, Taylor Hishaw is going to be a serious threat here too. The 18 year-old purple belt has already beaten a lot of excellent competitors and stylistically she does very well under ADCC rules.
Dark Horse: There’s actually quite a lot of talented grapplers here, and it’s the biggest women’s division with 40 competitors in it. Nicole Mathew is a veteran and a very consistent performer even at the highest level, so she is absolutely capable of getting the win over the favorites if they slip up at any time.
Over 65kg
Favorites: This is probably the toughest bracket to predict in the whole event, as there’s nobody in it that’s miles ahead of the competition. Katie Bochenek is probably the woman who has had the highest level of success and she could be considered the favorite, but there’s a very young grappler standing in her way. Joslyn Molina has had insane success for a 13 year-old and she’s already competed on bigger stages and beaten better opponents than most people ever will. It’s odd to look at someone so young as a favorite; but that’s just how good Molina is and she gets even better every day.
Dark Horse: With just 21 women in the division; there really isn’t much room for surprises. 22 year-old Canadian purple belt Tianna Lund is going to be a problem for a lot of her opponents and although it’ll be tough for her to beat Bochenek and Molina, it wouldn’t be surprising to see her finish on the podium somewhere.
The full ADCC North American East Coast Trials 2025 event, including all of the above divisions in this preview, will be available to watch live on November 15th and 16th on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
