The very first invites for ADCC 2026 have officially gone out and all 8 of the reigning champions have their place in the tournament secured. Obviously ADCC 2024 was two years ago and a lot can change in that time, but each one of them will be considered among the favorites to win gold again. The full competitor list is steadily growing and although there’s still just under 7 months ago, the roster is now 25% full. Both the male and female absolute divisions at ADCC 2024 were won by competitors who had already won their original weight classes, meaning that these 8 grapplers actually won 10 gold medals between them last time around.
Some of these champions have actually won multiple titles at ADCC over the last few years, with 4 of them having a pair of gold medals and one coming in as one of the most successful ADCC competitors ever with 4 titles. Kaynan Duarte is the man with 4 golds, having won the over 99kg division at ADCC 2019 and the under 99kg division at ADCC 2022 before he won both the under 99kg and absolute divisions last year. The only other man who’s won multiple divisions is Felipe Pena, who won the ADCC 2022 absolute and the over 99kg division last year.
There is one other person who’s won an absolute title though, as Adele Fornarino became the first women’s absolute champion in 17 years in 2024 and also won the under 55kg division on the same night. The only other multiple-time champions who have been invited to return for ADCC 2026 have won the same weight class back-to-back; with Diogo Reis holding the under 66kg title and Giancarlo Bodoni holding the under 88kg title since 2022. The final man among the reigning men’s champions coming back this year is also the youngest out of all of them; under 77kg king Mica Galvao.
Alongside Fornarino, there are two other invites announced for the women’s divisions, as the promotion is sticking with their expansion to a third weight class. That means that the under 65kg champion Ana Vieira and the over 65kg champion Rafaela Guedes both have the opportunity to defend their titles. Traditionally the promotion also gives invites out to the silver and bronze medalists from each weight class as well, but this has not been officially confirmed yet. Some among them will turn down those invites of course, like Rafael Lovato Jr, who has already stated that he won’t be returning for another shot at an ADCC title.
The full ADCC 2026 event, including the 8 reigning champions invited to return, will be available to watch live on September 12th and 13th, 2026 on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
