Braulio Estima has just become the sixth person to be inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame, joining a whole host of legendary faces in the inaugural class. He is the fifth man to be inducted, with Kyra Gracie currently being the only woman announced as part of the legendary group of grapplers to be included. Estima has been included for ery good reason of course, as he is one of a select few men who have managed to achieve a triple crown of victories at the ADCC world championships, winning both their weight and absolute division prior as well as the superfight championship.
According to the announcement, ADCC officials believe that Estima’s legendary 2009 run through both the weight and absolute division is perhaps second only to Roger Gracie, who managed the same feat by submitting all eight of his opponents in 2005. Naturally, Roger was the first man inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame as a result. Estima was actually competing for the first time in 2005 and went out in the opening round before returning in 2007 to make it all the way to the final before losing out to Xande Ribeiro. Not only did he avenge that loss during his 2009 run, but Estima also managed to submit fellow ADCC Hall of Famer Andre Galvao in his division’s final.
In the absolute division that year, Estima also became the only man to ever register a second submission win over another member of the Hall of Fame, the legendary Marcelo Garcia. Estima returned in 2011 to win the superfight championship in a tough match against Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, but could not defend it in 2013 when he lost to the current reigning champion, Galvao. Now, Braulio Estima joins Ricardo Arona and the other aforementioned competitors in being immortalized in the ADCC Hall of Fame to be remembered in all future editions of the world’s most prestigious no gi grappling tournament.
The news of Braulio Estima being added into the inaugural class of the ADCC Hall of Fame was announced in a post to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
