This article is part of our ADCC 2024 coverage. To get live results, play by play, and commentary, we’ll have a live updates article running all weekend.
There isn’t long left before ADCC 2024 takes place and now the under 66kg division is completely full as the final four invites have been announced. All four of them have previous experience at the event after competing at ADCC 2022, and two of them were medalists that time around. Although the reigning champion Diogo Reis is also returning to defend his title, this latest batch of invites represents the top contenders to his crown on paper. Anything can happen of course and ADCC Trials winners often cause huge upsets against more established competitors, but there will still be a lot of attention on these four veterans.
The silver medalist from this division at the last ADCC was Gabriel Sousa, and he will be coming back with a vengeance as he looks to improve on his performance. Sousa went 3-1 in a very tough division in 2022 and he only lost to Diogo Reis on points in the final, meaning that he stands a great chance of standing on top of the podium this time around. He has actually since had a rematch with Reis at Who’s Number One 20: Night of Champions and only lost by decision then, demonstrating just how close he is to the very top of the division.
The other man on the podium last time around was Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira and he although he also went 3-1 at the event, his sole loss actually came against Sousa. He has reached a whole new level since then though and in fact, he’s actually the only person to beat the reigning champion Reis since that tournament. He also has multiple wins over Sousa dating from before ADCC 2022 so he’s repeatedly proven that he definitely could have ended up winning the whole division back then. The presence of all three men at ADCC 2024 will undoubtedly lead to some fantastic matches and there’s a decent chance that they all stand on the podium together again.
Josh Cisneros has also received one of the invites to the under 66kg division at ADCC 2024, and he’ll be giving it everything he has after narrowly missing out on a medal last time around. Cisneros won both of his first two matches to move on to the second day and set up a meeting with Reis in the semi-final. He lost that battle with Reis by just 2 points and went into the bronze-medal match, where he lost on penalties to Oliveira. Even though he doesn’t have an ADCC medal to his name, Cisneros will still be coming in as one of the top contenders to take home the title.
The final man who rounds out the under 66kg division at ADCC 2024 is one of the most consistent men at ADCC Trials over the last few years, Keith Krikorian. Although he has only won the tournament once; Krikorian has won multiple silver medals, including an impressive performance at the West Coast Trials earlier this year. He will now be making his third consecutive appearance in this weight class at ADCC, after he has lost to eventual medalists in the opening round of both 2019 and 2022.
ADCC announced the final four invites to the under 66kg division at ADCC 2024 in a series of recent posts to their official Instagram account:
