First ADCC North American East Coast Trials Competitor List

The first edition of the ADCC North American East Coast trials is finally here and the full competitor list has just been revealed, with some huge names making their way down to Atlantic City, New Jersey. The ADCC North American East Coast event is actually the second trials event overall, with the first entrants for the 2022 ADCC World Championships earning their places last month at the European, Middle-Eastern, and African trials. The two events staged in North America are generally regarded as the most difficult trials events however, as they usually attract the highest number of competitors and this event has already broken the previous record for most attendees.

The 66kg division has almost too many standouts to list like Ryan Hall’s protege Adam Benayoun, the legendary Gianni Grippo, B-Team’s Damien Anderson, ZR Team’s Estevan Martinez, and a pair of leglock specialists in Edwin ‘Junny’ Ocasio and Jonathan Calestine. Additionally there’s a huge number of 10th Planet competitors in this weightclass of the ADCC North American East Coast trials with Anthony Birchak, Ben Eddy, Gabe Tuttle, Keith Krikorian, and Luis Quinones all in attendance. Additionally, a lot of attention will be put on two young competitors making their first attempt at qualifying for the ADCC world championships, Cole Abate and Caleb Tackett.

The 77kg division of the ADCC North American East Coast trials is not quite as jam-packed but it also features an interesting entrant in the form of J.R Caballero who hit headlines recently for submitting several black belts as a 14 year-old. Brazilian Fight Factory teammates Kody Steele and William Tackett are both in with a solid chance of victory, as is Serra BJJ’s Nick Ronan, 10th Planet standout PJ Barch, and the young prodigy Kade Ruotolo. His twin brother Tye is a notable absence from the event, which might indicate that he will be in receipt of an invite instead.

The son of Vagner Rocha, Achilles Rocha, will be attempting to follow in his father’s footsteps in the 88kg division of the ADCC North American East Coast trials, although he will face tough opposition from the likes of Giancarlo Bodoni and Hunter Colvin. Additionally, the ‘Hillbilly Hammer’ Jacob Couch will be representing Pedigo Submission Fighting and is a notoriously tough opponent. 10th Planet has a strong presence here too with the likes of Corey Guitard and Quentin Rosenzweig both being a big threat.

The 99kg division is where the competitor list starts to get smaller, although the Legion Jiu-Jitsu wrestling coach Breylor Grout will represent a huge challenge. Unity’s Devhonte Johnson comes in with a huge chance of qualifying at the ADCC North American East Coast trials as well. The over 99kg weightclass has even less competitors again, although the appearance of wrestling superstar Pat Downey will no doubt draw a lot of attention as he attempts to use his relatively unique approach to Jiu-Jitsu competition to qualify for the biggest no gi tournament of the calendar.

Both female weightclasses at the ADCC North American East Coast trials are less busy than the lighter men’s divisions, but they still contain a number of elite competitors. Brazilian Top Team’s Brianna Ste-Marie, ATOS veteran Heather Raftery, and Fatima Kline all stand out as top contenders in the under 60kg division. Meanwhile, Vagner Rocha’s daughter Jasmine and top prospect Trinity Pun will be interesting to watch against elite competition.

The final division of the ADCC North American East Coast trials is the over women’s over 60kg weightclass which will feature the first woman to face multiple-time world boxing champion Claressa Shields in MMA, Brittney Elkin. Fellow MMA veteran Cat Zingano is an interesting addition to the weightclass, and while Kendall Reusing is the favorite to win, her younger sister Emma will also be competing.

Full First ADCC North American East Coast Trials Competitor List

Men’s -66kg

Men’s -77kg

Men’s -88kg

Men’s -99kg

Men’s +99kg

Women’s -60kg

Women’s +60kg

The full first ADCC North American East Coast Trials event will be available to watch live on FloGrappling on November 6th, click here to subscribe and watch.