The first edition of the ADCC South American Trials 2024 is scheduled to take place on March 2nd, 2024 and we’ve put together a full preview of each division at the event. Although the women’s divisions are available for eager competitors, there will not be any invites to ADCC 2024 available for the winners. This usually means that there are less entrants and this event in particular has significantly less due to the fact that the second edition of the ADCC South American Trials 2024 will take place exactly one week later and women’s divisions will have invites available at that point.
First ADCC South American Trials 2024 Full Preview
Men’s Divisions
Under 66kg
Favorites: Kennedy Maciel is already an ADCC medalist and with recent help from Mikey Musumeci, he stands out as the most likely winner in the under 66kg division. It isn’t all smooth sailing for him though and there will be plenty of challenges along the way, particularly from the young prospect Kaua Gabriel. The top prospect coming up under Melqui Galvao has been impressive on the ADCC Open circuit recently and this might be the moment he breaks through to the highest level of the sport.
Dark Horse: Felipe Machado is an interesting spot in the under 66kg division as he should be considered the favorite in a lot of head-to-head matches with his potential opponents. He recently won the IBJJF No Gi Brasileiro and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him reach the podium, but it’s going to be really tough for him to beat either Maciel or Gabriel.
Under 77kg
Favorites: Rene Sousa is one of the top competitors to emerge from 10th Planet lately and he has plenty of unique attacks that will cause difficulty for everyone. He isn’t the only young competitor standing out here though, as fresh black belt Fabyury Khrysthyan has absolutely dominated the IBJJF brown belt no gi circuit and he should be able to go far in this division. Veteran competitor Ygor Rodrigues is someone who will be tough to beat though and it wouldn’t be a complete surprise to see him standing on top of the podium.
Dark Horse: Nikolas Ramos is another top prospect training under Melqui Galvao but he’s got a tough division to get through if he wants to make his ADCC debut. He has the skills to cause some upsets but he’ll have to be flawless on the mats to win the division, so it’ll be interesting to see how far he can go.
Under 88kg
Favorites: This is undoubtedly the most stacked division in this preview of the first ADCC South American Trials 2024, but there’s two men in particular who have the track record to prove they can win. Pedro Marinho is a two-time ADCC veteran and Isaque Bahiense won the last edition of this tournament back in 2022. They aren’t the only men with experience at a high level though and Andre Porfirio is a two-time bronze medalist from these Trials too. These three men should definitely be the ones standing on the podium, although the exact order is a little less clear.
Dark Horse: It feels like Achilles Rocha has been around for a while now so it’s easy to forget that he’s still just a teenager. For someone so early in his career he’s had a ton of experience against top competitors and he could be ready to break through to the highest level at any moment now.
Under 99kg
Favorites: Javier Zaruski is the reigning super-heavyweight IBJJF No Gi World Champion and he actually had to beat an ADCC silver medalist in the final in order to win the title. That alone puts him in great standing to win this division, and the bracket is relatively small compared to other weight classes too. His main opposition will probably come from Felipe Costa, who’s been right on the edge of success at major IBJJF no gi events last year.
Dark Horse: Elioenai Braz has put in some good work on the ADCC Open circuit and he should be able to beat a lot of the opponents he has waiting for him at under 99kg. Braz winning the whole division would be quite a surprise, but he’s expected to make it to the final rounds of the bracket at least.
Over 99kg
Favorite: This is the smallest men’s division at the first ADCC South American Trials 2024 and as such, we’re only picking out a single favorite for this preview. That man is Victor Honorio, who actually won ADCC Trials all the way back in 2017 and appeared at ADCC later that same year. He took a few years away from competition in 2019 before returning with a vengeance in 2022. He’s picked up some great wins since then and if he’s able to maintain that momentum then he should be able to qualify for ADCC again.
Dark Horse: Cleyton Flores is one to watch in this division and he’s picked up some good wins recently, but he’s already lost to Honorio twice last year. He should make it to the podium regardless, but unless he’s made a lot of progress recently he’ll likely lose out to Honorio again.
Women’s Divisions
All of the women’s divisions are too small to pick multiple favorites in this preview of the first ADCC South American Trials 2024 so instead we’ve named a single competitor as the favorite in each division.
Under 55kg
Favorite: Brenda Larissa is one of the top competitors in the lighter weight classes and thanks to how shallow this division is, she should really storm to victory here. She only has to win 3 matches to take home gold so exhaustion won’t be a factor, meaning that it’s going to be tough for any of her opponents to overcome the skill difference.
Dark Horse: Raquel Ferreira has been a black belt competitor for quite some time and she should be able to use her experience at the highest levels of the sport to get far in the bracket. Although Larissa is the most likely winner, Ferreira does probably have the ability to get the upset win against her.
Under 65kg
Favorite: In another shallow division, Vitoria Vieira stands out as the most likely winner in this preview of the first ADCC South American Trials 2024. Most of her achievements have come in the gi though, so it’s not as if she’s going to be unbeatable at all and there’s certainly paths to victory for other women in the division too.
Dark Horse: Vieira’s biggest threat will be Jaine Fragoso, and the two women have actually met on the mats three times before. Vieira submitted Fragoso in their first two matches in the but Fragoso was able to return the favor in their only no gi match most recently. Fragoso clearly has the ability to win this head-to-head match and should beat the rest of the division beforehand, so she’s a clear threat.
Over 65kg
Favorite: This is the smallest division of the whole tournament with just 6 competitors and there’s very little room for unpredictability. Maria Ruffatto is the top contender in the bracket and with a ton of IBJJF success at the highest level in the past, she’s proven before that she should be able to beat anyone else in the division.
Dark Horse: Bruna Braga is a tough Gracie Barra representative and she should be able to make it past the first match or two in the bracket. Ruffatto is going to be very tough to beat, but Braga should at least make it to the podium in one position or another.
The full competitor list for every division in this preview of the First ADCC South American Trials 2024 can be found here.