Four top American grapplers have just received their invites to ADCC 2024 and they will be among several competitors who will be making their debut at the event. Each of them will be joining incredibly tough divisions, as every weight class is stacked withe elite grapplers from all over the world. Naturally there are more competitors hailing from Brazil and the USA than any other country, as this is where Jiu-Jitsu is most popular. The advantage that these 4 men will have is that they will have been around or even competed against many of their potential opponents throughout their careers already.
Ryan Aitken was the first person announced in this latest batch of invites, and he’ll be joining a very competitive under 88kg division. He’s coming in straight off a series of fantastic performances under a wide range of rulesets, starting with him becoming the only two-time Combat Jiu-Jitsu world champion. He then took a break from open-handed strikes and took on several far bigger opponents on his way to becoming the absolute champion at EBI 21. Although he’s probably going to be seeded quite low compared to returning champions and the ADCC Trials winners, Aitken will be one to watch as the bracket unfolds.
Another addition to the under 88kg division is Chris Wojcik, one of the more popular American competitors that have received an invite to ADCC 2024. He has travelled all around the world competing very frequently recently and it’s all been building up to this moment. He has a lot of experience competing under ADCC rules specifically as well and has managed to get some good results under the format, including a bronze medal from the ADCC European Trials in 2023. Wojcik is another one who will likely be flying under the radar coming into the tournament but the B-Team Jiu-Jitsu competitor is very well-rounded and could be a serious threat.
Vince Pezzuto is the third of these most recent American competitors who will be making his debut at ADCC 2024, and he only narrowly missed out on winning his place in the tournament anyway. He ended up with a silver medal in the over 99kg division of the ADCC North American West Coast Trials earlier this year, and he showed off some great skills along the way. Pezzuto also happens to represent B-Team Jiu-Jitsu and although he might not be all that well-known, he both the wrestling and the physical frame to do very well in the highest weight class.
The B-Team Jiu-Jitsu roster at ADCC 2024 just keeps growing, and they’ve now got several competitors spread across multiple weight classes. Adam Bradley has just received the invite to join his teammates by competing in the under 99kg division, and just like Pezzuto he left with a silver medal at ADCC Trials earlier this year. There was actually some controversy around his loss to Michael Pixley in the final as many fans thought he had scored the points necessary for him to win the match. Although he lost that decision, he now gets the invite regardless and is set up for a potential rematch with Pixley at ADCC 2024.
The four American competitors who were all recently invited to make their debut at ADCC 2024 were all announced in a series of posts to the promotion’s official Instagram account: