This article is part of our ADCC 2022 coverage. To get live results, play by play, and commentary, we’ll have a live updates article running all weekend.
The number of invites available for the 2022 ADCC world championships are quickly dwindling down as the vast majority of athletes have now been announced. Four more have now joined the field of elite competition, with each one joining a different division. First up is our pick for the female breakout grappler of the year for 2020, Rafaela Guedes. She has never competed at ADCC before but her resume is just as impressive as any of the other female competitors in the over 60kg division, as she is the reigning IBJJF double no gi world champion and has already registered a number of victories over some of the best female grapplers on the planet without being submitted at black belt yet.
Another female athlete has been invited to the over 60kg division at ADCC 2022 as well, as Carina Santi will be returning to compete for the second time. Santi made her ADCC debut in 2019 after winning several tournaments on the IBJJF circuit in the years leading up to it. She managed to come away with a silver medal in her very first attempt and will likely be eager to make another trip to the podium, if not exceed her previous achievement. The remaining two invites went to male competitors, with each one going to a different weightclass.
Fellow Brazilian Renato Canuto will be returning to the 77kg division despite the fact that he went out in the second round in his debut in 2019. Canuto has reached the podium of the IBJJF world championships on several occasions over the last few years and is actually the reigning champion in his weightclass in the gi at the moment, but a large part of his invite no doubt came from his 2019 performances. He edged out the 2021 European, Middle-Eastern, and African trials winner Oliver Taza in a fast-paced match in the opening round before engaging in the most exciting match of the entire tournament against Garry Tonon and losing by the thinnest of margins.
The final of four athletes who were recently invited to ADCC 2022 was Elder Cruz, who will be making his debut in the 99kg division. Cruz has fantastic wrestling and is more than talented enough to present a problem for anyone in a tough division that includes the likes of Kaynan Duarte, Yuri Simoes, and Rafael Lovato Jr. Cruz competed at both editions of the South American trials in 2022 and impressed both times but couldn’t quite reach the top as he went home with a silver and bronze medal in the end.
All four of the most recent athletes who were invited to ADCC 2022 were announced in separate posts to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
