The competitor list for ADCC 2022 just keeps growing and growing as Kaynan Duarte and two others have now been invited to compete in the world’s most prestigious no gi grappling tournament. As the reigning over 99kg division champion, Duarte’s invite was essentially a foregone conclusion. What is surprising however is that he’s actually been moved down in to the under 99kg division instead and will be looking to secure his place in the ADCC history books by becoming a two division champion all before he’s even reached 25. Duarte’s transition down in weight is what has allowed Felipe Pena to follow Gordon Ryan to the over 99kg division and potentially provide fans with the grudge match they’ve all been waiting for.
Joining him in moving up in weight is B-team competitor and perennial ADCC competitor Nicky Ryan, who will be joining the 77kg weightclass for the first time in his three ADCC appearances. Although Ryan hasn’t been able to reach the podium just yet, he’s still only 20 years old and has never actually been submitted at the event regardless. In 2017, Ryan went out in the first round against AJ Agazarm and he managed to do one better in 2019 by defeating Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor but couldn’t make it past the second round after coming up short against the legendary Paulo Miyao. No doubt Ryan will be looking to do one better again this time around, although he’ll face tough opposition like Lachlan Giles, Lucas Lepri, and Davi Ramos.
The final person invited to ADCC 2022 lately is none other than Gabi Garcia, one of the most successful competitors in the history of the organization with four world championships to her name. She is only the second woman to be invited to compete at ADCC 2022 and the first in the over 60kg division after Bianca Basilio was the first woman invited to the under 60kg division. As the reigning world champion, Garcia will be the favorite to take home another gold medal this time around too.
The invites given to Kaynan Duarte, Nicky Ryan, and Gabi Garcia to return for the 2022 ADCC World Championships were announced in separate posts to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
