Editors note: The below article originally stated that Keenan Cornelius believes that the IBJJF can overtake ADCC with the introduction of heelhooks, this is a misquote of what Cornelius said in his video. In his video, Cornelius stated that the rule change could bring the IBJJF Nogi Worlds to an equivalent level to ADCC. We apologise for any offence caused to Cornelius and updated the article as soon as the mistake was brought to our attention.
Keenan Cornelius is one of the most experienced competitors you could ever find and the IBJJF and ADCC World Championship veteran believes that the addition of heelhooks and reaping the knee could see the IBJJF equal ADCC as a premier no gi competition. The drastic change in rules that has been wanted by many of the sport’s competitors for years now, was finally announced at IBJJF Pan-Ams 2020, and the more open ruleset will come into force at some time in 2021.
He explains that he’s among the camp of competitors who welcome the rule change with open arms, as he’s won the IBJJF no gi World Championships and he has felt as though it was not as “real” as an ADCC gold medal. On the topic of reaping, Cornelius explains that this opens up the ability to sweep your opponent as the lack of gi grips makes sweeping from the guard difficult if reaping is not allowed. He also namedrops the Danaher Death Squad as one of the biggest gyms that should now suddenly take an interest in IBJJF competition where they hadn’t before.
Perhaps the most important point that Cornelius makes is that ADCC is always invitation-only, whereas IBJJF tournaments are all open to the public. Although you would expect the most successful ADCC competitors to transition to IBJJF with the same success, this allows for some unknown quantities to take on the biggest names in the sport and potentially provide some phenomenal upsets.
Keenan Cornelius made his statements about the rule changes in a video uploaded to his official YouTube channel, where he discusses not only this topic, but also the IBJJF Pan-Ams results as a whole.
