The invites just keep coming thick and fast for ADCC 2024 and this latest batch have all been in the under 77kg division, as three more elite competitors have been announced. This particular weight class is now starting to fill up very quickly, as 7 of the 8 ADCC Trials have been completed and most of the invites have now been handed out. The lineup already looks like it will be one of the best in the tournament, with Kade Ruotolo returning to defend his title and two-time champion JT Torres looking to regain his status as the best grappler in this weight class. Now that these three latest invites have been announced, fourteen of the sixteen competitors entering the division have been confirmed.
The first of this batch of three invites for the under 77kg division at ADCC 2024 is actually the returning silver medalist from the last edition. That man is Mica Galvao and he will obviously be eager to to improve upon his debut performance to start with, but there will be even more at stake for him in the tournament. His loss in the final to Kade Ruotolo was actually the first submission loss of his career as a black belt and to date, it’s still his only one. Galvao will be coming into the latest edition of ADCC with something to prove, and getting revenge against Ruotolo will be a huge moment in his career.
The second invite went out to Dante Leon, who actually left ADCC 2022 with a bronze medal after his only loss of the division came against Galvao in his semi-final match. That was Leon’s second attempt at glory on the ADCC mats and he’s already managed to build on his debut back in 2019. He went 2-2 and narrowly missed out on a spot on the podium that time around, so going 3-1 in 2022 showed that Leon has managed to develop even more since then. Not only will he want to show even more improvement this time around, but Leon will also be eyeing up a potential rematch with Galvao as the bracket progresses.
The final invite went out to the other semi-finalist from ADCC 2022, PJ Barch. He went 2-2 over the course of the under 77kg division then but his record doesn’t tell the whole story, because his quarter-final match was one of the biggest moments of the tournament. Barch put on a perfect performance against the then-reigning champion JT Torres and outworked him at his own game, beating him on points and stopping him from winning a third consecutive title. Barch also recently won the Polaris welterweight grand prix despite two ADCC Trials winners taking part in the tournament, signalling that he should be a real threat at ADCC 2024.
The invites for Mica Galvao, Dante Leon, and PJ Barch to compete in the under 77kg division of ADCC 2024 were announced in a series of posts to the promotion’s official Instagram account: