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 invites for ADCC 2022 just keep coming and now three more medalists from 2019 have been confirmed as returning once again. Two of them actually come from the same division, as the women’s under 60kg weightclass now has all three of the women from the 2019 podium attending. Reigning world champion Bianca Basilio was confirmed several months ago, and now she will be joined by the women she beat in both the semifinal and final matches, Elvira Karppinen and Ffion Davies respectively.
Karppinen is a 10th Planet black belt who trains alongside her husband Lauri in their home-country of Finland, and burst on to the competitive scene after just a few years of training in grappling. She only picked up the sport at the age of 25 and quickly progressed through the colored belt ranks and even won an IBJJF world championship at brown belt before turning her hand to ADCC in 2017 and finishing fourth in the division. She was awarded her black belt just a few months before ADCC 2019 where she managed to improve upon her past performance and come away with a bronze medal this time around.
Ffion Davies is another top European grappler who was born and originally picked up the sport in Wales, but now lives and trains in Ireland. She won the IBJJF world championships as both a purple and brown belt before earning her spot at ADCC 2019 by winning a trials event and being promoted to black belt shortly after that victory. She shocked the world at the event when she submitted the 2017 ADCC world champion Beatriz Mesquita, who will also be returning in 2022, to book her place in the final before finishing with a silver medal.
The final of the three medalists from ADCC 2019 to be recently announced as returning in 2022 is none other than fan favorite and perennial top contender Garry Tonon. Alongside the reigning ADCC double champion Gordon Ryan, Tonon is one of the most impressive competitors produced by John Danaher and he never fails to deliver exciting matches. He continually improves every time he steps on the ADCC mats, struggling to make it past the second round on his first two attempts in 2013 and 2015.
His next two attempts saw him come up against the eventual champion, JT Torres, in the semifinals both times and he lost both matches before finally reaching the podium to take a bronze medal in 2019. In the meantime, Tonon has been developing his MMA skills and rising through the ranks at ONE FC which has led to a very busy year ahead as he will also be fighting for the promotion’s Featherweight title. When he does eventually step on the ADCC mats once more at the end of the year, Torres will be waiting for him again as he attempts to become a three-time world champion in the 77kg weightclass.
All three of the medalists from ADCC 2019 that were recently invited back for the 2022 edition were announced in separate posts to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
