Patreon: https://patreon.com/UnknownPressures | Hello dear listeners, and welcome to our monster ADCC recap episode. Hywel was in Poland, Matt was watching from home, and in this week’s show we break down the biggest moments, the standout grapplers and yes, talk about the altercation that saw a division favourite ejected from the tournament.
In short, this year’s ADCC more than lived up to the hype. If there were any doubts that this ADCC would somehow lack in quality, excitement or anything else compared to previous editions, theyn were laid to rest the moment the opening ceremony started. The Tauron Arena in Krakow looked incredible, the organizers went all out on production and hosted an event comparable to anything we’ve seen in the last few years.
This year’s ADCC saw first time champions crowned in every men’s division and two of the three women’s divisions, living up to our prediction that we would see a generational shift.
Records were set and history was made:
- Felipe Pena won the absolute division and became the only person in ADCC history to have won it twice. He was absolute champ in 2017 and decided last second to enter the openweight after taking 4th place in the +99kg division, making him a three-time ADCC gold medalist.
- Kennedy Maciel followed in his father's footsteps to become -66kg champion, the only time a father and son have both won ADCC gold medals.
- 20-year-old Helena Crevar became the youngest female champion after she won the +65kg division (with a 100% submission rate, no less)
- We saw an all-European final when Pawel Jaworski and Marlon Tajik faced off for 88kg gold. That’s never happened before.
- Joslyn Medina competed and placed 3rd in the women’s -65kg division at only 14 years of age.
There is a lot to unpack from this year’s ADCC, so let’s jump into it. Timestamps are below.
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Episode 48 of Unknown Pressures is out now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and everywhere else.
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Unknown Pressures is a jiu-jitsu podcast brought to you by two long-time industry insiders: Matt Benyon, the co-founder of Scramble and Polaris, and Hywel Teague, jiu-jitsu / grappling commentator and analyst.
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