Cameron Allen
Table of Contents
2024 is gearing up to be a great year for a number of reasons if you are a fan of grappling. Around September or October of 2024, the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships will be taking place. Before the big weekend happens there are a number of smaller tournaments that practitioners can get experience in before having to compete in the qualifying rounds! Want to know where you stand with some of the world’s best grapplers? We got you covered! In this article, we break down an overview of what ADCC is and the ADCC weight classes you can find yourself in if you end up competing!
ADCC Weight Classes
Abu Dhabi has its weight classes and tournaments structured a bit differently than the IBJJF. In ADCC you will mainly compete against people with the same skill level and time (experience) you have spent grappling.
For the ADCC World Championships and ADCC Qualifiers that take place the table below shows what weight classes will be for both men and women. On June 27th of 2023, ADCC officially announced the entrance of a new women’s weight division for those that are under 55 kg (source).
| Male | Female | |
| ADCC Weight Classes for World Championships and Qualifiers | Below 65.9 kg (below 145 lbs) | Below 55 kg ( 121.24) |
| Below 76.9 kg (below 169.5 lbs) | Below 65 kg ( 143.3 lbs) | |
| Below 87.9 kg (below 193.7 lbs) | Above 65 kg ( 143.3 lbs) | |
| Below 98.9 kg (below 218 lbs) | ||
| Above 99 kg (Above 220.5) |
The following table is on the Official weight classes that one can find themselves in for all other ADCC tournaments. It should be noted that these tournaments are broken down by experience level!
Competing in ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) is a big deal and definitely, something to strive for if you see yourself trying to consider yourself a competitor. We had the privilege of going to our first world championship back in 2022 and the atmosphere was electric! West coast and East coast trails should be happening late 2023 or early 2024 so keep your eyes peeled for some world-class grappling!
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What is ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club)?
Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) is the world’s largest no-gi grappling tournament and has been one of the mian reasons why no-gi grappling has been put on the map. Everyone wants a shot at competing in this tournament and to do so you have to prove that you can hang with the best in the world.
Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) hosts the world’s best fighters in a single-elimination tournament every two years with the last tournament being in 2022. Both men and women in their respective weight classes will battle it out to determine who is at the top and have bragging rights as to who is the best competitor in the world.
The ADCC World Submission Fighting Championships were the idea and creation of UAW national Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the son of the UAE leader Sheik Zayed. Sheik Tahnoon grew a passion for MMA in 1993 and shortly after started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Sheik Tanoon set out to create and build his vision of implementing martial arts in the UAE and creating a standard around the world for which grappling is measured!
Due to the popularity of the Super Bowl for Jiu-Jitsu (ADCC) the organization has made more widely available sub-tournaments across the United States. All these tournaments fill the gap to the main event that will happen again in 2024 (around September).
ADCC BJJ Rules: An Overview
As stated before Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) is the most prestigious submission grappling tournament on the planet and rivals large organizations like the IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation) and JJWL (Jiu-Jitsu World League).
ADCC is known for its unique ruleset, which has an emphasis on submissions grappling. This style discourages stalling and inactivity. Matches are typically 10 – 20 minutes long and can only be won by points or submission.
Here is a brief overview of how the rules are set up at Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC):
ADCC BJJ Rules
Overview
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- The Championship is Tournament Style and only the winner goes on.
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- No Slippery Substances on body or clothing.
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- If fighters go out of the mat area, the ref will restart the fight in the same position they went out in.
How You Can Win
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- Submission, Points, Referee decision, Opponent Disqualification.
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- If a competitor gives up or submits by tapping the leg, arm, or verbally.
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- If a fight is over without any points being scored by both fighters the match is decided by the referees.
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- If the Referee feels one competitor is unable to defend himself or feels his life is in danger, the Referee will declare the winner.
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- A fighter will be disqualified by the Referee for breaking forbidden rules.
Time Limits for World Championships
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- Qualifying Rounds = 10 Mins / with a 5 min overtime if it’s a draw. (Max 1 overtime)
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- First 5 mins there are no points
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- Second 5 mins with points (negative and positive)
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- Qualifying Rounds = 10 Mins / with a 5 min overtime if it’s a draw. (Max 1 overtime)
- Finals, Absolute Finals & Superfight = 20 mins / with 10 min overtime if there is a draw (Max. 2)
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- First 10 mins no positive points (only negative points will be counted)
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- Second 10 mins with points (negative and positive points)
- Overtimes 10 mins (negative and positive points)
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