What we learned from the 1st 2022 South American ADCC trials

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We have just finished the 2nd trials for the upcoming ADCC submission grappling championship.  This time it was the 1st South American ADCC trial. This one had quite a few competitors for the men, but unfortunately not many women. Like the North American trials, I believe winning this wouldn't guarantee a spot for the female champion, so it seems many women decided to skip it. In the +60 division I believe there were only 3 competitors which is a shame. That doesn't mean this was a bad event though. There were lots of finishes and exciting action through out and some surprising upsets. The star of the show was 18 year old prodigy Mica Galvao who went 5 for 5 with submissions. If this event left you wanting more, don't worry because the 2nd South American trials are next week.  


Winners

I was a bit surprised about the lack of big names, but sometimes it's nice to get some new blood in to mix things up. The winners today could be the superstars of the future. It should also be noted that the female winners won't get a spot in the ADCC tournament and only of the winners of the next South American trial will qualify. 


Men

-66kg  Diogo Ries

-77kg Micael Galvao

-88kg Isaque Bahiense

-99kg Joao Costa

+99kg Roosevelt Sousa

+60kg Rebecca Albuquerque


Women


-60kg Daiana Torquato

+60kg Rebecca Albuquerque


 How People Won

Let's take a look at how people were able to win and talk about some of the interesting things we saw. With all of these stats, I want to state that I did them myself and there might be small mistakes here and there. Also for some of the matches I couldn't find footage, so about 3 matches I had to omit. The stats aren't perfect, but they should be fairly close and give you a good overview. 


Women's -60kg

There weren't many people in this division and no big names I believe. It seems like this was a warm up for next week's trials more than anything. There was one nice kimura, but the other victories were points and refs decisions. 


Women's +60kg

This division only had 3 people I believe. We had a choke an arm lock and a points win. The matches were OK. No terrible, but not great. There isn't too much else to say here. 


Men's -66kg

This division was very interesting with a lot of different attacks and more submission wins than points or decision victories. I believe the most common finish was the RNC coming off of scrambles. The competitors in this division seemed willing to wrestle or pull guard and were constantly looking for submissions. The matches I would suggest watching are those from Diego "Pato" Olivera and Fabrico Andre. This division had technical and exciting matches. 


Men's -77kg

I think this was the best division during this tournament. You had wrestling, leg locks, chokes, arm locks, guard work, etc. There were quite a few quick finishes and it seemed like everyone in this division was going for the kill. I was impressed by Mica Galvao, Magid Hage, Fabio Caloi, and Servio Tulio. All of them had good matches and showed good technical grappling on their way to victory. 


This division strangely didn't seem to have any arm lock wins. The amount of leg and neck finishes was even though. Isaque looked very good and finally won the trials to claim his spot in ADCC. In the past he's been a bit boring and would try to win strategic victories instead of going for the kill. During these trials that wasn't the case. He had a viscous guillotine that he used to make it to the finals and then used his wrestling to become champ. Also check out Calaudio Calasans as he also had some good matches. 


Men's -99kg

Unfortunately this was the worst division. More point and decision wins than subs. There was a lot of wrestling and not a lot of interesting ground work. 


Men's +99kg

This division was surprisingly good because of Roosevelt Sousa. He came in, pulled guard and went after leg locks. His leg lock game looked very sharp and he was able to finish most of his opponents in less than a minute. He'll be a real threat at ADCC and should be a breath of fresh air amongst other big guys who refuse to play from their backs. The other competitors weren't so entertaining, but Viktor Doria looked surprisingly good. 

Total



Overall there was a 48% submission rate, which IMO isn't bad at all. The most common submission was the RNC I believe and that was followed by heel hooks. I was happy that overall there were a variety of submissions and you saw things like buggy chokes, calf slicers, rear triangles, etc that aren't quite as common. I'm glad people are spending time on some of these less common submissions and showing how they can be used in high level competition. 

Arm locks still aren't getting much love. People aren't attempting them as much and they seem to be preferring to try leg locks when they can't pass or moving to the back if they can pass. Mica Galvao and Magid Hage showed how it is possible to integrate arm attacks into your game in a modern no-gi grappling setting, but it seems like others haven't figured it out. 



Trends

Mica Galvao hits a bodylock pass to a crabride backtake and then finishes with a RNC.

It seems like most people were getting to the back off of scrambles and many times this came from a wrestling exchange. The ADCC rules encourage scrambling and savvy competitors can catch their opponents in transition if they try to scramble to avoid being scored on. This strategy seemed to work well for those employing it, however many lacked the wrestling to even attempt to implement it, which is a shame. 

The other major strategy seemed to be hunting for leg locks. Unfortunately it seemed like the level was quite low so those who tried leg locks could get the submission without a lot of resistance. Others seemed to not be quite so skilled and finishing properly, but those that were finished people quickly. Roosevelt Sousa ran though his division by attacking legs and hit a number of submissions in less than a minute. The level of leg locks has increased overall, but the increases are uneven. Some people being experts and others having little experience or knowledge. 

More people are also wrestling and although the level wasn't super high, more people were willing to try and they were rewarded for their efforts. I think more people are realizing the value of takedowns and wrestling in general, so they are putting more effort into it than before. 

I was also surprised by the lack of stalling for the most part. People seemed to want to engage and go forward which I was happy about. There was some strategic play and stalling, but most competitors actually tried to win using grappling instead of gaming the rules. 

Standouts

Mica Galvao lived up to the hype and finished his opponents in impressive fashion. He showed an impressive blend of new school and old school BJJ that was dynamic and exciting without being overly complicated or impractical. 

Diego Pato was also very impressive despite losing the trails. I imagine he'll try again next week. He looked very complete and well rounded. He was also looking to push the pace and go for the sub. 

Another light weight standout was Fabrico Andre who had some amazing submissions. These were very slick and I'll definitely be watching these matching again and studying them. 

The last person that really impressed me was Roosevelt Sousa. There were many people that didn't seem to have a grasp of the leg lock game, but Sousa did. He used this to his advantage to make quick work of his opponents. 



Overall

I thought this was a very good event with excitement and a nice mix of submissions. It is definitely worth watching and I think this will be a breakout event for a few athletes. There weren't many "names" here, but sometimes that is better because it seems like we are now at a turning point. New faces are appearing that might come to dominate the sport over the next decade or so and we are just now getting a glimpse of them in action. I can't wait for the 2nd trails event next week. 


Year to Date Submissions

I decided to try to keep track of the specific submissions this year for all the major events, so check below to see how things are going so far at the beginning of February 2022.






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