European Grapplers Shine at ADCC 2026 in Kraków with Eight Medals and a Home Champion

Image: FloGrappling.

The ADCC World Championship returned to Europe for the first time since 2017, and Europe made the most of it. On September 12 and 13, 2026, at the Tauron Arena in Kraków, Poland, 104 athletes from 23 countries contested five men's and three women's divisions, the absolute and the superfight. European athletes left with eight medals, two of them gold, the strongest European haul in the event's history.

The headline belonged to the home crowd. Poland's Paweł Jaworski, an ADCC debutant, won the -88kg division to become the first Polish grappler ever to take ADCC gold. He did it in a final against Sweden's Marlon Tajik, the first ADCC final between two Europeans since 1999. Around them, Spain won its first two ADCC medals ever, Sweden its first, Russia claimed a title for the first time since 1999, and Scotland's Mark Macqueen took bronze in the heavyweight division.

Jaworski Makes History at -88kg

Jaworski came into Kraków as the ninth seed but carried the expectations of the arena. Nine days earlier he had submitted Rafael Lovato Jr. inside two minutes at ONE Fight Night 47, and the question was whether the 22-year-old from Warsaw could carry that form into a 16-man ADCC bracket.

He answered with three straight submissions, all from the legs. In the round of 16 he finished the experienced Roberto Dib Frias with an ankle lock at 6:10. In the quarterfinal he drew the number one seed, Brazil's Felipe Costa, and locked up an inside heel hook at 3:55. The semifinal against Gabriel Brod ended the same way, another inside heel hook at 5:34.

The final against Tajik was a different kind of match. Jaworski played almost exclusively from the bottom, as Victor Hugo would later do in the +99kg final, and neither man scored in the full 20 minutes. A single penalty against Tajik separated them, and Jaworski won 1-0 to seal the gold in front of his home crowd.

The result carries real weight. Jaworski is the first Polish ADCC champion, the first European champion since Wales' Ffion Davies in 2022, and only the third male European to win the tournament, after Karimula Barkalaev in 1999 and Norway's Jon Olav Einemo in 2003.

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An All-European Final

Marlon Tajik's silver was a breakthrough in its own right. The 23-year-old from Stockholm, a black belt under André Galvão who came up at Prana Academy under Kenta Hammarström, qualified through the ADCC EMEA Trials and arrived in Kraków for his first World Championship. He left as the first ADCC medalist ever to represent Sweden.

His run through the -88kg bracket was one of the stories of day one. In the round of 16 he went the full 15 minutes with Faris Ben-Lamkadem, the man he had beaten in the Trials final, before finding a rear naked choke with 18 seconds left on the clock. He then submitted Nathan Haddad with an ankle lock at 4:43 in the quarterfinal and beat South Africa's Jozef Chen 2-0 in the semifinal.

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Tajik also entered the absolute division, which is a separate bracket from the weight classes. There he submitted Pouya Rahmani in the round of 16 and Javier Zaruski in just 1:13 in the quarterfinal before Roosevelt Sousa stopped him in the semifinal. He lost the absolute bronze medal match 6-0 to Ruslan Abdulaev, finishing fourth. A silver in his weight class and a fourth place in the absolute, all on debut, is a weekend few 23-year-olds can claim.

Szczeciński Completes Poland's Weekend

Mateusz Szczeciński, Jaworski's teammate at Academia Gorila in Warsaw, added a bronze at -77kg. In July he won the Polaris 38 welterweight Grand Prix, and in Kraków he showed the same finishing instinct, catching Julio Martins with an Aoki lock with 30 seconds left in their round of 16 match.

He edged Elijah Dorsey 1-0 on a penalty in the quarterfinal before running into the eventual champion, Magomed Dzharbaev, who beat him 2-0 in the semifinal. In the bronze medal match Szczeciński again won on a single penalty, 1-0 over the American Jacob Bornemann.

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Poland came into the weekend with only a handful of ADCC medals in its history. It now has a champion and a bronze medalist from the same Warsaw gym, and two of Europe's most dangerous leg lockers in consecutive weight classes.

Spain Arrives on the ADCC Stage

Spain had never won an ADCC medal. It won two in one weekend, and the first one came with a piece of history attached.

Ana Mayordomo, who holds both Spanish and American citizenship and represented Spain in Kraków, opened the -55kg division with a 3-0 win over Sheliah Lindsey. She lost the semifinal to Jasmine Rocha by armbar at 5:55, which set up a bronze medal match against Mayssa Bastos, a multiple-time ADCC medalist. In overtime Mayordomo locked up a mounted guillotine and Bastos tapped. It was the first time Bastos had been submitted since receiving her black belt in 2018, and it made Mayordomo the first Spaniard to stand on an ADCC podium.

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Anabel Lopez followed with silver in the +65kg division. Her quarterfinal win over Gabrieli Pessanha was one of the biggest surprises of the tournament. Both women were making their ADCC World Championship debuts, and after a scoreless regulation and overtime the referees gave the decision to Lopez, with a late takedown attempt in overtime appearing to swing it. She then beat Paige Ivette Clymer 3-0 in the semifinal before losing the final to Helena Crevar, who took her back and finished with a rear naked choke at 6:04. Crevar, 19, became the youngest ADCC champion in history.

Dzharbaev, Abdulaev and Macqueen

Russia's Magomed Dzharbaev won the -77kg title, the first Russian ADCC champion since Barkalaev in 1999. He beat Alexandre de Jesus 3-0 in the round of 16, took a referee decision over top seed Vagner Rocha in a bruising quarterfinal, beat Szczeciński 2-0 in the semifinal and then outlasted PJ Barch over 40 minutes in the final, winning on a referee decision.

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Ruslan Abdulaev, also of Russia, competed in two brackets. In the +99kg weight class he submitted Tito John Carle with a katagatame in the round of 16 and then lost to eventual champion Victor Hugo in the quarterfinal. In the absolute he went further, beating Chris Wojcik and submitting Elijah Dorsey before losing the semifinal to Felipe Pena. He then beat Tajik 6-0 for the absolute bronze.

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Scotland's Mark Macqueen, the ADCC European Trials winner at +99kg, produced one of the upsets of the heavyweight bracket. After a 2-0 win over Pouya Rahmani he beat the number two seed and 2024 bronze medalist Dan Manasoiu 3-0 in the quarterfinal. Victor Hugo submitted him in 2:29 in the semifinal, and Felipe Pena, who had already won the absolute, withdrew from the bronze medal match, giving Macqueen the medal.

Other European Performances

Beyond the medalists, several Europeans made the quarterfinals. Norway's Tommy Langaker beat Britain's Taylor Pearman 3-0 at -77kg with a back take in the final 90 seconds, before losing 8-0 to PJ Barch. Steffen Banta, also of Norway, beat the veteran Patrick Gaudio 5-0 at -99kg and then lost a referee decision to eventual champion Luke Griffith.

Ireland's Eoghan O'Flanagan heel hooked Poland's Adam Wardziński at 6:13 in the -99kg round of 16 and lost to Daniel Schuardt in the quarterfinal. In the absolute he beat Eli Braz on a referee decision and lost 3-0 to Pena in the quarterfinal.

The home nation had seven athletes across the men's divisions. Alongside the two medalists, Wardziński, Marcin Maciulewicz, Mateusz Gamrot, Mateusz Mazur, Jakub Wikłacz, Kamil Wilk and Nikodem Mikuliszyn were all eliminated in the round of 16. Finland's Santeri Lilius lost to Chris Wojcik in overtime at -88kg and Heikki Jussila was submitted by Victor Hugo at +99kg. Norway's Ane Svendsen lost her -65kg quarterfinal to Morgan Black on a referee decision, and Britain's Injana Goodman, Nia Blackman and Owen Jones all went out in their opening matches.

Full Podium Results

Men's -66kg: 1. Kennedy Maciel (Brazil), 2. Gavin Corbe (USA), 3. Diego Pato (Brazil). Maciel submitted Corbe in overtime.

Men's -77kg: 1. Magomed Dzharbaev (Russia), 2. PJ Barch (USA), 3. Mateusz Szczeciński (Poland).

Men's -88kg: 1. Paweł Jaworski (Poland), 2. Marlon Tajik (Sweden), 3. Jozef Chen (South Africa).

Men's -99kg: 1. Luke Griffith (South Africa), 2. Kaynan Duarte (Brazil), 3. Daniel Schuardt (Australia). Griffith submitted the four-time champion Duarte with a rear naked choke at 14:47.

Men's +99kg: 1. Victor Hugo (Brazil), 2. Josh Saunders (Australia), 3. Mark Macqueen (Scotland). Hugo submitted Saunders with a shoulder lock at 8:49.

Women's -55kg: 1. Jasmine Rocha (USA), 2. Ana Rodrigues (Brazil), 3. Ana Mayordomo (Spain).

Women's -65kg: 1. Ana Carolina Vieira (Brazil), 2. Sarah Galvão (Brazil), 3. Joslyn Molina (USA).

Women's +65kg: 1. Helena Crevar (USA), 2. Anabel Lopez (Spain), 3. Paige Ivette Clymer (USA).

Absolute: 1. Felipe Pena (Brazil), 2. Roosevelt Sousa (Brazil), 3. Ruslan Abdulaev (Russia). Pena submitted Sousa with a rear naked choke at 10:03 for his third absolute title.

Superfight: Yuri Simões defeated Kaynan Duarte after Duarte suffered a shoulder injury in overtime.

What This Means for European Grappling

Nine nations were represented on the podium in Kraków, a record for the tournament. Five of them were European. Poland finished with a gold and a bronze, Russia with a gold and a bronze, Spain with a silver and a bronze, and Sweden and Scotland with one medal each.

For years the story of ADCC was Brazil against the United States with a European name or two in between. Kraków showed something different: a home champion, an all-European final, first-ever medals for three nations, and debutants beating seeded veterans in almost every bracket. The next ADCC World Championship is two years away. On this evidence, Europe will arrive as a contender rather than a guest.