What an amazing way to end the summer! Of course all the attention was on the historic weekend in BJJ with both ADCC 2024 and the first ever CJI event. Like millions of others around the world we were glued to the screen sitting at the edge of our seat watching every moment of it. It truly feels like we have entered a new era in BJJ.

Huge thank you and congratulations to all the Progress athletes who went to ADCC and CJI. You all smashed it and showed why you are amongst the best in the world! It is a pleasure to have you all represent Progress Jiu Jitsu.

In the world of BJJ

ADCC

It would simply take all week to cover all the highlights of this amazing edition of the ADCC. It feels like it won’t get any better but, each edition seems to bring more action than the last and even better matches. We will point out a few of our favourite moments below:

Owen Jones fantastic armbar. In the first round of the tournament at 66KG Owen drew the super tough Gabriel Sousa. Many counted Owen out but he backed up his talk and walked the walk by hitting a spectacular armlock whilst defending a takedown attempt. Owen would fight his way through to the second day before falling just short of the podium. Can’t wait to see one of our own and perhaps the most exciting grappler on the scene today back in action soon!

Felipe Pena takes 99kg gold. Pena has been at the top of the gi and no gi world for a long time. Really cool to see him back on top of the podium at ADCC  for the first time since 2017. Always in exciting matches, Felipe was able to escape some danger from South African Luke Griffth in the final to secure his gold medal. Griffith was a force all weekend and certainly one to watch in the future.

Kaynan Duarte takes double gold. The Atos ace who has won every title out there made sure to add the absolute title to his name. On top of showing world class jiu jitsu. Kaynan showed a calmness and maturity as a competitor which few ever achieve. Can’t wait to see him take on Gordan Ryan in the next edition superfight, he just might be the man to take the crown.

Adele Fornarino breaks through for Australia and takes gold at -55kg. In a crazy run which included wins of Mayassa Bastos, Jasmine Rocha and  Bianca Basilio. Huge congrats to a rising star in Jiu Jitsu who not only got on top of the podium but did it in style.

Rafaela Guedes was a hammer all weekend and showed why many regard the Brazilian at the top of womens BJJ right now. Guedes submitted Kendall Reusing in the Semi-final before taking out fellow Brazilian Nathiely De Jesus in the Final. Looking forward to seeing more of the ATOS ace in tournaments to come.

CJI

The first word that comes to mind when thinking of CJI is historic. There was so much hype around the event and somehow Craig and his crew lived up to it. Huge congratulations to them and what they accomplished. The pit, rules and atmosphere added to the matches which were truly world class. The -80kg bracket is perhaps one of the most legendary brackets ever put together for a BJJ event.

Kade walks away with the -80kg title and $1m. Kade was on fire all weekend showing a complete arsenal of BJJ. Day 1 saw Kade get a submission win of MGA star and former ADCC champion Matheus Diniz and a decision victory over the viking Tommy Langaker. In one of the best matches of the event Kade took out American Andrew Tackett in the Semi-Final. The Final saw Kade overcome the challenge of the impressive guard of Levi Jones-Leary. Nicky Rod took home the +80kg title with an outstanding four submission victories. Nicky truly looked like one of the best heavy weights in the world on both days, The rules and pit seem to suit the B-team star very well. He played with the crowd as well putting on a super entertaining show and walked away from the weekend with $1m. Cool to think about what matches could be next….

Finally, Ffion Davies showed yet again why she is one of the best in the world. Scoring a submission victory of BJJ legend and UFC fighter Mackineze Dern. It was great to see Dern back in action on the BJJ mat. This was one of the most talked about matches for a long time in the women’s grappling scene. It definitely lived up to the hype. 

All things Progress Jiu Jitsu

We added caps to our PRG range and dropped a new colourway for our rolling tee, check it out if you haven’t already. Much love to everyone who supported the drops this past month. On the content side, shout out to the content team who provided some elite content around ADCC and CJI making for an even better weekend.