With summer in full swing, it's easy to kick back and relax a bit. The Progress team has certainly been enjoying the 2 week summer here in the UK! But, we also have been hard at work, with making content, new product releases and a handful of projects which will be coming out soon. Checkout to see what’s going on in the world of BJJ and at Progress. We are just two weeks away from CJI and ADCC, such an exciting time!

In the world of BJJ

July was a quiet month in terms of competitions with no majors, big shows or trials going on. August will certainly be making up for it with the ADCC World Championship and the first ever Craig Jones Invitational going down over the weekend of the 17th and 18th of August. Both events are absolutely stacked with many of the best grapplers in the world taking part in both events.

ADCC

• 66KG -  A stacked division with a handful of youngsters and veterans going for gold. Dorian Oliverez and Owen Jones will make their first appearance at the event and are set to make a splash. Brazilian veterans Kennedy Maciel and Fabricio Andrey are sure to be favourites to make it to the podium.
• 77KG -   A division which saw a heavy amount of dropouts, still has some interesting potential matchups. 2x champion and American legend JT Torres returns. Oliver Taza will seek to break through to the podium. No Gi world champion Dante Leon and always exciting PJ Branch will bring their scrappy fun styles to the show. Mica Galvao will be a heavy favourite to walk away with gold, as Brazil has been nearly unstoppable of late.
• 88KG -  Our very own Taylor Pearman will look to make a splash after earning his spot with 6 straight leglocks at European trials. He will have a challenging road ahead with the likes of Jacob Couch, Pedro Marinho ,Izaak Michell and defending champion Giancarlo Bodoni.
• 99KG -  This division is stacked with the likes of Kaynan Duarte, Cyborg, Rafael Lovato and Meragali. Throw in up and coming stars in Luke Griffith and Michael Pixely and you have absolute fireworks.
• +99KG - Gordon Ryan has basically dominated every match he has been in the past few years. With his continued health issues the road is open for the likes of Felipe Pena, Gutemberg and possibly Victor Honorio to upset the king. Big shout out to Mark MacQueen who will be representing Scotland on the world stage!

Ladies Brackets

• -55KG - With no Ffion Davies, the division is more open than it has been in years. Brazilians Anna Rodriguez and Mayssa Bastos are certainly favourites but the likes of Jasmine Rocha and Margot Ciccarelli will try to upset the brackets.
• 65KG - Another exciting division with the legend Bea Mesquita and the dominant Ana Viera present. Morgan Black, Wang Jue and Amy Campo are always exciting and in a great position to walk away with gold.
• +65KG -  Has a balanced mix of veterans and first time competitors. With Gabi Garcia, the division will be up in the air.

Yuri Simoes will take on Gordan Ryan in the traditional super fight. Gordon was the champion of the 2022 superfight and Yuri won the absolute division that year.

CJI

• Under 80KG - With a lot of ADCC champions, world champions and even an NCAA champion. This is one of the most stacked and exciting brackets ever put together. Picking favorites here is nearly impossible. One would have to look at the Ruotolo brothers right away. They seem to be entering their prime as competitors, full of confidence and years at the biggest stages of the sport. They are primed to take home the $1 million prize. Tommy Langaker is one of the best submission hunters in modern Jiu Jitsu, always giving him a big chance. B- team stars Nicky Ryan and Jozef Chen have been making waves as of late and will certainly make deep runs at the event. The “Natural Rebel” Roberto Jimenez is one of the most unpredictable grapplers on the scene today. NCAA star and Team USA member Jason Nolf can’t be easily counted out but will need to deal with the wide range of submission attacks allowed in the format. Finally, Brazilian veterans Matheus Diniz, Lucas Barbosa and Renato Canuto will look to show their generation is still on top.

• Over 80KG - World champion Mahamed Aly returns from MMA to compete for the big price money. UFC star Luke Rockhold will look to mix it up as well, he will have to deal with the likes of Felipe Andrew, Victor Hugo and Owen Livesey. Size and physicality will certainly play a big role in this brackett. One also can’t count out the young American star William Tackett.

• Superfights - Two very special fights will go down. The “battle of the genders” will take place between the man himself, Craig Jones and Gabi Garcia. Ffion Davies will face off against Mackenzie Dern for the first time ever. Perhaps the most waited for match in Women’s grappling history

All things Progress Jiu Jitsu

     We had an epic day shooting in the studio with Mark Macqueen and Araujo Cutabiala, who feature on the product pages of some of the new drops. We also were present at the grand opening of RGA Bristol, congrats to the team there on the beautiful location! Flex shorts dropped, along with the Academy+ Bone and Mint sets. We also were able to catch up with the one and only Owen Livesey before he heads out to America to conquer the CJI.

Coming soon!-  PRG Caps are set to come soon, it's been awhile since we offered caps, exciting to get these out to you all!