ADCC Gave Women A Raise And Somehow Made The Pay Gap Worse

ADCC announced increased prize money for the 2026 World Championship in Krakow, and congratulations are in order. Men's division champions will now receive $20,000, doubled from the previous $10,000. Women's champions will receive $10,000, up from $6,000. If you're doing the math and it feels like the math doesn't math, that's because it doesn't.

Women's pay went from 60% of men's to 50%. ADCC technically gave women a raise and widened the gap at the same time. That takes a specific kind of talent.

But wait — there's more. ADCC also quietly dropped the women's absolute division. The open-weight bracket that crowns the best grappler regardless of size was brought back in 2024 for the first time since 2009. It lasted one event. The women's absolute division at ADCC had the lifespan of a New Year's resolution.

The justification for smaller women's purses? Smaller brackets. Women's divisions have 8 competitors versus men's 16. Why are women's brackets smaller? Because ADCC made them smaller. Why did ADCC make them smaller? Don't ask follow-up questions.

ADCC has not responded to media requests for comment on either the pay structure or the absolute division's quiet disappearance.

Enter Craig Jones. Jones — who, reminder, runs a competing promotion — pledged $48,000 through his Fair Fight Foundation to close the gap across all three women's weight divisions. Sixteen thousand dollars per division. He calculated the exact dollar amount ADCC chose not to spend and wrote the check himself. The man literally did their math homework for them and handed it in.

Two-time ADCC Trials winner Talita Nogueira put it plainly: "There is no justification for women earning less when the most exciting and sometimes the most anticipated matches are women's matches."

She's not wrong. Gabi Pessanha vs. Ffion Davies at ADCC 2024 was arguably the most talked-about match of the weekend. ADCC responded to that momentum by cutting the women's absolute and paying less per dollar of men's prize money.

The thing about Craig Jones subsidizing equal pay is that it's simultaneously the best and worst thing for women's grappling. Best, because the athletes get paid. Worst, because it lets the organization off the hook. If one guy with a charity can fix your gender pay gap, the problem was never budget. It was priorities.

Meanwhile, ADCC is also allegedly paying secret six-figure show money to select male athletes while the announced purse stays modest. So the money exists. It just goes where it's always gone.

Krakow is going to be incredible regardless. The women's talent pool is 70-plus elite black belts deep and growing. The matches will be worth watching. Someone will just have to Venmo the athletes afterward.

AI-generated content.

Sources

• ADCC 2026 payouts increased, but women's purses still lacking - BJJ Beat
• Craig Jones Steps In To Ensure Female ADCC Champions Receive Equal Prize Money
• ADCC Reportedly Abandons Female Absolute Division For 2026
• Craig Jones Calls Out ADCC Prize Money — Then Offers $48K To Embarrass Them Into Equal Pay
• ADCC Boosts Prize Money Across The Board... Except For Women. Craig Jones Responds
• Opinion: ADCC Has Shown How Much They Value Female Athletes

This post was generated by AI. Sources are linked above. Follow @bjj-problems on YouTube for the weekly video digest.