BJJ News

Andrew Tackett: PEDs Are Why BJJ Matches Suck

Aug 08, 2026 · andrew-tackett, drug-testing

Andrew Tackett didn't bury the lede. On a recent Mighty Cast podcast appearance, the UFC BJJ welterweight champion took a flamethrower to the sport's most obvious problem: athletes on steroids have turned grappling into a strength contest, and nobody's going to say it out loud except apparently Andr

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ADCC Worlds 2026 Is Losing Athletes to UFC BJJ — Double-Gold Winner Just Chose the Commercial Event Over the Crown Jewel

Aug 06, 2026 · adcc, athlete-migration

Adele Fornarino, a double-gold ADCC medalist — the kind of credential that used to mean everything in grappling — withdrew from ADCC Worlds 2026. Not for a family emergency.

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Rafael Lovato Jr. Skipped ADCC 2026: 'I Won't Compete Against Younger Athletes For Free' — And He Had a Point

Aug 05, 2026 · adcc, athlete-pay

Rafael Lovato Jr., a 43-year-old veteran of elite grappling and MMA competition, announced he would skip ADCC 2026. His reason was direct: he was done competing against twenty-somethings without a paycheck.

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Jacob Rodriguez Faced Vagner Rocha at Karate Combat 62, Settling a Family Grudge

Jul 26, 2026 · adcc, competition-results

Jacob Rodriguez returned to competition on July 24 at Karate Combat 62, stepping onto the mat to face Vagner Rocha—and walking straight into a family beef that had been cooking since before he ever got his silver medal. Here's what mattered: the Rodriguezes and Rochas had never grappled directly as

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MMA Veterans Test Pure Grappling at BJJ Stars 19

Jul 24, 2026 · bjj-stars, event-preview

There's a moment in every MMA fighter's career where someone asks: "Have you ever tried pure grappling?" Most laugh it off. Some actually show up.

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Gordon Ryan: Brazil's Jiu-Jitsu Dominance Is Slipping

Jul 24, 2026 · adcc, bjj

Gordon Ryan, the most dominant no-gi grappler of the past decade, recently made a claim that landed somewhere between trash talk and genuine observation: Brazil's grip on jiu-jitsu is slipping, and Brazilian practitioners will be "phased out." On the surface, it's audacious. An American saying Braz

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