Jiu-Jitsu Weekly Roundup — August 31, 2026: ADCC Krakow Countdown and Craig Jones's Comeback Bid
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Jiu-Jitsu Weekly Roundup · Monday, August 31, 2026
A quiet week on the results front, but a loud one everywhere else: the biggest no-gi event on the planet is two weeks away, a superstar just raised his hand to jump into it, and Las Vegas is about to host one of the busiest weeks on the gi calendar. Here is what happened in the grappling world this past week.
ADCC KrakĂłw: Two Weeks Out, the Field Takes Final Shape
The 2026 ADCC World Championship lands at Tauron Arena in Kraków, Poland on September 12–13 — the first time in history Poland has hosted the event, and ADCC's return to Europe for the first time in nearly a decade. This week FloGrappling published its updated list of every athlete officially invited: five men's divisions of 16 and three women's divisions of 8, with a superfight pitting 2024 absolute champion Kaynan Duarte against 2022 absolute winner Yuri Simões.
Only four champions from 2024 will defend their titles in Kraków: Duarte (-99kg), Felipe Pena (+99kg), Ana Carolina Vieira (-65kg) and Rafaela Guedes (+65kg). The rest of the field is stacked all the same — UFC lightweight contender Mateusz Gamrot takes an invite at -77kg in front of a home crowd, Jozef Chen and Gustavo Batista headline a deep -88kg bracket, Sarah Galvão enters at -65kg off her North American Trials win, and the +65kg division features Gabi Garcia, Gabi Pessanha and teenage phenom Helena Crevar. All of it streams on FloGrappling.
Craig Jones Raises His Hand for 88kg
The week's biggest storyline came from outside the invite list. Per Jits Magazine, Jacob Rodriguez has been forced to withdraw from the tournament, opening a spot in the under-88kg division — and Craig Jones, having apparently mended his rift with ADCC, has put himself forward as a late replacement. The promotion has not yet said whether it will take him up on the offer, but the pitch writes itself: few names in grappling move the needle like Jones, he rarely competes these days, and with no returning champion at 88kg he would instantly be a contender. His last ADCC appearance came at -99kg back in 2022.
Vegas Week: World Master and Jiu-Jitsu Con, September 3–5
Closer to home, the IBJJF's biggest festival week is here. The World Master Championship returns to the Las Vegas Convention Center September 3–5, running alongside Jiu-Jitsu Con's three days of seminars, fan events and No-Gi, Kids and Novice competition. Thousands of masters competitors chase gold on the sport's biggest age-division stage, with everything streaming live on FloGrappling.
The IBJJF also confirmed this week that The Crown returns November 8 at the Pyramid in Long Beach, with Fellipe Andrew the first name announced for the invite-only card.
The Youth Pipeline Keeps Producing
Worth a look back as the ADCC hype builds: the second-ever ADCC Youth World Championship earlier this month in Austin drew over 300 young competitors and produced a 58% submission rate across 272 matches, with Art of Jiu-Jitsu topping the team standings. The next generation is coming fast.
Grassroots Calendar
For those chasing mat time rather than watch time, the SmoothComp upcoming events calendar is loaded through mid-September: the Desert Jiu Jitsu Texas Expo Championship hits El Paso on September 5, the King of Subs youth submission challenge runs in Murrieta, California on September 6, and NAGA San Diego lands September 12. ADCC weekend doubles as a big one stateside too, with the UFC BJJ Open in Phoenix, the Super Cup in Murrieta and Samurai Showdown in Yucaipa all going down September 13, and NAGA Las Vegas on the horizon after that. No excuses — sign up and compete.