ADCC made a landmark change this week to its structure for the 2023-2024 season, breaking a 15-year-long tradition. After years of clamoring from athletes and coaches, with years of consideration by its organizers, the ADCC has added another weight class to the female divisions. 

Previously divided between -60kg and +60kg, female athletes will now be separated into three brand-new divisions: -55kg, -65kg, and +65kg.

The news came through an official statement made on the organization's Instagram. These changes will debut at the ADCC Trials in 2023 (the first of which is the European Trials in September 2023), and will be in effect during the 2024 ADCC World Championship.

The announcement set the jiu-jitsu community ablaze, and FloGrappling sought out the world's top team leaders to hear firsthand opinions on the new divisions, and how they will affect athletes for in the upcoming season. Check it out below!

André Galvão (Atos)

"The addition of a new category is very good. It was unfair to the rooster weights. Many good athletes could not fight in their best form because of the weight division, which accepted almost 10kg of difference between strength and weight. With the new category, we will have good representatives for sure."

Guilherme Mendes (AOJ)

"I believe that women have been doing an incredible job and deserve more categories in the event. This is excellent for our team as we have several girls in this division. Two current world champions (Mayssa Bastos and Jessa Khan), and we also have Shelby Murphey, who won the Worlds at brown belt and got the black belt. Not to mention the twins Mia and Ashlee Funegra, who have been winning everything in the juniors and already train at this level every day."

Leo Vieira (CheckMat)

“We at Checkmat really like the new ADCC women's category. In fact, it was something we all expected for a long time, as it caused a disadvantage for the lighter athletes, not to mention the many others that were left out due to the limitation of competitors from the same team fighting in the same category. With this change, there will be new opportunities for teams and fighters. It’s a new dynamic that will change future podiums.”

Michael Langhi (Alliance)

“Alliance supports everything that leads to the sport's growth. I think this new category is a really good change and it feels very nice to see lighter female athletes such as Brenda Larissa, who trained with me here at Alliance, Mayssa Bastos, and Thamires Aquino standing out. They're all very technical, but I understand how it can be difficult to fight in a weight division that's well above what they're used to. It's almost an absolute for them. This addition came to improve the sport, stimulate its growth, and reward the women that do an excellent job in the lighter divisions. At the last Worlds, we had some really cool matches in those weight divisions. This new category is a win for the sport and will be a welcome change for the new wave of athletes. We're already training our competitors with this new division in mind."