Since its inception in 1998, the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships has been the premier no-gi competition, starting as a way for athletes from various disciplines to test themselves. Initially taking place yearly and then moving to a biennial affair, there have been 13 ADCC events so far in its history.

I’m going to partake in ranking the most impressive 66kg performances in ADCC history, counting down from 13 to 1. Take note that these rankings in no way imply who I think would win in head-to-head matches; this is a ranking of who put together the most dominant ADCC run in that particular year.

I went back and rewatched every ADCC besides 1999 to research for this article. I’m looking at dominance, level of competition, submissions, and more importantly who those submissions were against and in what round.

There are a lot of tough calls to make here; it’s all completely subjective and I expect people to disagree with me. With the shutdown of competitions due to COVID-19, I’m not getting any more rankings-related hate mail. If you disagree here feel free to call me an idiot in my DMs — it will only remind me of the good old days.

And now without further ado, let's get to the rankings!

13 - Alexandre “Soca” Freitas / 1998 Abu Dhabi / 100% submission rate

Soca became crowned the first-ever ADCC champion when he won the final in 1998 and is the only 66 kg champion to win all of his matches by submission. He only had three matches, though, compared with four for all the later champions. Holding back Soca in these rankings is his level of competition. While he was dominant, his first two opponents were clearly not very high-level grapplers. Even his opponent in the final, Robin Gracie, pales in comparison to his brother Royler who won this division the next year. The x-guard technical stand up sweep to back take that Soca used to set up his RNC finish in the final was a tremendous way to win an ADCC title.

Definitely going to take some heat here for having the only champion with a 100% submission rate ranked last, but he had one less fight and the competition was clearly way behind where it would be just a few years later.

Watch: ADCC Champ Soca Dominates At The 2019 Master Worlds

12 - Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles / 2017 Espoo / 25% submission rate

Cobrinha’s third title had probably the lowest level of competition of his three runs, with two unknowns in the opening two rounds and then Paulo Miyao and AJ Agazarm in the semis and finals. He handled AJ pretty easily in the final, but with no offense to AJ that win simply doesn’t compare to previous years where the champ defeated Leo Vieira, Rafa Mendes or even Cobrinha himself. Many felt the real final in 2017 was the semi with Paulo, a 0-0 match that Cobrinha won because of a guard pulling penalty on Paulo. 

I think without question this ranks as Cobrinha's lowest on this list and one of the least dominant 66kg titles. The first two rounds weren’t against elite competition; the Paulo win was not very convincing and AJ is not at the level of some of these other champions final opponents.

Watch: Cobrinha's Final Against AJ In Finland

11 - Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes / 2019 Anaheim / 25% submission rate

Tanquinho’s lone sub in 2019 came in the opening round against Keith Krikorian. He then defeated three super tough opponents consecutively in Matheus Garbriel, Paulo Miyao, and Kennedy Maciel. The Matheus and Paulo wins were by referee decision, though — had they been a little more decisive he would move up this list considerably. His duck under to back take to secure the 3-0 win over Kennedy in the final was a thing of beauty.

You could put this one behind 2017 Cobrinha and I’d be fine with it. Tanquinho had a tougher road than some others in front of him, but two referee decisions have him near the bottom in these rankings.

Watch: Tanquinho's 2019 Final Against Kennedy

10 - Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles / 2015 Sao Paulo / 25% submission rate

Cobrinha fought some pretty tough competition in 2015, with Gianni Grippo in the quarters, Tanquinho in the semis, and Bruno Frazzato in the final. While his only sub came in the opening round, he got to the back against both Grippo and Frazzato. This was a great performance, hard to have it all the way down at tenth, but you will see why as we get on to the next ranked championship.

9 - Royler Gracie / 2000 Abu Dhabi / 0% submission rate

Tough one to rank here. While Royler didn’t have any submissions in 2000, his positional control was flawless and he outscored his opponents 39-0 in the tournament. He did this against tough competition too, beating future silver medalist Baret Yoshida in the opening round and former champ Soca Freitas in the final. Roylers' semifinal against Anthony Hamlett was a clinic on where no-gi jiu-jitsu was heading, with lots of x guard and single leg x guard play chained with his butterfly guard. Roylers' passing was the story of his 2000 run, though, whenever he got on top he had little trouble with his opponents, even Soca.

This might be the most dominant performance in 66kg history, racking up that 39-0 score, but it is also the only time a champion did not get a submission so 2000 Royler comes in ninth.

8 - Rafael Mendes / 2011 Nottingham / 25% submission rate

Rafa only had one sub in 2011, and his match with Cobrinha in the finals ended up being decided on a penalty. He still looked great at this tournament, and in his two points wins he took the back in the first round and passed Robson Moura’s guard in the semis. He tapped Rader again, and had great opposition in the semis and finals in Robson and Cobrinha, but I’m gonna have to rank this one behind his 2009 title.

Had the final with Cobrinha not been decided on a penalty this run would move up a couple spots, going Frazatto - Rader - Robson - Cobrinha is a hell of a run.

7 - Royler Gracie / 2001 Abu Dhabi / 50% submission rate

Another dominant performance from Royler, winning his first two matches by submission and then shutting out two high-level grapplers in the semi and final. He gets a boost here from the level of competition, taking out Robson Moura in the semis and Baret Yoshida in the finals. Baret was on fire at that ADCC, having already submitted Soca and Gustavo Dantas in the earlier rounds.

6 - Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles / 2013 Beijing / 25% submission rate

Cobrinha never had better than a 25% submission rate in his three titles, with one submission in the quarters and the other two in the first round. This was probably his most impressive performance based on his level of competition, defeating Rafael Mendes in the final. He took Marcio Andre’s back in the quarters, and the Justin Rader he defeated in the semis was much improved on previous years. Rader beat Tanquinho and Joao Miyao to finish third in 2013.

This performance gets a big boost in the rankings for level of difficulty. Marcio Andre - Rader - Rafa is incredibly tough. Rafa looked untouchable at the previous two ADCCs, Cobrinha being the first and only athlete to defeat him at ADCC is remarkable.

5 - Royler Gracie / 1999 Abu Dhabi / 50% submission rate

Royler had a 50% submission rate when he won his first ADCC title. He gets a lot of points here for winning by submission in the final, one of only three times in ADCC history that the 66kg final was won by submission. He had a tough quarterfinal vs Joao Roque, but besides that match the rest of the tournament was complete domination from Royler.

A 12-0 win in the semis and then a quick submission against the returning champ Soca in the finals made this an epic performance by Royler.

4 - Leo Vieira / 2005 Los Angeles / 50% submission rate

It’s tough to say if ‘05 Leo was better than ‘03 Leo; both performances were nearly flawless from start to finish. He had a tougher fight in his ‘05 final with Rani Yahya, but he won 6-0 in the finals both times. This ‘05 performance saw Leo get submissions in both the quarters and semis, a tougher task than a sub in the typically much easier first round. 

At this point it’s sort of a toss-up, any of these last five champions have an argument to be at the top. Leo Vieira deservedly has both of his 66kg titles in the top five, his combination of takedowns and passing terrorized this division in both 2003 and 2005.

3 - Rani Yahya / 2007 Trenton / 50% submission rate

Besides the first two ADCC events, Rani Yahya is the only other athlete at 66kg to win by submission in the final. The fact that he did it against Leo Vieira is even more impressive. Leo had defeated Rani by points in the previous two ADCCs, but Rani took the most decisive victory here in the final. A win over Baret Yoshida in the semis makes the difficulty of opponents here for Rani’s ‘07 run pretty high up there.

Rani’s ‘07 run moves way up in the rankings because he submitted Leo in the finals, you just can’t compare that to winning by referee decision or a penalty like in some other years.

2 - Leo Vieira / 2003 Sao Paulo / 25% submission rate

Leo Vieira was a straight-up buzzsaw in 2003, at no point was anyone even close, and he did it against great competition. In the quarterfinals he took out future ADCC champ Rani Yahya. In the semis he had Eddie Bravo, coming off subs on Royler Gracie and Gustavo Dantas, and absolutely obliterated him. Baret Yoshida kept it the closest, but considering that match was 6-0 that says a lot. 

Going back and rewatching these old ADCCs, 2003 Leo was the first athlete I came across whose skill set looked like he could step right into ADCC 2019 and compete. If you haven’t watched Leo’s 2003 run go find it, the technique he put on display here is a work of art.

Watch: On The Pier With Leo Vieira

1 - Rafael Mendes / 2009 Barcelona / 75% submission rate

Rafa was on fire in 2009. Three subs, including an RNC on Leo Vieira in the semis, setting up a final with future three-time ADCC champ Cobrinha. This match was back and forth, going to OT, but it ended with Rafa on the back as time expired. Rafa also threatened some deep anaconda attempts in that Cobrinha final, and his finish of a triangle armlock while on the concrete in the first round was a classic ADCC moment. Another thing to note is how easily he ran through a solid opponent in Justin Rader in the quarters.

Toughest decision for me in these rankings was ‘03 Leo or ‘09 Rafa in the top spot. Both were dominant, Rafa had a closer match with Cobrinha than Leo encountered in ‘03, but I’m giving the edge to Rafa because of that 75% submission rate. In the end I’m settling on the 20-year-old Rafa from Barcelona in 2009 as the most dominant 66kg performance in ADCC history.

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