Breaking Down the 2025 ADCC Dallas Trials
The 2025 ADCC Trials in Dallas didn’t feel like a tournament; it felt like a battlefield. No soft entries. No points if you flinched. Just raw ambition, shattered egos, and a room full of athletes willing to bleed for a shot at the show. If you came half-ready, you got folded. If you hesitated, you got clowned. This wasn’t about who looked good in a rashguard. This was about who could survive hell with nothing but grit and a gameplan.
Let’s talk about who made noise, who got exposed, and what you should be drilling before you end up part of someone else’s highlight reel.
Men’s Divisions: All Kill, No Chill
The 77kg bracket was a warzone. Kody Steele stormed the division like a man with a grudge. Every match looked personal. Snapping takedowns, relentless top pressure, and a motor that made grown men look like white belts. He didn’t just win; he asserted dominance.
At 66kg, it was the Ethan Crelinsten show. Fluid movement, sharp scrambles, and a pace that cooked everyone who thought they could keep up. No stalling. No coasting. Just calculated violence and a one-way ticket to the big stage.
Over in the big boy bracket (99kg+), Luke Griffith turned heads by dismantling dudes like he was King Kong on crack. But this wasn’t just fitness, it was controlled chaos. His jiu-jitsu was heavy, his transitions brutal, and every win looked inevitable.
Women’s Divisions: Killers Only
Brianna Ste-Marie took the 60kg division and ran through it like it owed her money. Her blend of positional control and relentless attacks made it clear this wasn’t her first rodeo. It was her mission.
Amy Campo at 60kg+? That wasn’t a bracket, that was a buffet. And she smoked it. Technical precision, dominant passing, and a calm that screamed confidence. She didn’t celebrate. She expected it. That’s what makes her terrifying.
The Match That Slapped Everyone Awake
Steele vs. PJ Barch. Semifinals. It was like putting 2 crackheads in a phone booth and telling them there was a little booger sugar on the other’s back. Back-and-forth scrambles, clutch takedowns, and a final flurry that showed exactly why heart matters just as much as skill. Steele edged it, but both walked off like warriors.
Lesson? Scrambles don’t lie. You either stay in the fight or you get drowned.
What Set the Winners Apart
Takedown Threats: Wrestle or die. The guys winning didn’t pull guard, they pulled people’s souls to the mat.
Pace Control: No one who coasted made it past round two. The champs dictated the tempo and made their opponents crack.
Submission Pressure: If you weren’t chasing the finish, you weren’t advancing. Simple as that. The refs weren’t playing.
What You Better Start Doing
Train for chaos. These winners didn’t “flow roll.” They trained like they were going to war and they fought like it.
Get your wrestling up. If you can’t shoot, sprawl, or stuff a single leg, ADCC will chew you up and spit you out.
Stop point-chasing. No one respects a staller. Fight to finish. Fight to dominate. Or stay in the kiddie pool.
Final Word
The Dallas Trials were a wake-up call. You can’t fake your way through this. You either show up ready to impose your game on every MF in your bracket, or you show up to lose with good intentions.