The preparations are all set for the second edition of the Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship! Scheduled for January 19th, the tournament had fight fans on the edge of their seats even before it actually began, steadily unveiling the explosive grappling and Jiu-Jitsu matches that will make up its Main and Preliminary card. Now, after weeks of build-up, the final duels of the ADXC 2 have finally been revealed.
Alongside AJP, ADXC’s technical partner, the organization put together all 14 matches for its upcoming championship, and now it’s time to analyze the full card that will take over the modern Mubadala Arena and bring about another memorable night in the UAE’s capital. Check out below the card’s details and the full line-up for the ADXC 2!
Main Event
In the first match revealed for the upcoming event and also the very last fight of the night, two UFC athletes will face each other under grappling rules and on a familiar battlefield. Inside the ADXC cage, the Grappling Main Event will be headlined by the former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and the fierce Chase Hooper. While Sterling poses a very real threat with his versatile game and unorthodox submissions, the younger Hooper doesn’t fall behind and joins the roster extra motivated by the chance to face a former champion of the Ultimate and increase his reputation in the fighting world. Between Sterling’s drive to reassert his dominance and Hooper’s desire to make his name known to the world, this match has the makings of a memorable match that will have fight fans talking for a long time.
Before that, the Jiu-Jitsu Main Event will be led by Portugal’s Bruno Lima and the Brazilian Manuel Ribamar. An ADWPJJC 2023 champion, Lima closed the season with his greatest feat as a black belt, beating the favorite Uanderson Ferreira to take the title, but now he is ready for another challenge and will come to the ADXC cage hungry to take the win. Meanwhile, the experienced Jiu-Jitsu athlete and grappler Ribamar boasts two ADGS gold medals and countless high-profile victories around the world, coming to the Mubadala Arena armed with the knowledge to overcome his opponent and taste victory in the UAE. With both fighters having similar fighting styles, this match-up stands to be a high-octane duel from start to finish.
Co-Main Event
The Grappling Co-Main Event will feature Ffion Davies and Luana Pinheiro in the ADXC cage. Hailing from Wales, Davies is widely regarded as one of the best grapplers around and has the record to back that claim, coming as one of the most dangerous competitors and a strong contender for the win in this battle. On the other hand, Pinheiro has a purple belt in both Jiu-Jitsu and judo, but it’s her experience as a UFC athlete that stands to help the most in this new battleground, as she employs her stamina and experience with gridwork to counter Ffion’s sweeps and submissions.
Moving on, two proficient guard players will go toe-to-toe in the Jiu-Jitsu Co-Main Event. The Argentine Pablo Lavalessi will face Norway’s Espen Mathiesen in a highly technical match where the smallest mistake can bring the duel to an abrupt end. Armed with his deft sweeps, Lavaselli will have to stay sharp as he enters the cage to face Mathiesen, who’ll be ready to use his quick spins and leg grips to take the back and tip the scales in his favor. It’s worth noting that this match is replacing the previously announced bout between Pedro Ramalho and Max Lindblad, as Ramalho could not join the card because of an injury.
Main Card
The Main Card of the ADXC 2 has many thrills in store for the fans, such as the duel between the wrestlers Pouya Rahmani and Denzel Freeman. Rahmani comes with his experience competing in both MMA and Grappling to bring yet another victory to his country of Iran, while Freeman, an American MMA fighter and PFL athlete, comes to the UAE with his arsenal of takedowns and ground control techniques to pump the brakes on his opponent and seize the win. Before that, UFC and Bellator clash as Terrance Mckinney and Sidney Outlaw rise to the ADXC cage. UFC’s McKinney has eight submissions in his MMA career, the same as Outlaw, who fights for Bellator. This won’t be the only time both organizations collide in the ADXC 2, as Brazilian Douglas Lima, from Bellator, and the Russian Rinat Fakhredinov, from the Ultimate, will also be in the Main Card. Lima comes with 33 wins in his MMA record, ten of those coming via submission, while Fakhredinov boasts 21 victories, six by submission, and hasn’t been defeated for the last ten years.
Still in the Main Card, the Bahraini Ali Monfaradi and Brazil’s Talison Costa will don their gis to put on a show at the event. In a rematch after their encounter at the ADWPJJC finals last November, in which Ali rose as the winner and champion, the athletes will once again go toe-to-toe against one another, with Talison hungry to get some payback while Ali aims to use his strong half-guard to defeat his rival once more. Meanwhile, the Brazilian ace Gabriel Sousa faces the Japanese standout Yuta Shimada in a Jiu-Jitsu Bout. Sousa comes as one of the hottest names in his weight division, with powerful performances in recent seasons both in Jiu-Jitsu and grappling. Across the cage, Shimada has been carving a name for himself in the Asian competitive scene for the last couple of years, with many titles earned as a black belt in his homeland, and he now joins the ADXC card to face one of the most challenging battles of his career.
Prelims Card
Kicking off the action at the ADXC 2, the Preliminary Card has a handful of exciting matches to not only warm up the mats but also set the tone for the action that fans can expect for the night. From the duel between the Egyptian Ahmed Amir and the Slovakian Matus Arpas in a Grappling Bout, all the way to the brothers Omar and Mohammed Al Suwadi, who will be facing Shay Montague in Jiu-Jitsu and SeongHyeon Joo in Grappling, respectively. Still in the card, Yara Kakish and Emily Ferreira headline a Jiu-Jitsu bout while the promising newcomers Yaroslav Rymashevkii and Alinus Kuatuly show the talent of the new generation as they lead the very first match of the tournament.
That’s all for the ADXC 2 card, but the organization still has some things in store before the tournament begins. Stay tuned to @adxcofficial on social media for all the information on the next Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship, including the press conference, Meet & Greets, and much more. Check out the full card below, and we’ll see you in Abu Dhabi!
ADXC 2
MUBADALA ARENA, ABU DHABI – UAE
JANUARY 19, 2023
Aljamain Sterling vs. Chase Hooper – Grappling (Welterweight)
Bruno Lima vs. Manuel Ribamar – Jiu-Jitsu (Middleweight)
Co-Main Event
Ffion Davies vs. Luana Pinheiro – Grappling (Catchweight)
Pablo Lavaselli vs. Espen Mathiesen – Jiu-Jitsu (Welterweight)
Main Card
Denzel Freeman vs. Pouya Rahman – Grappling (Heavyweight)
Terrance McKinney vs. Sidney Outlaw – Grappling (Welterweight)
Douglas Lima vs. Rinat Fakhredinov – Grappling (Catchweight)
Ali Monfaradi vs. Talison Costa – Jiu-Jitsu (Welterweight)
Gabriel Sousa vs. Yuta Shimada – Jiu-Jitsu (Lightweight)
Prelims Card
Ahmed Amir vs. Matus Arpas – Grappling (Welterweight)
Omar Al Suwaidi vs. Shay Montague – Jiu-Jitsu (Flyweight)
Yara Kakish vs. Emily Ferreira – Jiu-Jitsu (Featherweight)
Mohammed Al Suwaidi vs. Seonghyeon Joo – Grappling (Lightweight)
Alinur Kuataly vs. Yaroslav Rymasjevkii – Jiu-Jitsu (Featherweight)
