Ana Mayordomo has won two separate ADCC trials within months of each other, yet still needs to win a third just to qualify for the event’s main bracket.

Her situation has renewed scrutiny of ADCC’s women’s divisions and whether the current format can keep pace with the sport’s expanding talent pool:

I don’t think it’s wrong for me to say that right now half-size brackets is an issue.
There’s too many girls that are very good and not enough spots.

Men’s ADCC divisions field 16 competitors, while women’s divisions field just eight.
And, competing at 121 lbs (55kg), Mayordomo ran into an unusual situation as a result.

She won European trials in Poland, then traveled to Orlando and won North American trials as well – but neither result counted toward qualification, since only the second trials event in each region awards spots to women.

Her run through the final months of 2025 was relentless.

After winning European trials, she flew to Las Vegas for UFC Fight Pass Invitational, then to New York for IBJJF Pans, where she won gold, followed by another gold at IBJJF European Championships in Italy, before returning to the U.S. and winning North American trials as well.

That stretch of back-to-back trials wins created confusion among fans and fellow competitors alike:

After I won European trials, I got messages saying: “Congrats, I can’t wait to see you in ADCC.”
Which is such a letdown because you’re like: “Thank you so much”, but no, not really.

And then you have to explain the whole how things work.

Beyond her personal frustration, Mayordomo pointed to the bigger structural issue at play:

We’re seeing women’s Jiu-Jitsu grow a lot and get a lot of attention. Like, there’s a capacity issue.
We have too many girls that are very good and not enough spots.

Since the interview, Ana has received an invite to compete at this year’s ADCC Worlds in Poland.

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