The ADCC World Championship 2026 is scheduled for September 12 to 13 at Tauron Arena Kraków, one of Poland’s largest indoor venues with a published seating capacity of 15,030. With four months until the event, live ticket availability data reveals a troubling picture of where sales currently stand.
The event has 14,941 sellable seats across 84 sections. 20 seats in two small sub sections are permanently blocked due to physical obstructions. As of May 2, 2026, 9,351 seats remain available for purchase. That leaves 5,610 seats either sold or withheld from public sale.
The only number verifiable with absolute certainty is that in sections that are partially sold, where available seats sit alongside visibly greyed out unavailable ones, 1,724 tickets have been confirmed purchased across 22 active sections.
Between late March and May 2, a 34 day window, approximately 139 tickets sold across those active sections. That works out to roughly four tickets per day. At that rate, fewer than 500 additional tickets would sell from currently available inventory before the September event.
Of the 5,610 seats showing zero availability, a significant portion have never appeared on the public sale map. These include all VIP box sections, Loža 1 to 14, designated media and logistics areas, LM1, LM2, LP, and several large bowl sections including A13 through A18, which together account for nearly 2,000 seats. This is consistent with inventory typically held for sponsors, broadcasters, athlete accreditation and event staff, standard practice for major sports events. That likely means about 3610 tickets are actually sold and not just blocked off.
ADCC is widely considered the most prestigious event in submission grappling and is held every two years. The 2022 edition in Las Vegas sold out quickly. Kraków represents a fundamentally different proposition. It is not a traditional combat sports market and the ticket prices are steep by Polish standards. The cheapest available seats start at 230.90 PLN ($58 USD) for a two day pass, prices higher than KSW events and out of tune with the economic realities of living in Poland.
For context, Tauron Arena holds 15,030 for sporting events. Filling it for a niche grappling competition, even the sport’s biggest event, would be a significant achievement. The 2019 ADCC in Anaheim drew around 10,000 attendees. The ambition of a 15,000 seat venue in Poland is notable and possibly misjudged.
Former promoter Mo Jassim also initially sold tickets at substantially lower prices:
Beyond ticket pricing issues, ADCC’s reputation has taken serious public damage in recent months. The Craig Jones Invitational publicly exposed how limited ADCC’s prize money is. With no show money, most competitors will end up financially in the negative after financing their training camps The narrative that ADCC is the pinnacle of the sport appears weaker when athletes lose money to compete.
Nick Rodriguez is on the record saying that he feels no incentive to go to ADCC. Nicholas Mergali expressed similar sentiments.
Gordon Ryan revealed ADCC’s main event before any official announcement. After stepping away again, he disclosed that the main event will be Yuri Simoes versus Kaynan Duarte, a match that has generated little enthusiasm. Simoes last competed at ADCC 2024 against Ryan. Prior to that, he lost to Nick Rodriguez at UFC FP Invitational in 2023. The matchmaking appears to reward past performances rather than current relevance.
If you want to get funny here’s a bit of trivia – Yuri Simoes is sponsored by pitbull. ADCC 2026 is organized by the same team.
A source exclusively told BJJDOC that Gordon Ryan’s ADCC companion Hungary Camp is struggling to sell tickets. Thus far they were able to move just 2 vip tickets. General admission tickets are still widely available with the promoters trying to advertise aggresively.
Polish promoters invited UFC star Mateusz Gamrot in what appears to be a publicity move. So far, that stands as one of the most notable additions.
The organization has also extended invites to several veterans past their competitive peak, including Yuri Simoes, Gabi Garcia, and Roberto Cyborg Abreu, rather than using those slots to highlight rising talent. Another veteran likely to be invited is Rafael Lovato Jr, who is 42. Lovato does have a recent win over Bodoni. Garcia and Simoes had not competed in years before recent appearances and both lost.
The pattern suggests an organization struggling to identify or elevate the next generation.
ADCC also received criticism for refusing to rescind the invite of Izaak Michell despite an active warrant for his arrest on SA charges. Instead of addressing the situation, the organization removed its invites and qualified participant list from the official website, a move that appears focused on damage control rather than accountability.
There is also the case of Melqui Galvão, whose recent conduct circulated widely across social media. While the IBJJF moved quickly to permanently ban Galvão from cornering, ADCC has made no public statement and remains silent despite several of his students qualifying for the event.
The official ADCC Instagram account has focused heavily on ADCC Open tournaments, events that occur frequently but have little direct impact on the World Championship. As a result, finding clear and consolidated information about ADCC 2026 has become unnecessarily difficult.
What can be confirmed is the following. Sellable capacity is 14,941. Seats currently available are 9,351. Sales velocity is approximately four tickets per day over the last 34 days. Sections with zero availability that have never appeared on public sale total 46.
ADCC 2026 now faces a combination of weak ticket sales, reputational damage, questionable matchmaking, controversial invites and unclear communication. Whether the organization can change direction in the remaining months is uncertain. What is clear is that the current trajectory suggests a gap between ADCC’s ambitions and the reality on the ground in Kraków.
