Mateusz Łuckiewicz, the Polish promoter behind the upcoming ADCC World Championships in Kraków, spoke candidly on the Wolna Mata Podcast about the organizational history of ADCC, the decision to run multiple consecutive editions in the United States and what he believes it cost the sport on an international level.
With ADCC returning to Europe for the first time since Finland in 2017, Łuckiewicz reflected on the years the event spent in the United States.
“By design the ADCC shouldn’t have stopped in the States for so long. The idea is for the sport to travel just as much as it did in Barcelona, Finland, Japan and the States. And it just kind of traveled around the world a bit, not stopping for three editions.”
He acknowledged there were two sides to the argument.
“It definitely hindered international expansion in some way. But on the other hand it helped ADCC gain American vibrancy, production, momentum and allowed it to grow. So as always there are pros and cons.”
The promoter also pointed to the climate surrounding ADCC during its American run, referencing what he described as “various speculations, various situations” around the organization.
“I wouldn’t call them (ugly) problems but situations that were happening around ADCC.”
The host referenced Craig Jones and his stance on venue scale.
Craig Jones had previously argued that larger venues were unnecessary for grappling events, a position that influenced wider discussion around the 2024 Las Vegas edition.
Łuckiewicz claimed it was hard to critize what the previous promoters did without inside information but went on to elaborate:
” it’s hard to judge the decisions that were made before without really knowing the background. And again, I will emphasize that I mean, I will emphasize, all practitioners who train jiu-jitsu know that there is no money in it. This isn’t MMA, this isn’t watched worldwide, this isn’t UFC, this isn’t KSW and so on and so forth, no. So here came the time where some money appeared from sponsors, from FLO(grappling). Well, somewhere it started to germinate, somewhere it started to take shape, and then opportunities simply appeared to be able to create such such such such quality , right?”
Łuckiewicz went to point out that an opportunity to compete in jiu-jitsu in a big arena doesn’t really exist pointing out that UFC BJJ does their shows at The UFC Apex.
“Even as we know UFC BJJ for example, which is now holding competitions, they are doing it at APEX, in their own small hall.”
For Łuckiewicz, the return to Europe and the selection of Tauron Arena in Kraków represents a reset for the organization. He highlighted Poland’s long standing role within ADCC as a competitive hub and one of its most active markets.
“Poland has been a strong global ADCC market for many years. ADCC tournaments in Poland are mega popular with a large number of participants. It’s probably the second largest market in the world in terms of people competing in tournaments.”
Łuckiewicz went on to reveal that Poland was meant to host ADCC 2022 – but not in Krakow – in Torwar arena in Warsaw. Interestingly, Torwar arena seays 4,824 people in the stands, with up to an additional 1,480 seats available to add on the floor. A far cry from the 15,000 in Tauron arena. But given how ticket sales are going it might’ve been a better idea.
He also emphasized the accessibility of Kraków for international visitors compared to Western European host cities.
“For the average spectator flying to Poland is actually quite cheap. Hotels are quite cheap, food is quite cheap, entertainment and the whole background is extremely high quality and modern.”
