Back in May, ADCC's Krakow Problem Got Worse: A Look at What the Organization Left Unsaid

When this went down recently—specifically on May 9th, 2026—ADCC faced a choice. The organization could have made a statement.

When this went down recently—specifically on May 9th, 2026—ADCC faced a choice. The organization could have made a statement. It didn't. That silence has become the most telling part of the story.

Four months before Krakow, ADCC pulled their public invite roster from their website. The list that fans and media had been tracking since trials wrapped simply vanished. BJJEE covered the removal at the time, describing invites "sparking confusion and controversy as transparency questions grow." Now, if you want to know who's competing at the world's most prestigious grappling event, you're piecing it together from athlete Instagram posts and whatever BJJDoc and Jitsmagazine can track down. The official source stopped functioning as an official source—and that stoppage was no accident.

What the list had been showing, and what it stopped showing when they took it down, is the actual problem.

Michell's warrant doesn't expire when the event happens

Izaak Michell won the ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials in 2025. That qualification stands. It stood through December 2025, when multiple women publicly came forward with sexual assault allegations against him. It stood through January 6, 2026, when BJJDoc reported that he'd been named to Hays County, Texas's "Top 12 Fugitives" list—meaning an active felony sexual assault warrant was issued in his name. It stood through February 26, when a second warrant was issued. That's not a legal technicality or a misunderstanding. That's two separate warrants, both active, both current.

IBJJF No-Gi World Champion Hannah Griffith posted her statement describing what happened as "a clear violation of my consent." Nicky Ryan confirmed additional victims had come forward. Reports from early 2026 put Michell in a van along Australia's coast, actively avoiding US court appearances. This wasn't speculation. This was documented, reported, and part of the public record.

ADCC organizer Mo Jassim issued a personal statement in January citing the "presumption of innocence." The organization's official comment since then: nothing.

Michell is still qualified. September 12-13 in Krakow. ADCC's position, reading between the lines of their complete silence, is that a trials result is a trials result and the rest of it—the warrants, the allegations, the fugitive status—is somebody else's headache. Except it's not. When you issue an invite to a named fugitive with active warrants, you're making a choice. A very public choice that the entire competitive grappling world watches.

That's not procedural. That's organizational.

Now meet the other guy they invited

In July 2025, BJJEE reported that community members had surfaced Josh Saunders' Instagram history. Saunders, an Australian +99kg competitor who appeared at ADCC 2024, had posted stories and highlights featuring Nazi salutes—twice, one photo and one video—along with references to Thuleism, an ideology tied to movements that shaped the Third Reich. The community's read was direct and not ambiguous: "He's a literal Nazi. It's not really ambiguous at all."

Saunders issued no statement in response.

On May 3, 2026, BJJDoc confirmed that Josh Saunders received an ADCC 2026 invite. Men's +99kg division.

ADCC's official comment on inviting an athlete with documented Nazi salute content on his public Instagram: nothing.

This is the part where organizational choices become organizational statements. When you know an athlete's background contains Nazi salute imagery, and you send the invite anyway, you're not staying neutral. You're choosing. ADCC chose to stay silent about it, and silence in this context means acceptance. The organization did not disqualify Saunders. Did not issue a statement. Did not even acknowledge the content existed. They sent the invite anyway.

That's a choice on the record.

The $48,000 that left the room

In February 2026, Craig Jones announced that his charity would cover $48,000 to guarantee equal prize money for women at ADCC 2026. It was goodwill on the surface. Underneath, it was a quiet jab at ADCC's existing payout structure—the organization had historically paid women less for the same accomplishment as men. Jones was willing to make up the difference himself. Then he pulled the offer.

The reason was Michell. "I do not want to prop up an organization that doesn't value women," Jones told Jitsmagazine. "This is a safety issue." He walked away from $48,000 he'd already pledged because he wasn't willing to write a check to an organization keeping a named fugitive on its roster.

Jones has his own complicated history with ADCC, so factor that in however you want to. But the argument he's making is straightforward and hard to dismiss: he won't financially support an organization that keeps a fugitive with active warrants on its competitor roster. He tied it to safety, because keeping someone with outstanding sexual assault warrants on the roster is a safety decision. An explicit one.

ADCC's response to losing $48,000 in equal pay support: nothing.

That's not a neutral position. That's a choice to accept the loss rather than address the problem.

The removal of the list is load-bearing to the silence

ADCC knows exactly what it's doing. An official statement on Michell forces a choice: defend keeping a named fugitive with active warrants on the roster, or pull his qualification and take whatever heat follows. An official statement on Saunders forces the same corner. An explanation for why the invite list disappeared requires explaining what was on it and why it had to go away.

So nothing gets said. The invites go out through Instagram and secondhand coverage. The official channels go quiet. The list stays down, and without the list, there's no centralized record for mainstream media or casual fans to reference. You have to know to look for it. You have to actively seek out BJJDoc or Jitsmagazine. You have to scroll through athlete Instagram posts.

What stays visible: Hannah Griffith's statement. The Hays County warrant. The second warrant. The Instagram content with Nazi salutes. Craig Jones spelling out exactly why he walked away from $48,000 he'd already committed to giving.

None of that disappears because ADCC stopped publishing a list. The facts don't become less true because the organization stopped displaying them on their website.

Krakow in September

A named fugitive with active warrants and the guy who posted Nazi salutes both still have invites to ADCC 2026. September 12-13. The cameras will be there. The media will show up. International grappling fans will watch.

ADCC's organizational response to all of it: nothing. No statement. No clarification. No acknowledgment.

That's a lot of nothing to walk into a competition hall carrying.

This post was generated by AI. Sources are linked below. Follow @bjj-problems on YouTube for the weekly video digest.

Back in May, ADCC's Krakow Problem Got Worse: A Look at What the Organization Left Unsaid

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