The Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship (ADXC) arrives with an impressive card for its debut edition, on October 20th at the Mubadala Arena. The most prominent grappling athletes in the world will step into the cage set up in the center of the gym, with the main fight of the evening featuring two MMA stars who have Jiu-Jitsu as a strong foundation in their careers. In the last bout of the event, black belts Neiman Gracie and Ben Henderson will face each other.
NEIMAN GRACIE vs. BEN HENDERSON – THE MATCHUP
The duel was chosen by the organization to symbolize the strength of grappling and how Jiu-Jitsu transcends traditional competitive environments, leading the gentle art to dominate outside the mats as well. Neiman and Bendo will have the chance to show their technical and submission-focused style in a no-gi superfight, with a ruleset similar to the one used in MMA tournaments, where the points are counted individually in each of the five rounds of three minutes. The battle will be in the welterweight division and closes the event, which will also feature a co-main event and ten more super fights.
Neiman Gracie
Neiman Gracie carries with him the responsibility of representing the most famous family in international Jiu-Jitsu every time he fights. A Jiu-Jitsu black belt, son of master Marcio Stambowsky, Neiman is one of Renzo Gracie’s most dedicated pupils, having gotten a taste for fighting while living on the famous blue mats of his master’s academy, in New York.
An MMA athlete, Neiman is a Bellator fighter and has an impressive record of nine victories by submission, out of the 12 in his resumé, holding the record for most submissions in his weight division. In Jiu-Jitsu, he has appeared on the podium of the most prestigious events with and without the gi. Neiman arrives at ADXC to show not only the strength of the Gracie family in the Abu Dhabi cage but also to prove once again the efficiency of the Jiu-Jitsu that has been his legacy from birth.
Ben Henderson is a former UFC and WEC champion, with stints at Bellator and numerous main events throughout his successful MMA career. A wrestling specialist, he has been a Jiu-Jitsu black belt since 2013 and used a lot of his knowledge of the mats in MMA, taking eight of his 30 victories in the cage through submissions, all via the neck with his tight guillotines and rear-naked choke adjustments. After venturing into grappling duels, with and without the gi, Ben Henderson joins the impressive ADXC card to make his debut within the organization, using his Jiu-Jitsu and cage experience in Abu Dhabi.
To further heat up the debut night of the Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship (ADXC), the organization included an old rivalry in its gi main event. In a fight in the middleweight division, Isaque Bahiense and Gustavo Batista are once again facing each other, but this time the AJP was able to turn up the rivalry between the champions even more.
The gi duel will take place in the ADCX cage, over five three-minute rounds. Even though the submission can define the winner at any moment of the fight, the score per round, defined by the side judges, will bring even more desire to show their abilities the best they can.
Furthermore, the absence of safety areas or room for escape makes the cage work another factor to be considered in the classic duel between Isaque and Gustavo. Isaque Bahiense, leader and athlete representing DreamArt, arrives to compete against Gustavo with two Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championship titles in his career. Gustavo, an elite athlete from Atos Jiu-Jitsu, a team captained by André Galvão, has the notorious AJP King of Mats title on his resumé.
Dueling on the AJP mats, Isaque came out winning twice, in the final of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Rio in 2017, and at the Abu Dhabi World Pro in 2018. Gustavo, in turn, won the AJP King of Mats title in 2019 by overcoming Isaque in the final match of the event.
ADXC will have 13 fights on its card, with the gi main event between Isaque Bahiense and Gustavo Batista, in addition to the no-gi main event that closes the debut event, featuring MMA stars Neiman Gracie and Ben Henderson. Don’t miss the excitement and great fights scheduled for the event that will revolutionize the world of grappling. Access our profile on Instagram now, at @adxcofficial, and find out first all the details of the event and other fights on the electrifying card on October 20th.
