The new Brazilian jiu-jitsu organization, ADXC, held its second gala featuring UFC fighters Aljamain Sterling and Chase Hooper. In the main event at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sterling defeated Hooper on points.

Aljamain Sterling, nicknamed Funk Master, has taken a liking to grappling lately. This was his third fight since last August, and he won two of them. Hooper certainly hasn't slacked off with grappling in the past either, as he also had two grappling superfights before the tournament itself.

Although they usually perform in different weight classes, the main event of Sterling vs. Hooper was at welterweight under ADXC rules. Sterling's previous fight was at bantamweight, while Hooper's was at lightweight.

Another participant of the tournament was also Norwegian superstar and winner of IBJJF Europeans 2022 in the weight class up to -76 kg, Espen Mathiesen, who fought against Argentinian Pablo Lavaselli. Although Mathiesen worked hard to win, he deservedly won on points. After the fight he said, "I started to get pretty tired halfway through the fight, but I decided to just push and give it my all. I didn't want to give up. I just kept pushing, pushing, pushing and I did it."

The tournament had female representation as well, and it was straight up the best possible. Female superstar Ffion Davies, ADCC champion, 2X IBJJF World Champion and also 4X IBJJF World No-Gi Champion, took on UFC fighter Luana Pinheiro. The bout didn't last long and Ffion finished the Brazilian in just 51 seconds on a rear naked choke, earning her the performance of the night bonus.

The tournament also featured the winner of the last AJP World Pro, Bruno Lima, as well as a fresh black belt, IBJJF Europeans No-Gi 2023 winner Shay Montague. Both of them managed to win their matches.

We must not forget about the Slovak representation as well. The Slovakian and brown belt Matúš Arpáš was in Abu Dhabi, with whom UFC fighter Martin Buday also flew to the Emirates. In a heated duel, in which it was already boiling on the olddown, Matúš defeated Egyptian Ahmed Amin on points and thus scored a valuable scalp.

Also of great interest is that Mathiesen and Montague competed at the IBJJF Europeans tournament held in mid-January in Paris, France.