Rubens Charles Maciel, better known as ‘Cobrinha’ has pulled out of ADCC and will be replaced by his son.
ADCC 2019 has suffered a string of pull outs this week, but none bigger than the latest one. According to a report by grapplinginsider.com, reigning champion Charles ‘Cobrinha’ has decided to pull out of the most prestigious no-gi grappling tournament in the world, after he was made aware that his son wouldn’t be invited to compete as long as he remained in the bracket.
Cobrinha is one of the greatest grapplers of all-time and has won all there is to win in both the gi and no-gi grappling circuits. He famously suffered defeat in the ADCC finals twice at the hands of Rafa Mendes, but would later achieve gold of his own with finals wins over Bruno Frazzato in 2015—and against Bellator fighter AJ Agazarm in 2017.
Like his father, Kennedy Maciel is a versatile grappler who excels in both gi and no-gi grappling. He is a world no-gi champion and a brown belt world champ in the gi. Kennedy also holds a notable win over Nicky Ryan, who he submitted in a super fight.
This will be Kennedy’s first ADCC. But, with both AJ Agazarm and Mikey Musumeci also pulling out, the field is wide open and the youngster might have a chance to score a medal on his debut outing.