UFC Champ Georges St. Pierre, Strikeforce Heavyweight Contender Fabricio Werdum Among Grapplers at 2009 ADCC

Regardless who wins the middlweight matchup at UFC 102 in Portland Saturday, Demian Maia (10-0) and “Great” Nate Marquardt (28-8-2) might get a second shot at each other 25-27 September at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championships 2009 in Barcelona.

Both UFC title contenders will compete in the -87.9kg division, along with “Toquinho” Rousimar Palhares (11-3). Sengoku judoka Kazuhiro Nakamura (13-9) and DREAM welterweight Andre Galvao (3-0).

UFC welterweight champ “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (19-2) will compete in the -76.9kg division, along with the UFC’s “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3), Japanese free agent “K-Taro” Keita Nakamura (15-4-2), and Brazilian free agent “Uirapuru” Marcelo Azevedo (3-5).

In the -98.9kg division, Strikeforce light heavyweight “Babalu” Renato Sobral (32-9), free agent “Brazilian Tiger” Ricardo Arona (13-5), The Ultimate Fighter 8 contestant “Pezao” Vinicius Magalhães (3-5), former UFC and PRIDE fighter “Boogey Man” Dean Lister (11-6), The Pit’s “Brazilian Pit Bull” Glover Teixeira (7-2), Brazilian heavyweight free agent “Pe De Pano” Marcio Cruz (6-2), and Aussie light heavyweight “Hippo” Anthony Perosh (6-4).

Strikeforce heavyweight contender “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) and American free agent “Snowman” Jeff Monson (27-8) highlight the +99kg division. Former IFL heavyweight title challenger Antoine Jaoude (8-3) and M-1 Global heavyweight Rogent Lloret (6-1) will also compete in the highest weight divsion.

In the lowest weight division, -65.9kg, WEC featherweight contender “Big Frog” Jeff Curran (31-12-1) and WEC bantamweight contender Rani Yahya (14-3) will compete with SHOOTO vets “Iron” Hiroshi Nakamura (4-3-4) and “Finisher” Baret Yoshida (5-6-1).

Every division will also include grapplers who don’t compete in MMA.

Every other year, the ADCC creates the most interesting moments and exciting matchups in submission grappling. Always a highlight, the absolute division pits grapplers of all weight classes against each other to crown an absolute champ. Past absolute division matchups include DREAM welterweight “Mach” Hayato Sakurai (35-10) versus former UFC heavyweight champion “Suave” Ricco Rodriguez (32-8-3) and DREAM lightweight “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-4) versus Sengoku heavyweight Roger Gracie (2-0).

Emirati Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his BJJ instructor Nelson Monteiro created the event that has become the gold standard in submission grappling in 1998 and in 2003 the tournament began touring to locations outside the UAE.

The grapplers will compete at Pavello Olimpic de Badalona in Barcelona beginning at 11:00 AM on 26 September. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.