Dzharbaev Wins ADCC Title as Russia’s Second World Champion
Muhammad Dzharbaev is the second Russian ADCC World Champion after winning the men’s 77-kilogram division at the 2026 ADCC World Championships in Krakow. The official ADCC account posted the result Sunday and tagged him as the newest gold medalist on the sport’s biggest no-gi stage.
The tournament ran Sept. 12-13 at Tauron Arena. Most English reports list him as Magomed Dzharbaev, the same 32-year-old Dagestani wrestler who entered the event as the No. 8 seed for Agate Team.
He closed the bracket with a referee decision over American PJ Barch after a scoreless final that ran through two overtime periods. The match lasted 40 minutes and never produced a point on the board.
That gold is the first Russian ADCC title since 1999. Official coverage framed him as only the second Russian in tournament history to stand on the top step.
He was not a global name before the weekend. The 77-kilogram field also included Vagner Rocha, Mateusz Szczecinski, Elijah Dorsey, and UFC veteran Mateusz Gamrot.
His path was built on wrestling control rather than a highlight finish. Dzharbaev opened with a 4-0 win over Alexandre de Jesus, then took a quarterfinal decision from Rocha after forcing the Brazilian off his preferred game.
The semifinal was the first time the home crowd turned loud against him. Szczecinski was one of Poland’s best hopes in Krakow, and Dzharbaev shut down his guard in regulation before winning 2-0 in overtime.
Barch reached the final with a 9-0 semifinal over Jacob Bornemann. The American tried to drag the title match into scrambles, but Dzharbaev kept the scoreboard empty and won the referee’s call.
Szczecinski took bronze. The other men’s golds on the same day went to Kennedy Maciel at 66 kilograms, Pawel Jaworski at 88, Luke Griffith at 99, Victor Hugo at plus-99, and Felipe Pena in the absolute.
Jaworski’s title next to Dzharbaev’s gave Europe two male champions in one afternoon. Coverage of the event noted that the continent had gone 23 years without a male ADCC world champion before those two golds landed on Sunday.
ADCC Russia had listed three athletes for Krakow: Dzharbaev and Nikolay Vetrov at 77 kilograms, plus Ruslan Abdulaev at plus-99. Dzharbaev is the only one of that group who left with gold.
Abdulaev still collected absolute bronze after a quarterfinal loss to Hugo. Vetrov did not reach the medal rounds.
The official caption did not include a quote from the new champion. It stated the result in one line and attached the event tags for ADCC and ADCC 2026.
Comments under the reel pointed the win toward Dagestan as much as the national flag. That regional identity has followed him through the coverage even as the promotion presented the result as a Russian championship.
There is no next ADCC date attached to the post. Worlds is a biennial event, and a first-time champion at 77 kilograms now sits in the conversation for invitations and the next cycle rather than an immediate rematch.
Barch remains the American who took him the distance. Rocha and Szczecinski are the names that will follow the tape of how a relatively unknown wrestler managed a stacked international bracket without needing a submission.
For now the record is settled in Krakow. Muhammad Dzharbaev is an ADCC world champion at 77 kilograms, the second Russian to hold that title, and the first from his country to do it since 1999.