Adele Fornarino

Adele Fornarino was born on September 17, 1999, and raised in Melbourne, Australia, where her athletic identity took shape on the football pitch. From age seven, she competed in organized soccer, forging the discipline and competitive drive that would later define her grappling career. In 2009, at ten years old, she added jiu-jitsu to her weekly routine — training alongside her football commitments under the guidance of David Hart, David Christopher, and Lincoln Handcock at Dominance MMA. These three coaches remained central figures throughout her formative years on the mat.

At fourteen, Fornarino retired from soccer and directed her full attention to jiu-jitsu. Two years later, at sixteen, she began competing on the international circuit, traveling abroad to train with a variety of teams and coaches — a practice that would persist throughout her career and accelerate her technical development. By eighteen, the results and opportunities she had accumulated on the global stage made a professional commitment to jiu-jitsu a clear and viable path, and she transitioned to full-time training.

Fornarino climbed through the belt ranks under the continued mentorship of David Hart, David Christopher, and Lincoln Handcock, building a strong competitive record at every level. Her blue belt campaign produced a 2016 IBJJF World Championship juvenile title — an early signal of the international trajectory ahead. Through the purple and brown belt years, she competed extensively across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, earning titles at the IBJJF Pan Pacific Championship and Pan Pacific No-Gi Championship in 2019, as well as the AJP Australia National Pro and AJP Oceania Continental Pro in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Her brown belt run — spanning nearly four years — announced Fornarino as a genuine force in world-class grappling. In 2022, she claimed the IBJJF World Championship No-Gi title at brown belt, a landmark result for Australian jiu-jitsu. That same year, she secured her spot at the ADCC Oceania and Asia Trials, earning a place on the biggest submission grappling stage in the world. A Pan American silver medal and a string of additional podium finishes rounded out a brown belt campaign that served as the launching pad for her black belt career. In December 2022, David Hart promoted Fornarino to black belt, formalizing the next chapter of her journey.

The ADCC 2024 World Championship stands as the defining moment of Fornarino's competitive career. Competing in the under 55 kg division, she navigated the bracket with precision to claim gold — becoming the first Australian in history to win an ADCC World Championship. She then entered the Female Absolute division and won that title as well, making her the first Australian to claim the open class at ADCC Worlds and completing a historic double-gold performance in a single tournament.

Andre Galvao cornered Fornarino throughout the ADCC run, reflecting her affiliation with Atos at that stage of her career. The double-gold result cemented her standing as one of the foremost athletes in the feather and light-featherweight divisions globally and elevated Australian grappling to a prominence it had never previously enjoyed on the world stage.

Fornarino's black belt career beyond the ADCC produced a sustained run of high-level results across the major international circuits. In 2023, she won the IBJJF Pan Championship and the IBJJF European Championship No-Gi while finishing runner-up at the IBJJF World Championship No-Gi — a trio of results that demonstrated her consistency across different rulesets and competitive formats. She won the ADCC Oceania and Asia Trials in both 2022 and 2023, establishing herself as the dominant force in Oceanian submission grappling.

On the no-time-limit circuit, Fornarino held the WNO Strawweight Championship. She appeared on JitsCast #7 on December 16, 2024, alongside her coach Jake O'Driscoll, identified as the reigning champion at that time. Competing around bantamweight — 57 kg / 125 lbs — she maintained the practice of training with multiple international teams and coaches that had characterized her development since her teenage years, ensuring continuous exposure to diverse technical perspectives.

In December 2025, Fornarino signed an exclusive European contract with Polaris, with her debut for the promotion scheduled for 2026. She made that debut on January 31, 2026, at Polaris 35, held at the Ebbw Vale Sports Centre in the United Kingdom. The event featured a WNO vs Polaris Squads format, and Fornarino delivered a composed performance against Selma Vik — winning Round 1 by a 10–9 score on all three judges' scorecards before finishing the match by rear naked choke in Round 2.

Following the victory, Fornarino used her post-fight platform to address what she described as a crisis within jiu-jitsu rooted in hierarchical power structures and the mistreatment of vulnerable athletes. She called for collective accountability across the sport and urged the community to take active responsibility for protecting those most at risk. The remarks arrived amid reports of an early-2026 exodus from Atos following a rumored incident, though no official statement from the organization had been issued at that time. Fornarino's affiliation status amid that period of upheaval was not formally clarified.

On August 6, 2026, Fornarino announced her withdrawal from the ADCC 2026 World Championship, citing a convergence of concerns around athlete safety, pay inequality, and the structural treatment of women's competition within the organization.

The Izaak Michell Situation

A central grievance was ADCC's handling of the Izaak Michell situation. After an arrest warrant was issued for Michell, ADCC's delayed removal of him from competition drew sharp criticism from Fornarino, who characterized the decision as straightforward: "It was a very easy, simple decision to make that could have made a very positive stance throughout the community, especially given what's going on at the moment. I think that they really lost that opportunity to have a very positive impact in our community."

Pay Disparity and Structural Inequality

On the question of compensation, Fornarino was direct about the pay gap at ADCC. While expressing genuine support for the men's pay increase, she argued that equal pay for women was equally warranted: "I disagree with the fact that the women are paid half the amount of the men... I think that the women deserve to be paid what the men deserve to be paid. It's not our fault that we have half the amount of competitors in the division."

The removal of the Female Absolute division and the female superfight — changes made without public announcement or statement from ADCC — carried particular personal weight for Fornarino, who had won the 2024 Female Absolute title and had previously announced plans to compete in the inaugural female ADCC Superfight Championship. She addressed the situation plainly: "They've kind of swept that under the rug and not really made any announcements or any statements on that. There's no female super fight, which for me means that I won the Absolute, I had my opportunity to get a super fight, and they've kind of taken that away from me, which is a bit disappointing."

A Question of Legacy

Financially, Fornarino argued that the absence of show money at ADCC made a two-year preparation cycle untenable for professional athletes investing heavily in themselves and their support networks. In light of these concerns, she aligned herself with UFC BJJ, praising the promotion for placing multiple female matches on main event cards and offering women the same competitive opportunities as men. She framed the decision in terms of legacy: "My career has always been about making history. It's always been about leaving a positive legacy, and now more than ever, that is about really standing for the women in this sport."

Adele Fornarino's career represents a generational breakthrough for Australian grappling. As the first Australian to win an ADCC World Championship — and the first to claim the ADCC Female Absolute title — she reshaped the international perception of what athletes from the Oceania region can achieve at the sport's highest level.

Beyond the competitive results, Fornarino has used her platform consistently to address the structural conditions in which professional jiu-jitsu athletes operate. From her post-match speech at Polaris 35 to her public statements on pay equity and her principled withdrawal from ADCC 2026, she has built a public identity that integrates athletic excellence with advocacy. She has also engaged directly with training culture, sharing perspectives on respect and mutual understanding when men and women train together — contributions aimed at making the sport more inclusive at the grassroots level.

As of March 2025, Fornarino expressed interest in eventually transitioning to MMA, noting her intention to first accomplish her remaining goals in jiu-jitsu. Whether on the competition mat or in public discourse, her stated purpose has remained consistent: to make history and to leave the sport meaningfully better for the women who follow her.