Livia Giles

Born Livia Gluchowska in Poland, Livia Giles pursued Rhythmic Gymnastics at a competitive level with Olympic ambitions before relocating to Australia. There, she channeled that same drive into Track Cycling, reaching an elite level in the sport before eventually stepping away from the velodrome.

Two converging influences drew her toward Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: her brother's involvement in Muay Thai sparked a broader interest in combat sports, while her relationship with Lachlan Giles provided a direct gateway onto the grappling mat. The athletic foundation she had built across gymnastics and cycling — body awareness, coordination, and a deeply ingrained competitive mindset — proved a significant asset as she developed her BJJ game.

Giles joined Absolute MMA in Melbourne, the academy where Lachlan Giles trains and coaches alongside many of Australia's top grapplers. The environment offered elite training partners and a competitive culture that accelerated her progression through the belt ranks.

Across her competitive career, Giles accumulated titles at multiple belt levels, including a world title at brown belt, demonstrating consistent performance on the international IBJJF circuit. At black belt, she earned silver medals at the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship, establishing herself as one of the stronger female competitors on the submission grappling scene.

Her most defining achievement came in 2019, when she won the 2nd ADCC European Trials, securing her place at the most prestigious submission grappling event in the world. Competing at ADCC 2019 represented the fulfillment of a specific and deliberate goal — not a stepping stone to a longer campaign, but a destination in itself. True to that intention, Giles retired from competition immediately following her ADCC debut, framing the appearance as a conclusive milestone rather than a launching pad.

The arc of her career — building steadily toward a single peak moment and walking away on her own terms — reflects the same purposeful approach she brought to every athletic pursuit that preceded it.

Long after stepping away from competition, Giles has continued to engage with the sport's broader conversations. In an appearance on JitsCast episode #67, she spoke candidly about the structural inequalities embedded in how ADCC organizes and compensates its women's divisions, drawing on her direct experience as an ADCC competitor to ground her perspective.

Among the issues she raised were the disparity in the number of divisions offered to women compared to men and the notably smaller bracket sizes on the women's side of the draw. She also addressed ADCC's practice of awarding female champions half the prize money given to male champions — a policy that has drawn sustained criticism from within the grappling community. Giles referenced Craig Jones publicly volunteering to personally bridge that pay gap, an offer that highlighted both the scale of the disparity and the grassroots pressure building around the issue.

Giles also commented on ADCC's decision to discontinue the female absolute division, which had been reinstated in 2024 before being subsequently abandoned. Her perspective carries particular weight given her firsthand experience competing at ADCC and her ongoing connection to elite-level grappling through Absolute MMA, where the sport's competitive realities remain a daily conversation.