ADCC is a bit like the Olympics of grappling. It is the world's most prestigious no-gi jiu-jitsu championship, a combat sport without strikes in which the aim is to control the opponent and seek a submission through a choke or joint lock, although bouts can also be decided on points. In Ana's under-55-kilogram category, there were eight competitors, including those invited directly by the organization and those who qualified through the Trials, as was the case with the Aragonese fighter, who had won both the European and North American qualifying events.
Even so, Mayordomo did not travel to Krakow simply to enjoy the experience. She arrived convinced that she could fight for the title. In her opening bout, she defeated Sheliah Lindsay and reached the semifinals, where she lost to Jasmine Rocha. The setback forced her to quickly shift her focus: gold was no longer within reach, but a medal was still at stake, and one of the sport's great legends, Mayssa Bastos, stood in her way. "I had been competing against some of the best in the world for quite some time. I knew I belonged at that level and that I could achieve a good result," the Aragonese fighter explains.
The Zaragoza fighter won the bronze-medal bout by submission. Photo: @coonandfriendsphotography
It was then that one of the most important moments of her entire career arrived. Mayordomo submitted Bastos in the bronze-medal bout, becoming the first person to finish the Brazilian in competition. Bastos is a seven-time jiu-jitsu world champion. "It is probably one of the most important victories of my career, not only because I beat her, but because of the way it happened," Ana acknowledges. The win took on even greater significance because of the circumstances: "To finish her and become the first person to do so is something I am still processing."
A MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT AT A DIFFICULT TIME
In addition, the bronze came at an especially difficult time in Ana's life. The Aragonese fighter competed at the World Championships just seven weeks after her mother's death, a blow that affected a preparation she herself describes as "the most difficult" she has ever experienced. "I don't think something like that necessarily gives you strength. I would have preferred a thousand times over to arrive at this championship with her here," she explains. Even so, Ana says that "it is a medal that will always have special meaning for me."
Ana and her parents at a 2025 competition in the United States
"When the last bout ended and I knew I was on the podium, I felt so many things at once," the Zaragoza fighter recounts. The joy of winning a historic medal coexisted with her mother's absence and with the wish that she could have shared a moment that now holds an important place in her career. "I miss her so much and would have given anything to share all this with her," she says.
For Ana Mayordomo, this podium finish is not an endpoint but a new starting point. She is proud to be the world's third-best fighter, but makes no secret of the fact that her goal was to win the tournament and that she will try again in two years. "I don't feel that I have reached where I want to go," she says. That said, the bronze in Krakow changes the starting point from which she will face the future: it is no longer just a matter of believing she can compete with the best, but of having proved it on the sport's biggest stage. "Now I have an ADCC medal and I have shown that I can beat anyone on that stage," she concludes.
