2026 ADCC Youth World Championships
Two years after becoming an inaugural ADCC Youth champion, Bailey came back to Worlds as the returning champion—and one of ADCC's first early invitees for 2026.
- August 9, 2026
- Austin, Texas
- ADCC
2024 → 2026
The belt was two years old. The work in between wasn't.
In 2024, Bailey was 10 years old when she won the inaugural ADCC Youth Championship in Las Vegas.
Then the celebration ended and the work started again. Two years of training, competing, growing and preparing followed before there was another ADCC Youth World Championship to come back to.
By 2026, she was no longer the kid trying to win her first ADCC world title. She was the returning champion.
Before Austin
She was already in.
ADCC announced Bailey in its first group of early invitees for the 2026 Youth World Championship.
The early invitation confirmed Bailey's place in the championship before the remaining qualification process was complete. It secured her place in the field—not a result once the matches began.
Austin, Texas · August 9, 2026
Back at Worlds.
Two years after Las Vegas, the next ADCC Youth World Championship finally arrived.
Luedecke Arena · Travis County Exposition Center
The title still had to be won again.
Bailey stepped on the scale at 38.4 kg. The first job was the Girls 11–12 40 kg bracket. Returning champion or not, every bracket starts at zero.
Venue photograph: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
40 kg · Semifinal
The return started here.
Opponent · Alexandria Kanis
Alexandria Kanis was the first person between Bailey and another ADCC world final.
One match. No protection from what happened in 2024.
1:33
Submission
40 kg · World Championship Final
The hardest opponent to make feel like an opponent.
Opponent · Sahara Wells
Sahara Wells was not a stranger across the mat. She was Bailey's best friend and AOJ teammate.
For five minutes, friendship had to make room for competition. When time expired, Bailey had the 3–0 win—and a world championship again.
5:00
Points · 3–0
Two years later
World Champion. Again.
Girls 11–12 · 40 kg · 3–0 in the final
This could have been the ending
She had already done what she came back to do.
Bailey had returned to ADCC Worlds and won her division. She could leave Austin as a two-time ADCC Youth world champion.
But the first-ever Girls 11–12 Absolute championship was still open.
Choose the harder path
Enter again.
38.4 kg · Inaugural Girls 11–12 Absolute
Austin · Second championship
A new tournament started inside the same day.
World champion in the morning. Back at the edge of another bracket before the day was over.
Absolute · Semifinal
The second run began fast.
Opponent · Yasmin Campanha
A submission in 1:56 put Bailey into the first Girls 11–12 Absolute final in ADCC Youth World Championship history.
1:56
Submission
Before the last match
One match between Bailey and history.
The 40 kg title was already hers. This final was for something that had never existed before: the first Girls 11–12 ADCC Youth Absolute championship.
Absolute · Inaugural Final
One more match. One title no one had ever won.
Opponent · Cali Grounds
Cali Grounds stood across from Bailey in the final.
At 4:47, the match ended by submission. The second championship of the day was hers.
4:47
Submission
The inaugural champion
Absolute Champion.
Girls 11–12 · Submission · 4:47
Austin · August 9, 2026
Four matches. Two titles.
Three submissions. The 40 kg world championship. The inaugural Absolute championship. A two-year return to Worlds that ended farther than it began.
After the tournament
The people around the day.
After the final, Bailey and Icaro Moreno stood together with the championship belts and medals from the day.
The day around the result
The parts the bracket can't hold.
Coaches. Teammates. Waiting. Friendship. Celebration. The people and small moments around two championships in Austin.
Swipe to keep looking · Tap a photo to enlarge
2024 → 2026
She came back to defend a world title. She left Austin with two.
Verified competition record
The canonical factual record beneath Bailey's lived event story: official results, opponents, match outcomes, historical context and source evidence.
2026 ADCC Youth World Championships
- Athlete
- Bailey Heinsohn
- Event
- 2026 ADCC Youth World Championships
- Date
- August 9, 2026
- Venue
- Luedecke Arena, Travis County Exposition Center
- Location
- Austin, Texas
- Sport
- Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)
- Discipline
- No-Gi / Submission Grappling
- Organization
- ADCC
- Athlete age
- 12
- Actual event weigh-in
- 38.4 kg
- Age division
- Girls 11–12
- Academy
- Art of Jiu Jitsu (AOJ)
- Girls 11–12 · 40 kg result
- Gold / Champion
- Girls 11–12 · Absolute result
- Gold / Champion
Official division
Girls 11–12 · 40 kg
No-Gi · Gold / Champion · Weigh-in 38.4 kg
Bailey Heinsohn won the Girls 11–12 40 kg division at the 2026 ADCC Youth World Championships.
Bailey weighed in at 38.4 kg for the event.
Semifinal — Bailey Heinsohn vs. Alexandria Kanis. Bailey Heinsohn defeated Alexandria Kanis by submission in 1:33.
Final — Bailey Heinsohn vs. Sahara Wells. Bailey Heinsohn defeated Sahara Wells by points, 3–0, in 5:00 to win the Girls 11–12 40 kg gold medal.
Official division
Girls 11–12 · Absolute
No-Gi · Gold / Champion
Bailey Heinsohn entered the Girls 11–12 Absolute division after winning the 40 kg division.
Bailey weighed in at 38.4 kg for the event. The other three athletes in the Absolute bracket came from the Girls 11–12 44 kg division.
Semifinal — Bailey Heinsohn vs. Yasmin Campanha. Bailey Heinsohn defeated Yasmin Campanha by submission in 1:56.
Final — Bailey Heinsohn vs. Cali Grounds. Bailey Heinsohn defeated Cali Grounds by submission in 4:47 to win the inaugural Girls 11–12 Absolute championship.
Context & Significance
The Girls 11–12 Absolute championship was contested for the first time at this event; Bailey Heinsohn is its inaugural champion.
Bailey weighed in at 38.4 kg in the 40 kg division. The other three athletes in the Absolute bracket competed in the 44 kg division.
Choose the Harder Path
Winning the 40 kg division could have ended Bailey's competition. Instead, she entered the Absolute division.
Bailey had weighed in at 38.4 kg, and the other three athletes in the Absolute bracket competed in the 44 kg division. She chose the additional challenge and won the Absolute championship.
Historical Context
Bailey entered the 2026 championship as a returning ADCC Youth World Champion after winning her division at the 2024 championship.
Qualification & Early Invite
Bailey was part of the first group of athletes ADCC announced as early invitees for the 2026 Youth World Championship.
The early invitation confirmed Bailey's place in the championship before the remaining qualification process was complete. It should not be read as though a single qualification metric represented the entire pathway to the championship.
Primary verification
Sources
Used only as evidence for the 2024 returning-champion context, not for the 2026 result.
ADCC's first early-invite announcement lists Bailey Cerda Heinsohn in the Girls 11–12 group.
ADCC's published Youth qualification FAQ documents the championship qualification process and early-invite pathway.
Historical relationships