The AJP Tour Asia Continental Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2026 – GI opened on September 4 with a strong showing from home-nation competitors that placed the UAE at the top of the country standings after initial bouts in the gi division. According to the Emirates News Agency, the event at Mubadala Arena features divisions for amateurs, masters, youth and professionals with first-place finishes awarding 1,400 ranking points toward global standings. A WAM assessment found the competition forms a key stop on the AJP calendar that spans multiple continents and aims to broaden participation at the highest technical standards.
More than 2,000 male and female athletes representing 90 countries registered for the championship that continues through September 6, a WAM report distributed via UrduPoint stated. The Emirates News Agency indicated the gathering underscores Abu Dhabi’s established position as a global center for jiu-jitsu and a regular host of elite international tournaments. Organizers sponsored by EDGE Group have scheduled bouts across all categories to provide continuous competitive opportunities for athletes of varying levels.
The UAE’s early command of the standings builds on its recent success at the 2026 Jiu-Jitsu World Championship in Abu Dhabi where the national team secured world titles in both the Adult and Under-21 Newaza divisions, The National reported in August. That event drew more than 1,500 athletes and saw the UAE collect 65 medals including 18 gold according to the newspaper’s coverage of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts Federation. A senior federation official told the publication that such results demonstrate the progress made by Emirati athletes through sustained investment in training programs.
AJP Tour events have grown steadily since the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam series began in 2015 with the explicit goal of developing the sport worldwide, Wikipedia entries on the tour’s history noted. The current continental championship adds to a 2026 calendar that includes parallel events in Seoul, Buenos Aires and other cities on the same weekend, the official AJP website listed. Registration data from the organizing body placed normal fees at $40 for youth categories and $90 for adults with late entries carrying modest surcharges.
Mubadala Arena has hosted multiple prior AJP stops including record editions of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship that once drew 10,000 athletes from more than 130 countries, Gulf Today figures from a previous cycle showed. The Emirates News Agency highlighted that this year’s Asia Continental edition maintains the same organizational benchmarks while focusing on the gi uniform division. Event officials have yet to release full weigh-in and fight schedules though preliminary match lists indicate active competition across weight classes for both genders.
A WAM statement carried by UrduPoint quoted an organizer as saying the scale of participation confirms Abu Dhabi’s global standing in the sport while reflecting the AJP Tour’s strategy to create an ecosystem of events across continents. The official added that the championship provides athletes with opportunities to develop according to the highest standards. Further days of competition are expected to refine the final country and club standings before the event concludes on September 6.
