Inside Dante Leon's Hunt For ADCC Gold | Road to ADCC (Ep 5)
Go inside Dante's final preparations as he sharpens every detail for the opportunity to capture gold on submission grappling's biggest stage.
Video Transcript
For years, Dante Leon has tested himself against the best grapplers in the world, building a reputation as one of the sport's most dangerous and battle-tested competitors.
But at ADCC, being one of the best isn't enough.
Every match can define a career, and only one grappler leaves with gold.
Now, with the world championship closing in, Dante is pushing through the final stages of preparation with one goal in mind, finishing the job.
The work is almost over.
The biggest test is just ahead.
This is Dante Leon's Road to ADCC.
The guys are gonna do that stuff on the TV, then I'm gonna do something a little bit different.
So I'm gonna do belt squat, dumbbell presses.
I'll have to look at my phone, 'cause mine's on my phone.
The guys are up on the TV.
Basically, whatever they do, I'm doing at, like, half volume.
My name's Tom Barry.
I'm the head strength coach here of Westside Barbell in Columbus, Ohio.
Dante's came in here at the end of 2021, and before that, he was working with Burleigh remotely, and he was the first jujitsu guy we've had full time.
And then after that, it just grew to where now we're 70% jujitsu athletes, which has been a, a good change-up, and the system fits in perfectly with how we train, and that's why we put a pit in.
Did everything trying to promote and, produce some of the strongest grapplers in the world.
Two, one.
So right now, Dante's, gist training is going up, so our weight training is gonna be a little more condensed to give him more energy for that.
So we did a quick upper and lower dynamic effort.
We reduced the compound movements to the belt squat.
So rather than doing, barbell-based movements, we did a lot of dumbbell and machine-based.
We knocked it out in 17 minutes to keep it nice and condensed, mixing upper and lower.
So he gets a, a good push, but it's nothing too taxing that takes away from the jujitsu, which up to about a week ago, we've been pushing hard.
Our volume's been, hard.
We're lifting, max effort weights.
But coming towards competition, we gotta taper that down, so it gives him a lot more access for skill acquisition, skill development for jujitsu.
'Cause if both of them rise at the same time, that's how burnout happens, and that's how a week before an event you feel great and then you pitter down.
So we try to monitor the volume based on feedback.
So Westside Barbell comes from Louie Simmons and his powerlifting athletes, which produced over 150 world records.
So we took those principles and that cultural values into the jits team, and we're trying to make our athletes not strong like powerlifters, but the strongest grapplers on the mat, so that way the first minute and the last minute are the exact same strength level of endurance.
We use principles of maximum effort, so lifting heavy weights, dynamic effort, lifting weights fast.
And then as you can see, we'll do upper and body, upper and lower body in the same workout.
That way it simulates a little bit more to what grappling is compared to the traditional powerlifting aspect.
And then we constantly, every week, we talk to the athletes.
We refine the program based on if their jits is going up, weight has to come down a little bit.
So we're constantly adjusting volume, and it's producing tremendous results, with Dante being the pinnacle of that, being a professional inside and outside of here.
Lift was good.
Like I said, the volume and things are adjusted compared to, like, what the other guys are doing just so I can get more work in, jujitsu-wise.
So right now doing a short session before the noon, and, noon'll be, like, a longer, harder session.
This one'll be pretty, pretty light.
Get some drills in, like of things I've been working on.
Maybe a couple specific rounds, like single leg stuff or starting standing, rear body lock, things like that.
This session'll be like a regular training session.
It won't be, like, too light, but it'll definitely be something that will be shorter so that we can kinda get in, get out, and then, get recovered for the 12:00 PM session.
To talk about Dante Leon's history at the ADCC World Championships, you have to start with the 2019 ADCC Worlds in Anaheim, California.
You might picture Lachlan Giles shocking the absolute division, Gordon Ryan's dominance, or Nicky Rod's explosion onto the scene.
But for one young grappler from Canada, a late replacement phone call gave him the opportunity to test himself against the sport's elite.
Yeah, so when I first got to ADCC, I was basically, like, a late invite because there was a injury in my bracket.
Eight weeks before, I didn't even think that I was gonna be in the event, and then got the call and I was in, right?
Dante Leon would find himself up against John Satava in the opening round, where he was able to take the back and secure three points for the victory.
There it is.
There it is.
3-0 win for Dante Leon from Canada.
No.
In the quarterfinals, Dante found himself up against a legend of the sport in Lucas Lepri.
After hunting the back again and securing the points, Dante was able to get the win over Lepri and proved that he belonged with the best.
Dante would end up with a fourth place finish, but also with valuable lessons learned on what it takes to win at ADCC.
Over the years, I've had to, like, develop and really focus on the rule set and the scoring system to be able to become a better ADCC athlete, and to be at where I am today.
But in the beginning, I think I've always kinda had the skill set and from the developmental training over the years that I've, I always made a pretty solid ADCC athlete.
Fast forward to 2022 and the greatest grapplers in the world convene again in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But this time, Dante Leon brings ADCC Worlds experience with him.
In the first round, Dante secured a decisive submission victory over Majid Hage.
In the second round, he fought the Polish boogeyman, Mateusz Cieszyski, in a tight match but did enough to win a referee's decision.
In the semifinals, Dante found himself up against a familiar foe in Mica Galvo, an athlete that many people fear, but Dante Leon doesn't waver so easily.
In a true display of two of the sport's best going toe-to-toe, Dante and Mica traded exchanges back and forth, neither athlete willing to budge an inch.
Once the match entered the points period, Mica Galvo grabbed a snatch single and kicked off an impressive scramble that looked like either athlete could seize an advantage at any second.
But once the dust settled, Dante found himself in bottom closed guard.
And because of the initiation, it was Mica who secured the two points.
Dante, down two, down two.
Eventually, Dante found himself back standing, and this time he initiated an attack of his own.
A double leg from Dante created a new scramble that eventually found Dante on top and was awarded two points.
We got the points.
They do give him the two.
He gets the two.
Dante gets the points.
Let's go, baby.
Let's go.
But this is where things get tricky.
After some time had passed and a closer look at the exchange, the referees decided to take back the points, and Dante was left without enough time to put the points back on the board, giving Mica the victory.
They're giving a warning.
Let me see if that was a point.
Oh, no, they pulled two back from Leon.
Well, they pulled Leon's two points back.
All right, so they pulled Leon's two points- Whoa back off the screen.
I'm not sure what happened.
And they did it at the last second.
Yeah, they did.
So Leon was playing that match right there like it was two to two.
Yeah, they took that off the board, and it is not a go, and it's gonna be Mica Galvo.
Oh, wow.
Your winner, two to nothing.
Mica Galvo.
You wait until there's only 10 seconds left and take the points off, things change before that.
You know what I mean?
The match with Mica.
Came in, Mica shot off the back and Dante went for a guillotine.
It was really tight.
Mica escaped and, ended up getting two points.
Dante comes back up to the feet in the last few minutes of the match.
He shoots on Mica, takes Mica down.
Mica turtles, then realizes Dante's gonna get on his back.
Goes back to his back there.
He scores two, so now it's two to two.
After about one minute, maybe more, goes by, they retract the two and take it off the clock with about 10 seconds left.
So we're not exactly sure why they took the two back, but it is what it is.
Just focus.
Let's not worry about it yet.
Talk about it another time.
The strategy was good.
Everything was fucking good, man.
Everything was fucking good, bro.
Everything was there, bro.
Everything, everything was there for that fight.
Being the professional that he is, Dante was able to put the controversial loss aside, regain his focus, and submit PJ Barch to earn an ADCC bronze medal in the third place match.
In 2024, Dante Leon returned to Las Vegas for another attempt at the ADCC gold he had been chasing for years.
Unfortunately, Dante would face disappointment early in his weight class.
I learned a lesson the hard way at the last ADCC, coming in thinking I was, one of the favorites of the division and was not as, focused, sharp, and dialed in as I should've been in my weight class, and it, it costs you.
You know what I mean?
Everybody that's there is there to win.
Everybody that's there is very tough.
After falling short to Elijah Dorsey in the opening round, Dante Leon dusted himself off and prepared for the absolute.
Dante would end up taking third in the absolute with a submission victory over Mica Galvo along the way.
While taking bronze in the absolute might soften the blow, it is still not the gold Dante has been chasing, so the work is not finished yet.
So I'm Vitor Oliveira.
We are at Running, Running Training Center, Columbus, Ohio.
On Tuesdays, I try to push a little bit more the pace.
You do a lot of situationals.
Today, you're doing more live rolls, but usually we skip, like, a, the positional part and focus on the situational.
We do a lot of back or mount, like, bad positions most of the time.
We're doing some, like, live rounds.
People in the middle, the, called, they're like the bases, just the people on the bottom.
And if they tap somebody, then, that person comes out.
And then if the top person taps them, then they become the base, and then another person goes in and trains with them.
And then the bases are in for two rounds.
I think the rounds are four or five minutes.
So just a way to kinda, like, cycle through as many as possible and just try and submit people as quickly as you can.
ADCC is really like the Olympics of our sport because it is, it has, international trials all acro- across the globe.
It has athletes from all across the globe, and it's been that way since the late '90s when it was first, introduced as a, as an event.
It's truly an international event.
It's truly like our Olympics.
And, the rule set and the intensity of the matches is really like nothing else that we have.
It's just very rarefied air to be able to say that you're an ADCC champion.
You know what I mean?
That's really the thing.
You know, you could win four or five world titles.
It makes you incredible.
It puts you in the hall of fame, yes.
But ADCC is, like, still special and still holds As much or more weight in a sense than all those other titles put together.
Whoa.
How do you think Dante's gonna do at ADCC this year?
Well, like, he's a veteran, you know?
Like he- he, I'm pretty sure he's bringing the gold medal this year.
He like, he's chan- he's chance is great.
You know, he trained hard, like decades like this, and always, like, put in the work, you know?
I never saw people train and like dedicated like him.
I have to expect that everybody is coming to win, so I can't really expect anything of myself.
I just have to expect that this is gonna be a very, very tough tournament.
Each match is gonna be tough, and I'm gonna fight to win.
And, if I, if I do my job and if I do what I'm supposed to do and I execute the plan, I'll, I'll win.
But, you know, there's a, there's a lot to be done before that, and there's a lot to be done in each one of those matches to, make that come true.
Two's back.
Not a high cross, deep single.
Whoa.
Nice.
Cowcatcher.
Pancake.
Yikes.
That's all for today.
Okay?
Thanks for coming.
I'll see you guys next Tuesday.
If you went to Poland this year and you walked away from Krakow as the 77 kilogram ADCC World Champion, what would that mean to you?
That would be incredible.
I wrote in my eighth grade, yearbook, like what my goal was when I got out of school or what my goal was when I was done with, school or what was like kinda one of my grand goals, and I said, "To win ADCC."
That's all I put, and it's still in my, eighth grade, graduation or eighth grade yearbook, you know?
And nobody knew about what it meant at the time, and it's had a huge impact on my life seeing ADCC and watching ADCC, and it's been like a grand goal of mine since I was, you know, 13, 14 years old.
On September 12th and 13th, the ADCC World Championship comes to Krakow, Poland, and Dante Leon will have another chance to realize his childhood dreams of becoming an ADCC World Champion.
History will be made and champions will be crowned.
Tune in live only on FloGrappling.
