Jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and mixed martial arts have traditionally meshed together, ever since Royce Gracie dominated UFC 1 and showcased BJJ to the world. Back in those early days, the UFC athletes did not have the blended skillset of grappling and striking, and there were fewer BJJ black belts in the UFC. Nowadays BJJ is a staple of most UFC fighters’ training curriculum.
To that end, we’ve created a list of the top BJJ fighters to grace the UFC. For an athlete to make the list below, they have to be known to use BJJ techniques to dominate and submit their opponents in the UFC octagon. To avoid an exhaustive list, we have excluded athletes who either: (i) made their name outside the UFC (e.g. Marcus Almeida, Roger Gracie) or (ii) did not maintain their BJJ dominance in the UFC (e.g. Fabricio Werdum).
Here is the list in no particular order.
Demien Maia
Once again, we have a Brazilian MMA and BJJ veteran that had a few strong runs towards the middleweight title in Demian Maia. In some MMA circles, he was known as “the human backpack” because of how easily he got submissions from the back of his opponents. He’s considered as one of the best BJJ fighters in UFC history, with Tapology ranking him as #4 in the ‘Greatest MMA Grappler of All Time’ MMA rankings. His opponent’s best game plan was never to allow him to take the fight to the ground.
He retains a 22-11-0 record in the UFC with 50% of Maia’s UFC wins coming via submission, with notable submission wins over Chael Sonnen (triangle choke), Matt Brown (rear-naked choke), and Carlos Condit (rear-naked choke).
Charles Oliveira
Oliveira is known for his BJJ prowess and for the fact that he’s a third-degree BJJ black belt. He holds the current UFC record for career submissions, cementing his reputation as an elite submission specialist. He has a 22-10-0 record in the UFC with 73% of wins coming via submission, with notable rear-naked choke submissions over Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and Jim Miller.
Earlier in his UFC career, Oliveira has mixed success, including struggling to make division weight limits. However, something “clicked” and he had one of the most dominant runs in the UFC’s lightweight history. The lightweight division is traditionally one of the strongest – if not the strongest – divisions in the UFC, full of extremely talented fighters. This only adds to Charles “Do Bronx” Olivera’s reputation. He may have lost his UFC title to Islam Makhachev, but he still remains a top-5 fighter with a great fight record.
Brian Ortega
Known as T-City, or Triangle City, Brian Ortega is another highly-skilled BJJ competitor in the UFC’s featherweight division. He was very near to grabbing the belt in his fight against Alexander Volkanovski – he caught a guillotine and a triangle in the fight, but Volk used his incredible resilience and didn’t tap.
Brian Ortega comes from the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu academy, where he got his black belt. Rener Gracie is often seen in his corner during fights. As such, Brian Ortega is a legit black belt and a world-class MMA and BJJ practitioner in an era where the higher belts become increasingly diluted. Craig
Nate Diaz
The Stockton native may be known primarily for his unrelenting boxing style and his resilience in the face of pain and heavy damage, but he’s also a renowned BJJ practitioner. He has a 16-11-0 record in the UFC with 63% of wins coming via submission. He is well known for having an incredible guillotine choke and triangle choke.
We all remember his first fight against Conor McGregor where he had his opponent shook after a quick boxing combo. At that point, Conor shot for a double leg and Nate did a well-timed sprawl, managing to strangle McGregor in the process and tap him out. It’s one of the most iconic moments in the entire UFC history, and one that still gives me goosebumps!
Mackenzie Dern
Mackenzie Dern is a well-known name in the female UFC divisions. Her base is in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and, at one point, she was the number-one ranked female BJJ fighter in the world. At the time of writing, she has a solid MMA record of 14 wins and 5 losses. Her last win was via a unanimous decision against Loopy Godinez. She’s known for her prowess in the grappling arts and BJJ, taking her opponents down and dominating them until she gets a submission.
Royce Gracie
No list of the best Jiu-Jitsu fighters in the UFC can ever be complete without mentioning one of the original legends of the sport – Royce Gracie. He first showed his face to the world at the inaugural UFC event, or UFC 1, when he beat his opponents easily with his grappling skills.
Wearing a white gi with a black belt, Royce quickly turned into the face of the UFC, going on to achieve an 11-1-1 record with a 100% submission rate! His performance in the early UFC days can be credited with contributing to the growth of BJJ in the United States, as much of the population had not yet been exposed to the gentle art. Royce Gracie remains a legendary fighter, part of a legendary family of elite BJJ practitioners.
BJ Penn
BJ Penn’s rise in BJJ competition was very fast and explosive. For one, he got his black belt after 3-4 years of training, which is incredibly difficult to do. And he was a legit BJJ black belt, at that – he won gold medals in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2000, becoming the first non-Brazilian to manage this feat.
As far as his UFC career goes, he turned out to be an exceptional grappler and a proficient boxer. He had a great run at the top of the UFC, having first won the welterweight championship against the legendary fighter Matt Hughes via a RNC in the first round. Despite fading in the later years of his career, BJ Penn remains one of the biggest names in the UFC and one of the best BJJ grapplers that the promotion has seen. Check out this highlight reel of prime BJ Penn.
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
In his prime, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza was a feared opponent, a master of BJJ. His nickname stands for “Alligator” in Portuguese, and it’s a well-earned nickname given his style. 65% of the wins during his MMA career have come via a submission. With a 9-7-0 record in the UFC and 44% of his UFC wins coming via submission.
Ronaldo Souza has a decorated grappling record including 1st place in 2004/2005 IBJJF Worlds, and 2005 ADCC Championship. Surprisingly, Jacare was known for his heavy striking later in his career and recorded some memorable knockouts against Chris Weidman and Derek Brunson.
BJJ in the UFC
BJJ remains a staple of MMA grappling curriculum today. These days MMA gyms might call it “MMA grappling” instead of BJJ, but ultimately the techniques are predominantly born from BJJ, wrestling and sambo teachings. The overall quality of today’s UFC athletes sometimes makes it difficult to determine whether they are a BJJ specialists or just extremely well-rounded.
At the time of writing, there are some extremely talented and exciting up-and-coming BJJ practitioners in the UFC. Diego Lopes for example, has an electric mix of striking and BJJ which he is able to implement to finish fights. As the sport continues to grow, and the overall quality of grappling in MMA increases, it will be interesting to see what innovative BJJ techniques these athletes at the highest level start to implement.
