This is often a question asked and is interesting to look into. Here, we have picked the top 20 UFC fighters in history who excel at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There are a few things to note before reading. Firstly, these fighters are based on their record in UFC, so we won’t be including fighters who fought in the likes of Strikeforce or PRIDE. Secondly, we shall also be looking at their previous experience in BJJ before joining MMA.
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1. Royce Gracie
Simply put, without this man Brazilian Jiu Jitsu would look vastly different and he changed both the landscape of BJJ and MMA forever. Royce was the first ever UFC 1 Champion and won all of his 11 UFC victories by submission, even using his gi when it was legal at the time. His last fight in the promotion was a 36 minute draw with Ken Shamrock who was also known as a submission specialist at the time. This meant he retired from the UFC with an unbeaten record. He also fought significantly large opponents such as Kimo Leopoldo which proved his grappling ability was truly top class.
2. Charles Oliveira
Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira holds the most ever submission victories in the UFC. For that record alone, he’s clearly special when it comes to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and tapping his opponents. Life wasn’t always easy for Oliveira in the UFC and for the first few years he had a bunch of mixed results. From 2018 onwards, something changed and he began to dominate. A specialist in anaconda and guillotine chokes, Oliveira won the UFC Lightweight Champion belt in 2021.
3. Fabricio Werdum
Fabricio Werdum is probably the best to ever transition from competition BJJ to the UFC. Before fighting, he won prestigious competitions such as IBJJF Worlds and ADCC and proved he could win in both gi and nogi. Then he moved to MMA and eventually became the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Along the way, he beat the likes of Alexander Gustafsson, Antonio Nogueira, and Cain Velasquez by submission. His impressive roster of wins also included a triangle choke victory against the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce. Say no more.
4. BJ Penn
To modern day MMA fans, BJ Penn’s name may hold less significance. However, back in his prime he was incredible and was known as that guy when it can to BJJ in MMA. That is, before his career went backwards from 2010 onwards, he had an impressive record and often used BJJ to win in the cage. This resulted in Penn winning the Lightweight Championship by using his signature rear naked choke submission. Like Werdum, he also had a gold at IBJJF Worlds and had the staggering achievement of earning his black belt in little over 3 years which is unheard of.
5. Demian Maia
Another ADCC gold medalist, Demian Maia was unsurprisingly another submission specialist who was known for a brilliant rear naked choke. His squeeze was once so tight, that he literally drew blood from the nose of Rick Story who tapped out shortly after. Although Maia was involved in two title matches in his UFC career, sadly he didn’t win either and was always so close to winning a belt yet just couldn’t quite do it. Nonetheless, his grappling skills are still lauded and his style was a joy to watch.
6. Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza
Whilst Jacare is known for his impressive MMA career, many BJJ purists wanted to see him remain on the competition scene, where he won practically everything before making the switch to MMA. In his short time as a competitive black belt, he won both World and ADCC titles which proved he could grapple. Whilst in the UFC, his career was similar to Maia, meaning that he was very much a ‘nearly man’ who almost tasted glory but didn’t quite. After a disappointing 4 loss fight streak he eventually retired in his 40’s. Frustratingly for BJJ fans, his competition career will always remain a case of what could have been.
7. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Widely regarded as the GOAT, Khabib used his grappling to great effect and retired from MMA with a perfect 29-0 record. His inclusion on this list can be considered controversial as he once wore a T-shirt saying “If Sambo was easy, it would be called Jiu Jitsu” during a weigh in. With this said, he mostly considered himself as a wrestler and Sambo expert. Still, with multiple submission victories and a surprisingly effective guard game off his back, it would be unfair to not include Khabib Nurmagomedov.
8. Rodolfo Vieira
Another Brazilian who won gold at ADCC and IBJJF Worlds, Rodolfo Vieira wasted no time in the UFC, winning his first three wins in the promotion by submission. Ironically though, his first loss was by submission which was strange to see. Nonetheless, his solid ground game showed that even if you’re good in the gi, it can still translate into MMA and nogi grappling.
9. Gunnar Nelson
Gunnar Nelson is one of the few Europeans on this list, but boy could he grapple…Nelsons style was incredibly tough to fight against and he’d worn you down to takedowns and dogged cardio. Once on the floor, Nelson was in control and would often slowly, but surely work his way into a submission or a ground and pound position. Although Nelson never went on to win a belt, he did win various performances of the night awards and also won a few golds in competitive BJJ whilst still doing MMA professionally.
10. Joe Lauzon
During his time in the UFC, Lauzon never managed to win a belt. However, he did make history, leaving the UFC with the most ever submission of the night awards which is quite something. Lauzon wasn’t a one trick pony or specialist either. Often, he could tap people with various techniques which meant his BJJ game was incredibly versatile.
11. Mackenzie Dern
During her 20s, Dern racked up practically every medal possible on the competitive BJJ scene and could have had a comfortable career and lifestyle on the competition circuit. However, she entered the UFC after a few MMA wins elsewhere. During her time in the promotion, Dern showed off her grappling skills and won various performance of the night bonuses. In one match against Hannah Cifers, she scored a slick transition between an armbar to kneebar to submit her opponent.
12. Bas Rutten
This entry is a little different, as Bas only fought twice in the UFC which was towards the end of his career. In his second bout, he beat Kevin Randleman on a split decision to win the UFC Heavyweight belt before leaving the organization. A UFC Hall Of Fame award followed after retirement, and he left the MMA game with an impressive 28-4 record, with most of his fights taking place in Japan. An impressive 14 of these victories came by submission.
13. Ryan Hall
Ryan Hall may have entered the MMA game later on in life, but he certainly left his mark on the UFC. Whilst fighting, he would often sit to guard and try Imanari rolls to enter leg locks against his opponents. As a result, he earned the reputation as a strange but tricky, unorthodox opponent. Often this worked, but against the likes of Ilia Topuria, his strategy failed and resulted in a knockout loss. Nonetheless, he proved that unusual strategies could still work in modern-day MMA and that heel hooks were still as relevant as ever.
14. Tony Ferguson
A highly well-rounded fighter, Tony Ferguson combined slick BJJ with harsh Muay Thai strikes to down his opponents. A 10th Planet black belt under Eddie Bravo, Ferguson was one of few fighters to prove that the Rubber Guard was applicable in MMA at the highest level. In one fight, he beat Kevin Lee from this position by transitioning into a triangle. This won him the UFC interim Lightweight belt but sadly for Ferguson, his dominant UFC run ended a couple of fights later.
15. Frank Mir
Frank Mir is probably one of the best BJJ experts in UFC history at the Heavyweight level, and won the belt after a successful run in 2009. During his time, he proved that BJJ could be a great plan B, in a famous bout where he was getting mauled by Brock Lesnar, before eventually snatching a kneebar submission. Other noticeable bouts included a Kimura against Anotonio Nogueira where he broke his elbow, and pioneering the ‘Mir lock‘ against Pete Williams.
16. Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz once held the record for the most submissions in the UFC Lightweight division and famously used his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to choke out Conor McGregor at UFC 196. This was one of the biggest UFC fights ever and helped renew the publics’ interest in BJJ. A fun fact is that Diaz also beat Ryan Hall in a gi competition whilst they were both at purple belt. This proves that the Diaz brothers could both grapple and were legit in terms of BJJ skills.
17. Gilbert Burns
Gilbert Burns was another name that started off in competitive BJJ but later switched over to MMA. Interestingly, in his MMA career before the UFC, he earned multiple submission victories. However, after debuting in the UFC, he only scored 3 submissions with most of his wins coming by decision. Nonetheless, if Burns put you down, the likelihood is that he would win the fight. With this said, he was feared and well known for his BJJ.
18. Rousimar Palhares
This man is probably the only person in UFC history to get released for holding onto a submission after the ref had stopped the fight. Although Palhares was a stocky build, he was best known for his heel hook submissions…and sadly for ripping them on and holding them too. This earned him a boogeyman reputation and led to his eventual release. Still, he showed that leg locks worked and left the UFC with a respectable 7-2 record.
19. Alexey Oleynik
Perhaps one of the UFC most underrated grapplers, Oleynik was a journeyman fighter when he arrived at the promotion. However, since joining almost all of his wins were by submission and he really was a joy to watch. Famously, Oleynik made history by doing the first ever ezekiel choke inside of his bottom mount. Here, he intentionally fell into the position with his arms locked, and got the submission. In terms of strange submissions, Oleynik was one of the most exciting grapplers ever.
20. Ovince Saint Preux
If you know your UFC history, then you’ll know about OSP. This guy holds the record for the most Von Flue chokes and made them look easy. This isn’t a particularly easy submission to pull off and Saint Preux scored four during his time in the promotion. For this alone, he’s worth talking about as he bought something different to MMA and shined a light on a relatively obscure technique.
Special mentions (BJJ experts outside of UFC):
Shinya Aoki – The veteran Japanese grappler was a real showman and used unusual submissions such as gogoplata’s and keylocks to win his matches.
Roger Gracie – Although he lost his one UFC match, he also won the ONE Championship with most of his wins coming by submission.
Kazushi Sakuraba – Whilst technically he excelled in Catch Wrestling, he didn’t earn the name ‘Gracie Hunter’ for nothing. A PRIDE legend, Saukuraba is one of the most entertaining fighters ever.
Garry Tonon – Another exciting grappler, the American switched from competitive nogi BJJ to MMA and showed his worth at ONE.
