If you’ve followed the UFC story then you’ll be aware of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu’s early dominance in MMA. Here, it was clearly the best fighting style in the early days. This was seen in UFC 1 with the first-ever champion Royce Gracie defeating his opponents with chokes, whilst wearing the gi. After UFC 1, Royce dominated several other early UFC events.
Meanwhile, over in Japan in PRIDE, his brother Rickson also dominated and retired from MMA with a perfect 11-0 record. Literally all of his eleven wins came by submission. Even fighters at the time who didn’t represent BJJ directly such as Ken Shamrock still used submissions to great success.
In brief, if you knew how to submit a man then you had a great chance of winning. MMA legend Bas Rutten even admitted that he began learning submissions after being caught out early on in his career when he relied mostly on his kickboxing. After this, he won 21 fights in a row and retired later on.
If these examples show nothing else, it’s that BJJ was dominant in the UFC and anyone who watched these events would agree. So, why is it that these days BJJ is less successful in the cage, or is this just a myth?
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BJJ faded in MMA but is still relevant
In its earlier years, BJJ had the bonus of being unknown by opponents. This meant that if you knew BJJ you had a huge advantage over other fighters. Even facing defeat, you could still claw out a win by submission. As a result, it took years for other MMA fighters to catch up. Other than the BJJ crowd, the only other styles that possessed submission skills were catch wrestlers who also did well.
As a result, people naturally learnt how to defend against ground attacks much easier. Before this, the logic was if the fight went to ground, the man on top won. Once BJJ arrived, this idea was blown out of the water.
Therefore, earlier on, some people would go to the floor on top and get caught in a triangle choke for instance. These days, people will be more wary and respect BJJ practitioners – this means treating them with more caution.
The growth of wrestling in the UFC
This means that BJJ is still effective in MMA and is still used constantly today. However, by looking at fights these days, most of them end by knockout or decision. This is a far cry away from the earlier days when submissions made up for the bulk of victories.
Perhaps what has taken over is wrestling. Looking at the likes of Khabib, he can be described as a modern fighter – whilst Royce Gracie was a fighter from a previous era. Here, Khabib will wrestle against the cage to earn top position. Once there, he is methodical and will get a submission if he can. However, he will also wait patiently and often win by ground and pound.
The outcome of this is that wrestling is incredibly popular these days and is arguably more common than BJJ. Of course, striking has and always will be relevant in the UFC, but it’s fair to say that BJJ is no longer the king where grappling is concerned. For now at least, that honor is awarded to wrestling.
The UFC rules no longer favor Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
The first UFC had three rules. No eye gouging, biting, or hitting the groin. Literally, anything else was allowed. Interestingly, one of these rules was that its fights ended by submission, knockout or forfeit. Unlike modern day UFC rules, fights could literally last for hours. Back in the Royce Gracie era, he fought Ken Shamrock for 36 minutes before the ref declared it a draw.
So, how does this advantage BJJ? Well, firstly there’s no breaks which mean the rounds don’t reset after a round ends. In other words, these days a lot of fighters will end the round in a bad position. There may be 30 seconds left and their back gets taken or they end up in mount. However, if clever and good enough, they can defend and stall. This means that if you’re a BJJ practitioner who has an advantageous position, it gets reset.
The issue with this is it can take minutes to take someone down, pass them and start looking for a submission. Back in the earlier days before the rule change, this would give the BJJ fighter a bigger advantage and give them more time to work in good positions. Since the rule change, positions have become less effective as a result which makes sense as to why knockouts are more frequent.
Is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu still used in the UFC?
As mentioned, although BJJ isn’t as relevant as it once was, it’s still hugely important. For instance, the likes of UFC champion Charles Oliviera successfully set a record for the most submissions in the UFC. He became champion in 2021 which proves that BJJ still works.
It’s not just Oliveira either, various fighters still use BJJ when fighting. As a general rule when looking at top fighters, most have three elements that are vital. These are striking, BJJ, and wrestling. These days, even if you’re poor at one of these then you will struggle in the UFC. Arguably, this is why BJJ is less is successful today, because it’s defended easier by wrestling.
Conclusion
When it comes to BJJ, it is still highly important for MMA fighters and always will be. Whilst it’s no longer as effective as it once was and other areas have since caught up, it’s still paramount to learn. This means that BJJ is not a joke and should still be taken very seriously.
Nonetheless, since the earlier origins of UFC, fighting has evolved and moved on since then which means people have caught on and now defend against it with better success. This means that BJJ is worth learning, but it shouldn’t be your only form of fighting if you want to make it in the UFC.
Want to learn more about the early days of UFC? Get the first ever UFC 1 event on DVD here.
