Ranking the 10 best BJJ fighters in UFC history

highlight

• BJJ at UFC: A must-see for grappling fans, show off your BJJ skills in real-life submission combat.
• BJJ Legends: Frank Mir, BJ Penn and Jim Miller show how Brazilian Jiu Jitsu revolutionized the UFC fight.
• Rising Stars: Oliveira and Vieira bring their dynamic BJJ skills to the Octagon. They are the next generation of grapplers to watch.

UFC is the world's premier mixed martial arts organization, and an important part of mixed martial arts is the competition and sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or BJJ for short.

BJJ was developed in 1925 by the Gracie brothers after they were taught Japanese Jiu-Jitsu by a man named Maeda Mitsuyo. BJJ was designed to allow smaller people to use leverage, weight distribution, holds and submissions to control larger, stronger opponents, and has developed into a beautiful sport that has spread all over the world.

UFC has fighters who practice the highest level of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and demonstrate their skills in real combat in front of the world. Who are the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighters in UFC history? Let's take a look at the list of the highest ranked Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners and fighters with the most successful submissions in UFC history.

Ten Frank Mir brings Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the heavyweight division

The heavyweight submission king reigns supreme among the big men

Mir holds the most submission victories in UFC heavyweight history with eight, and he excelled at drawing the guard at heavyweight and changing the course of a fight, something no one before or since Mir has been able to do.

Mir is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and won the gold medal in the 2001 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in the 100kg+ blue belt division. His specialty appears to be trapping his opponents in his guard, using leg lock attacks and armbars as his primary submission attacks.

9 BJ Penn: UFC Legend

“The Genius” Uses His Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Skills to Win Four Divisions

Penn is a 5th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a UFC Hall of Famer who remains heavily involved in the community in retirement, earning two Submission of the Night bonuses during his UFC career and unifying the UFC lightweight title, defending it three times.

He is 5 feet 9 inches tall and is a perfect example of the effectiveness of BJJ in combat sports, having fought in the UFC from 145 pounds to 185 pounds, where he was able to control and defend himself against world-class fighters who were sometimes over 30 pounds heavier than him.

8 Jim Miller continues to compete at a high level in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in his 40s

Most wins in UFC history, credited to Jiu-Jitsu

Miller is an outlier on this list, filled with more traditional BJJ practitioners, as he grew up as a collegiate wrestler, and through wrestling he developed a highly aggressive, aggressive style of BJJ that would see him become a future UFC Hall of Famer, racking up numerous submission wins.

Miller has never competed in a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, but he has the second-most successful submissions in UFC history. For nearly two decades, he has used his grappling skills to defeat top fighters and make big money. He has attempted 48 submissions, the most in UFC history, and earned 15 performance bonuses.

7 Rodolfo Vieira is arguably the best pure BJJ fighter in UFC history.

But he has yet to prove it in the Octagon.

Vieira could be number one on this list in the future. He currently has one of the most decorated résumés in UFC BJJ, with an ADCC gold medal and countless other gold medals in other major tournaments. He also competes in the UFC middleweight division, where there are plenty of opportunities for someone of his caliber.

He uses his incredible top pressure and wrestling to overpower his opponents on the ground, already earning four arm triangle submissions in his short UFC career.

6 Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, from ADCC champion to MMA world champion

The most feared grappler in mixed martial arts for many years

Souza earned his 4th degree black belt under the tutelage of Enrique Machado and will be inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame in 2024. His legacy in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world was established long before his UFC career and he will be a major contributor to the growth of the sport for years to come.

“Jacare” means crocodile in English and was named so due to his tight and powerful grip. After winning two ADCC World Titles and countless other major tournaments, Souza made a smooth transition to MMA, winning the Strikeforce World Championship. Unfortunately, his UFC career began after he was past his athletic prime and he was never able to reach championship level.

Five The Nate Diaz Corps is led by the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Foundation

From Street Fighting to BJJ

It all started in a rough neighborhood in Stockton, California, where Nate Diaz wanted to follow in his brother Nick's footsteps and start training in martial arts. The tall, tough street fighter has developed into one of the most dangerous submission artists in UFC history, all while maintaining his own unique style.

Looking back at some of his greatest finishes in the UFC, you can see the West Coast culture he infused into his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills, and while he preferred stand-up combat in the octagon, his third-degree black belt under the great Cesar Gracie is apparent in everything he does in combat sports, and even boxing.

Four Fabricio Werdum: UFC Heavyweight BJJ GOAT

The only ADCC and UFC Hall of Fame candidate

Werdum has a legendary martial arts career even without looking at his MMA resume. He is a 2nd degree black belt and has competed in the ADCC World Championships six times, winning two of them. He is one of the few people to have a legendary grappling and MMA career at the same time, making him truly a one of a kind athlete in the world of martial arts.

Within a year, Werdum had won the 2009 ADCC World Championship, then scored an upset of the year and submission of the year against the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce, before moving on to the UFC where he was both interim and unified heavyweight champion.

3 Demian Maia strikes fear into the hearts of his opponents with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

No grappler had ever been ducked as hard as Maia in his prime.

Maia is a 5th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a former ADCC champion. He brought his traditional training to the UFC and quickly found great success. As he got older and got more involved in mixed martial arts, fighters at the top of the rankings started to lose interest in him. He went on to compete for the UFC welterweight title but lost to Tyron Woodley at UFC 214.

His ability to effortlessly transition from submission to submission is second to none and he will make his opponents hell in the Octagon.

2 Charles Oliveira is the most dynamic Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master of all time

Fan favorite uses basic techniques to thrill millions

If any of you are new to UFC, you know who Charles Oliveira is. After many low points in his long UFC career, he has grown before the eyes of his fans to become one of the most exciting champions in the sport's rich history.

Oliveira is the UFC submission king with 16 career submission victories and a 12-1 record with eight submissions against some of the best in the UFC lightweight division, including submissions in his UFC title defenses.

1 Royce Gracie is always the greatest of all time

He went beyond the boundaries of sports with his judo uniform.

MMA fans may remember the iconic image of a young man wearing what many thought was a karate uniform, who stunned everyone in 1993 by effortlessly winning the UFC 1 tournament.

He continued the evolution of mixed martial arts by showing the world that a small guy who didn't know how to throw a punch could beat bigger, tougher guys. He was a pioneer of the UFC and will be celebrated long after he's gone.