As far as talk of UFC history is concerned, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) was the spark that started it all, with the unassuming and normal-sized Royce Gracie neutralizing his opponents on the ground en route to the titles in UFC I, II and IV.
Since then, BJJ has been an integral weapon in the fighting arsenal of each and every serious MMA athlete—though some have had it longer and sharper than others.
But when Rickson Gracie talks and seemingly sounds the death knell of his very own family’s martial art in its role in MMA, lesser mortals can’t help but listen. With all due respect to BJJ’s most feared grappler and legendary MMA warrior, we try to perceive the “truths” in his gospel.
Herein are his words from the interview with Marcelo Alonso of Sherdog.com
Sherdog.com: Do you believe jiu-jitsu fighters are having trouble getting the fight on the ground in today’s MMA?
Gracie: I see it as a new race of fighter developing, something that’s been invented. There are no more style matchups. Now, everyone knows everything. It’s about the strengths of the individual. The time of fights was shortened, the weights were equalized and technology was incorporated into training. There is no more romanticism in seeing a smaller guy fight a bigger guy for two hours. Thinking of that, I believe jiu-jitsu has lost the capacity to be put into practice in today’s MMA, because it’s an art you have to wait for the right moment with. Now, MMA is a sport for the better-prepared fighter, the guy who can absorb more punches and still win. There’s still an admiration for the art by those who practice it, but there’s a decline in how it’s working in MMA.
The gist of Gracie’s statement is this: “The time of fights was shortened…I believe [Brazilian] jiu-jitsu has lost the capacity…in today’s MMA, because you have to wait for the right moment with.”
What he expresses is part truth, and part nostalgia for an era not so long ago.
It’s true, gone are the days when a BJJ-based fighter had the luxury of an eternity to set up and finally sink in a fight-winning submission. Currently, in the UFC, a fighter only has three or five, five minute rounds to hopefully finish an opponent, by submission hold or otherwise.
Still, victories via submission hold still happen inside the Octagon in spite of the five-minute-per-round restriction, albeit with a lesser frequency.
Let’s now take a look at the last 10 fights of each of our seven current UFC champions to see when and where the ultimate goal of BJJ, which is none other than a tap out by submission hold, determined the final outcome.