BJJ in the Early UFC Era

When the Ultimate Fighting Championship launched in 1993, most fighters represented striking arts like boxing, karate, or kickboxing. Royce Gracie’s dominance in the first tournaments shocked the martial arts world. Using Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he defeated much larger and stronger opponents through submissions and positional control, often without throwing a single punch.

These early victories proved that BJJ was not just effective, but often decisive in real fights. The UFC became a global showcase for the art, sparking an explosion of interest in BJJ schools across North America and eventually the world.