The UFC is the best promotion in the world for mixed martial arts. An important part of mixed martial arts is the discipline and sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or BJJ for short.

BJJ was developed in 1925 by the Gracie brothers after a man named Mitsuyo Maeda taught them Japanese Jujitsu. It has developed into a beautiful sport that has spread throughout the world, designed for a smaller person to be able to manipulate the larger, stronger person by using leverage and weight distribution, along with holds and submissions to defeat them.

The UFC has fighters who use BJJ at the highest level and showcase the discipline in real hand-to-hand combat in front of the world. Who’s the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter in UFC history? Let’s break down a list of the highest-ranked BJJ practitioners and the most prolific submission artists in the company’s history.

16

Gilbert Burns

The Aggressive Finisher Who Made His Name In BJJ

Burns made a name for himself in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu before transitioning to MMA, where his aggressive grappling has been a crucial part of his success. The former UFC welterweight title challenger has demonstrated his submission prowess inside the Octagon, securing six submission wins, including an armbar victory in his debut. His ability to blend high-level jiu-jitsu with striking makes him a dangerous threat in the welterweight division.

15

Ryan Hall

A Specialist With Unorthodox BJJ Skills

Hall is one of the most unique grapplers to ever step into the UFC. Known for his mastery of the 50/50 guard and leg locks, he has earned multiple submission victories in the promotion. His cerebral approach to jiu-jitsu and ability to capitalize on leg lock opportunities make him a feared specialist in the featherweight division. Despite having a short UFC career, his impact on modern BJJ-influenced MMA is undeniable.

14

Glover Teixeira

A Submission Threat Even Late Into His Career

Teixeira became the UFC light heavyweight champion at the age of 42, proving that his grappling skills remained elite even as he aged. The Brazilian submission artist has consistently showcased his ability to control and finish opponents with his ground game, amassing seven submission victories in the UFC. His signature move, the rear-naked choke, has been instrumental in several of his biggest wins, including his championship victory over Jan Blachowicz.

13

Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira

One Of The Most Skilled Heavyweights On The Ground

A pioneer of heavyweight submission grappling in MMA, Nogueira was a force to be reckoned with in PRIDE and later in the UFC. His legendary ability to absorb punishment and still find a submission has led to some of the most iconic finishes in MMA history. As a former interim UFC heavyweight champion, his legacy is solidified as one of the best BJJ practitioners in MMA, with six submission wins in the UFC and a career filled with incredible grappling displays.

12

Mackenzie Dern

Dern Is A Decorated Female Grappler

Dern is a highly decorated BJJ practitioner and one of the most successful women to bring her grappling skills to MMA. She continues to impress with her submission victories in the UFC’s strawweight division.

11

Rafael dos Anjos

He Is Also A Former UFC Champion

Dos Anjos, a black belt under Aldo ‘Caveirinha’ Januário, utilized his BJJ foundation to secure notable submission wins in the UFC. His grappling skill, combined with striking and wrestling, made him a formidable opponent across multiple weight classes.

10

Frank Mir

The Heavyweight Submission King Reigns Supreme For The Big Men

Mir holds the UFC record for most submission wins in heavyweight division history with 8. He changed the game by being comfortable pulling guard in the heavyweight division; something that pretty much nobody before or since him would do.

Mir is a black belt in BJJ and has a gold medal from the 2001 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in the +100kg blue belt division. His expertise seemed to revolve around having his opponents trapped in his guard and using leg lock attacks and arm bars as his main submission attempts.

9

BJ Penn

“The Prodigy” Used His BJJ Skills To Dominant Across Four Divisions

Penn is a 5th degree black belt in BJJ and UFC Hall of Famer, still embedded in the community during retirement. He won two Submission of the Night bonuses in his UFC career and unified the UFC lightweight title, defending it three times.

He is a perfect example of how well BJJ works in hand-to-hand combat, being only 5’9″ and fighting from 145lbs to 185lbs in the UFC. He was able to control and protect himself from world-class fighters who outweighed him by sometimes 30+ lbs.

8

Jim Miller

UFC All-Time Win Leader, Credit To Jiu-Jitsu

Miller is the odd man out from this list full of more traditional BJJ practitioners because he came up as a collegiate wrestler. He used his wrestling to form a very aggressive, offensive style of BJJ that has led him to be a future UFC Hall of Famer and lock in many submission victories.

Even though Miller has no BJJ World Championships, he has the second most submissions in UFC history. He has beaten elite fighters and made a lot of money doing so for the better part of two decades by using his grappling skills – winning 15 performance bonuses while attempting the most submissions in UFC history with 48.

7

Rodolfo Vieira

But He Hasn’t Proven It Quite Yet In The Octagon

In the future, Vieira could potentially be #1 on this list. He has the most decorated resume in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the UFC today, with an ADCC gold medal and countless other gold medals in other major tournaments. He is also fighting in the middleweight division of the UFC, which has a lot of opportunity for someone as skilled as him.

He uses incredible top pressure and wrestling to dominate his opponents on the ground, already scoring 4 arm-triangle submissions in his short UFC career.

6

Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza

The Most Feared Grappler For Many Years In MMA

Souza is a 4th degree black belt under Henrique Machado and is a 2024 inductee to the ADCC Hall of Fame. His legacy was formed in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community long before he started his UFC career and he will be a massive piece of the growth of the sport for years to come.

‘Jacare’ means alligator in English, and he was given this name because of how tight and powerful his squeeze was. After two ADCC world titles and countless other major tournament wins, Souza transitioned to MMA seamlessly and won a Strikeforce world championship. Unfortunately, his UFC career took place just outside his athletic prime, and he couldn’t reach the championship level.

5

Nate Diaz

From Street Fights To BJJ

It started in a tough neighborhood of Stockton, California when Nate Diaz wanted to follow his big brother Nick’s footsteps and start training in martial arts. That long, lengthy, tough street fighter turned into one of the most dangerous submission artists in UFC history – while keeping his own style.

You can go back and watch some of his best UFC finishes and see the West Coast culture that he injected into his BJJ skill set. Even though he liked to stand and bang in the octagon, his 3rd degree black belt under the great Cesar Gracie shows up in everything he seems to do in combat sports; even in boxing.

4

Fabricio Werdum

Potentially The Only ADCC And UFC Hall Of Famer

Werdum has a legendary combat sports career if no one even looks at this MMA resume. He is a 2nd degree black belt and has placed in 6 ADCC World Championships, winning two of them. He is one of the few people who simultaneously had a legendary grappling and MMA fighting career; truly a one-of-a-kind athlete in combat sports.

Within a year, Werdum won the 2009 ADCC Worlds and then put on an Upset of the Year and Submission of the Year performance against the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce. He then went on to the UFC and became interim and unified heavyweight champion.

3

Demian Maia

Never Before Was There A Grappler Being Ducked As Hard As Maia In His Prime

Maia is a 5th degree black belt in BJJ and former ADCC champion who brought his traditional skills into the UFC and enjoyed a lot of success right away. As he grew into the sport of MMA and got older, ranked contenders wanted zero part of him. He made a run for the UFC welterweight title and ultimately came up short against Tyron Woodley at UFC 214.

His ability to transition from submission to submission effortlessly was second to none, and it would put his opponents through hell in the octagon.

2

Charles Oliveira

The Fan Favorite Used Basic Techniques To Excite Millions

If any of the readers are new fans of the UFC, they will know who Charles Oliveira is. After many down points in his long UFC career, he grew up in front of the fans’ eyes and became one of the most exciting champions in the sport’s rich history.

Oliveira is the submission king in the UFC with 16 career wins by submission and went on a 12-1 stretch with 8 submissions over the best the UFC lightweight division had to offer, including a submission to defend his UFC title.

1

Royce Gracie

He Transcended The Sport In A Gi

MMA fans might remember the symbolic images of a young man wearing what many thought was a Karate Gi back in 1993 when he shocked everyone by sweeping the UFC 1 tournament with ease.

He continued the evolution of mixed martial arts by showing the world that a smaller man who didn’t know how to punch could beat up a bunch of massive tough guys. He is THE pioneer of the UFC and will be celebrated long after he is no longer here.