In my personal opinion, without Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the UFC and the sport of MMA would have

never have come to be. Before I get in the reason why I believe this statement to be true, let me

first briefly explain the history of BJJ and the UFC. BJJ came to be because Judo master

Mitsuyo Maeda, who was traveling around the world demonstrating Judo, came to Brazil

In 1917 to do a demonstration at Gastao Gracie's circus. It was there that Gastao's son Carlos

saw Maeda, took an interest in Judo and soon asked Maeda to train him in Judo to which

Maeda agreed. Carlos would then go on to teach his younger brother Helio but Helio couldn't

handle the strength and power aspect of Judo and would soon go on to change it and develop

BJJ. Helio would go on to have seven sons and two daughters. Rickson, Rorion, Relson, Royler,

Royce, Robin, Rerika, and Ricci. Many years down the line Rorion created and founded the

UFC In his quest to find out what the best martial arts was. More specifically, he was out

to prove that BJJ was the most dominant martial art ever and that's how the UFC was born.

Rorion would choose his younger brother Royce to be the representative of Jiu Jitsu, who was

undefeated during the Gracie Era of the UFC. In 2001, Dana White bought the UFC along with

friends Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta and with this new change in management came a whole new

set of rules and regulations. During the Gracie Era of the UFC, there were no rules except no

biting or eye gouging but when Dana White took over the UFC, he and the Fertittas implemented

many changes including new rules and policies and weight classes. This move by White and

the Fertittas was where modern MMA started to take shape. Now that we've gone over the

history of BJJ and the UFC, let's imagine if Carlos never taught Helio Judo. If he never

taught Helio Judo then Helio would've never hve changed it to fit his strengths and therefore BJJ

would've never have come to exist and without BJJ, Rorion would've never have founded the

UFC and would've never been so bent on finding out which martial art reigned supreme because

He wouldn't have had a martial art to champion to begin with and without the UFC, MMA

would've never have been a sport. Therefore, this is why I believe that without BJJ the UFC

would've never have become the massive martial art juggernaut that it is today and in turn

MMA would've never have come to be. OSS