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
