Tom Aspinall is the reigning UFC interim heavyweight world champion, so he should have a very good handle on who the best Jiu-Jitsu specialist in MMA is. He’s reached the top of the mountain in the sport and in doing so, he’s had to have a good understanding of everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. Studying tape is one of the best ways that fighters prepare for potential opponents, but it’s also used to learn from other fighters too. Aspinall recently used his perspective as a champion in the world’s biggest MMA promotion to determine who the best Jiu-Jitsu specialist in the sport was, and the answer isn’t too surprising.
Aspinall barely missed a best when he gave his answer, and it’s a name that any Jiu-Jitsu or MMA fan should be very familiar with:
“I’m going to go Demian Maia. I don’t know what his credentials are in Jiu-Jitsu; there might be guys out there with better Jiu-Jitsu credentials than him outside of MMA. I judge it on how effective they are in MMA, because that’s the sport we’re talking about.”
It’s a very astute judgement, as there are several elite fighters who accomplished more in Jiu-Jitsu like Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza and Rodolfo Vieira. For Aspinall, Maia is the man who had the most success while relying almost entirely on his ground game:
“Demian Maia, he was predominantly a Jiu-Jitsu specialist, he didn’t have much else in the locker. But he was still taking everybody down and submitting them.”
Maia was never the best striker in the world but he dominated almost everyone he ever fought on the ground and won enough fights to earn title-shots in two different weight classes. He retired with a 28-11 professional record and 14 submission finishes but hunting for the back and choking opponents out was his specialty. 10 of his wins came as a direct result of that tactic and it led to many of his decision wins too, that’s what made Maia so impressive for Aspinall:
“The thing that makes Demian Maia so good, is that everybody knew what was coming, but very limited amount of people could stop him doing it. He’s my Jiu-Jitsu GOAT in MMA.”
Tom Aspinall revealed who he thinks the best Jiu-Jitsu specialist in MMA history is in a recent video uploaded to his official YouTube channel:
