UFC BJJ has now completed it’s debut year and the world’s biggest combat sports promotion is 4 events into this Jiu-Jitsu experiment, but has 2025 actually been a success? They’ve definitely hit the ground the ground running; hosting 4 events and 1 reality show is not exactly easy of course. The UFC is not any other brand though of course, so the expectations place on them were incredibly high right from the start. It didn’t help matters that Dana White announced that they were pouring millions of dollars into Jiu-Jitsu throughout 2025, before they had even booked their first actual match. With that context in mind, let’s take a look at how the promotion’s first year has gone.
Was The UFC BJJ Debut Year A Success?
It’s always going to be tough to measure what constitutes a success, particularly when everyone’s goals and expectations would be different. That’s why it’s important to remember that the UFC is the biggest name in combat sports and they have repeatedly attempted to frame UFC BJJ as the biggest professional event in Jiu-Jitsu. Their claimed outlay of $10-12 million is also important, because that budget is multiple times bigger than the budget any other event operates with. Simply put; it’s reasonable to proclaim yourself the premier event if you have the biggest promotional machine possible and more money than anyone else, but is that what fans ended up seeing?
The Early Criticism
UFC BJJ started out with a lot of hype behind it and they were poised for a big debut year, but that quickly crumbled when more information was released. Many of their early choices were met with criticism from competitors and fans alike, leading to much more muted expectations as the first event approached. The first big fumble was with the casting for the inaugural season of their ‘Road to the Title’ reality show; which was their chance to make a big impact immediately. There were rumours floating round about it for a while and some of the early discussions were leaked, with both Craig Jones and Gordon Ryan mentioned as coaches opposite Mikey Musumeci.
They ended up going with Rerrison Gabriel as Musumeci’s opposite number instead, a relatively unknown competitor compared to the other options that were leaked. Then they had a similar problem with the rest of the cast too, as there were several serious elite lightweights and welterweights mixed in with grapplers who were very unlikely to win. They marketed it as the best in the world battling it out for their inaugural belts, but that isn’t really what they delivered. Many key players in both weight classes were missing from the lineup, no doubt partially down to the restrictive nature of the exclusive contracts that champions would have to sign.
That was another point of contention too, as many competitors like Jones have been outspoken against the use of exclusive contracts. Things went from bad to worse when fans started getting the first look at how UFC BJJ events were going to play out too, starting with the almost universal mocking that their new championship belts faced. Then they revealed ‘the bowl’; the circular structure with curved walls that all their matches would take place in. Although the response to the use of angled walls was very positive, the fact that they refused to credit the Craig Jones Invitational or Pit Submission Series for their work in that area was not.
The Events
Although their debut year might not have gotten off to the best start, what matters most for UFC BJJ was always going to be events themselves. Any earlier missteps would be quickly forgotten about if they could produce something better than fans have seen before. The problem is that the production has so far been pretty much exactly what fans have seen before, and some elements of it are actually lacking compared to other events. The quality of videography was perfectly fine, but nothing that you couldn’t also see multiple times a year at Who’s Number One or several other events.
All 4 UFC BJJ events so far have been staged at the UFC Apex complex too and it’s not exactly what people have in mind when they think of professional events. Polaris and BJJ Stars lead the way in this respect by using big venues with tiered seating and sold-out crowds, but even the WNO set-up has a better atmosphere than the UFC Apex. The final ingredient in the recipe for success is the commentary team and this is where UFC BJJ is really lagging behind their competitors. They’ve clearly chosen familiar faces for MMA fans without prioritising knowledge of the professional Jiu-Jitsu scene, or the ability to break down the small technical battles taking place in each situation.
Then when it comes to the action itself, UFC BJJ has so far failed to stand out from any of it’s competitors. They’ve booked 35 matches across their 4 fully-fledged events but none of them have been something that you couldn’t see anywhere else. In a year when ONE Championship booked Marcelo Garcia vs Lachlan Giles, obviously it was going to be tough for any other matchmaking to stand out. Truthfully though, that’s the kind of match that fans should be expecting from the biggest combat sports promotion in the world. Most of the biggest names in the sport didn’t make a single appearance in the UFC BJJ bowl, and they clearly have the finances to make virtually any match they want.
Perhaps the biggest indictment of their matchmaking ability is the fact that not a single champion from ADCC 2024, CJI 1, or CJI 2 has made their UFC BJJ debut yet. The curious aspect of this fact is that several reigning champions have previously competed on UFC Fight Pass Invitational prior to this. It’s worth considering that this might just be a temporary issue though, as 4 events is still a relatively small sample-size. On the other hand, there are several other promotions competing against them that also use exclusive contracts and there’s only so many reigning champions to go around.
To give UFC BJJ some credit where it’s due, the matches themselves have been largely entertaining. The use of the bowl makes sure that the action continues rather than having frequent resets and whether they give credit where it’s due or not, this was still a good choice by them. The use of 5-minute rounds is also undeniably positive too and although it does upset some purists, it gives competitors both the chance to rest and a greater sense of urgency when they get to dominant positions. All of this works together to create a ruleset that does beat out a lot of their competitors, but the other issues can’t be ignored and it seems impossible to call 2025 a success when they haven’t created a better overall product.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The overall status of UFC BJJ after it’s debut year is a pretty mixed bag. There have been both good and bad decisions, along with poor execution of some of their good decisions too. It’s not as if UFC BJJ is bad by any stretch of the imagination, but they could have probably come out with something better on a fraction of the budget. The best choices they’ve made have actually been fairly inexpensive, like designing an exciting ruleset and the use of angled walls. An interesting question would be whether designing and building ‘the bowl’ was cheaper than just licensing use of the pit from Jones and Karate Combat. If it wasn’t, then that’s another example of a good decision executed poorly.
They’ve also painted themselves into a corner by using ‘the bowl’ too, because it doesn’t look as though it’s easily portable and that locks them in to using the UFC Apex. That being said, the UFC is hosting their own events there already so it’s unlikely they would seek out better venues even if they could. Production can’t really improve all that much with the limitations in place, so fans should expect the product to look much the same moving forward. There are a few things they do have the ability to change though, and some of them wouldn’t even be that expensive.
Fixing commentary is going to be their easiest win in 2026. Not only are they not paid crazy wages but they already have several options to choose from, with examples of their work ready to for all to see. Brandon McCaghren is one of the best in the game and Kendall Reusing has become excellent in a short space of time; but there’s also Hywel Teague, Shawn Williams, Jay Regalbuto, and Josh Palmer too. If they were determined to stick with commentators that MMA fans might recognise then they could use Kenny Florian or even Eddie Bravo instead.
Then finally, UFC BJJ will need to step up it’s matchmaking. They do have some of the best competitors in the world locked in to exclusive contracts already, but they can’t sell matches on their own. Mason Fowler has big matches waiting against Giancarlo Bodoni or Rafael Lovato Jr for his first title-defense, and if they’re looking for a new opponent for Andrew Tackett then they could fly Levi Jones-Leary in from Australia or snap up Mica Galvao when his WNO contract expires. Those are the kind of matches that millions of dollars should be able to generate, and UFC BJJ will only truly be a success if they can start making that happen.
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