UFC BJJ: Road To The Title Review

UFC BJJ is finally here!

UFC BJJ: Road to the Title is a new YouTube series. This is basically the Ultimate Fighter show but for BJJ athletes. Sixteen BJJ athletes split into two weight classes. Lightweight (under 155 pounds) and welterweight (under 170 pounds). Two of them will become the first UFC BJJ champions.

It seems like BJJ guys have a lot less drama than MMA guys when they all live in a house together.

The first episode of UFC BJJ: Road to the Title has been viewed over 740,000 times on YouTube. This was after less than three days!

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has always needed a platform like this. UFC has a massive audience. The more people see what BJJ all about the more people is will want to start training BJJ and the sport will grow more and more.

I was super excited to hear about the debut of UFC BJJ.

Episode One. 26 minutes long.

UFC BJJ: Road To The Title Episode 1

They gave a beautiful video that described Royce Gracie and the history of BJJ in the UFC. I thought this was great because you need to make this show aimed at new people who don’t know anything about BJJ so it should be explained right away what BJJ is and why it is important in fighting.

The cast is introduced. There will be three champions crowned at the end of this season. One lightweight champion (155 pounds), one welterweight champion (170 pounds) and one bantamweight champion (135 pounds). The lightweight and welterweight titles will be decided via 8-man single elimination tournaments. The 135 pound bantamweight championship will be decided with a match between coaches the American Mikey Musumeci vs. Brazilian athlete, Rerrisson Gabriel.

We see all the athletes enter the venue and see “the pit” in which they will be fighting inside. This looks very similar to the pit used in CJI. I noticed they didn’t give the pit an actual name in UFC BJJ. I wonder if that is a copyright issue. Either way, Craig Jones borrowed the pit idea from Karate Combat, who borrowed it from WAMMA Pit fighting. Craig Jones seems upset that UFC BJJ used the pit and signed fighters to exclusive UFC contracts.

In my opinion, we need the pit for BJJ competition. I would say 9 out of 10 matches goes out of bounds and the action needs to be stopped and reset. It’s a big issue. Sometimes a submission might be locked in or a takedown almost completed but the athletes go out of bounds, and it can really change the match.

The pit prevents going out of bounds, like how a cage would prevent going out of bounds. I have only competed inside a cage twice before. It was a unique challenge having to prepare to use the cage walls.

The athletes must have been told “act like the pit is the coolest thing ever!” because they all act like kids on Christmas morning. Quotes from when they see the pit…

“WOW!”

“IT’S ROUDED!”

“THAT IS CRRRRRRRAAAZZY”

“BRO THIS IS SICK”

Dana White shows up. He says BJJ is the reason he bought the UFC in the first place. Dana says, “If you are a black belt in BJJ you are a special type of person”. Dana says UFC BJJ is there to give the athletes everything they need in.

We meet the coaches for season one of UFC BJJ: Road to the Title.

Coaches

Mikey Musumeci

5-time BJJ World Champion. Including a 12 second ankle lock victory in a black belt finals match. First grappler to be signed to UFC BJJ. Mikey has a big personality and a huge following. 845,000 followers on Instagram. He is 28 years old and one of the faces of BJJ.

Rerisson Gabriel

Most recently won gold at the 2025 IBJJF Pan Am Championships defeating “Baby Shark” Diogo Reis. A lot of people were surprised when they saw Rerisson announced as a coach. Apparently, both Gordon Ryan and Craig Jones were close to being announced as coaches opposite Mikey, but it did not work out. I wonder if Gordon wanted too much money, and if UFC wanted CJI as part of a deal for Craig Jones. Rerisson seems like a great grappler.

The rules for the UFC BJJ matches. There will be three five-minute rounds with each round the winner gets 10 points, and the loser gets 9 points or less. This is called the 10 point must system, Submissions are ranked above everything else when it comes to judging but we do not actually see the judging criteria.

Team Selections

All the fighters are already ranked 1-8. When a coach picks one fighter the opposite seed automatically goes to the other team. It was a little weird. I think they did this to ensure they got good matchups throughout the tournament with lots of action all around. Rerisson gets the first pick for lightweight and selects number five ranked lightweight, Gianni Grippo! That means number four ranked Carlos Henrique automatically goes to team Mikey Musumeci. Mikey picks his friend Issac Doderlein with his first pick. Issac is the eight ranked, which means number one ranked Keith Krikorian goes to team Gabriel.

The fighters hype up the rule set at the fighter house. It’s the same way UFC fights are judged using a three round, 10-point must system.

After the teams are selected, we get our first match announcement: number one seeded welterweight, Andrew Tackett against number eight ranked, Aaron Wilson.

My favorite part of the show was the personal videos it showed on each of the fighters competing in the episode. It really gives you a backstory and makes you care more about the fighters. Aaron Wilson is 35 years old, and he’s got a son with autism that he is fighting for. Andrew Tackett is 22 years old. He is the exciting young gun who is favored to win the entire show. Andrew was home schooled and trained BJJ twice a day everyday since he was young. Aaron winning would be a huge upset.

The match starts. Tackett gets Wilson down to the ground. Wilson briefly goes for a garbage triangle from bottom side control but Tackett shrugs it off and escapes easily. Tackett uses the pit wall to get Wilson down again and immediately gets the back and secures a rear-naked choke over Wilson’s jaw and face. Wilson taps and Tackett wins by submission. That took just over one minute.

Thoughts. I think the UFC did an awesome job with this show! I couldn’t ask for anything more. Now kids training BJJ will see an opportunity for themselves to be on UFC BJJ. This show should grow the sport in new ways and make a cast of BJJ superstars. I can’t wait to see what comes next for UFC BJJ and really hope there is more future seasons of the show.

Please follow the writer Josh Presley on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok & Facebook @PresleyBJJ for daily BJJ content, and tune into The Great Canadian BJJ Show Podcast on Spotify or the podcast app. PresleyBJJ.com