In a burst of serendipity, Vinny Magalhaes submitted Igor Pokrajac with a beautiful armbar achieved from a threat of a triangle at UFC 152. The “happy accident” connected with this submission is that Patrick Tenney was working behind the stages to bring us a video series on the triangle to armbar sequence and more. Tenney, […]

When Vinny Magalhaes tapped out Igor Pokrajac at UFC 152 with a very flashy armbar, most people thought the Submission of the Night was locked up. Later on, Jon Jones swiped that away with a very powerful keylock in the fourth round of his title fight against Vitor Belfort. However, Vinny deserves at least a […]

This is a guest post by Patrick Tenney of the Bloody Elbow grappling team. Defeating your opponents hips is one of the key pillars of successful guard passing, hopefully this guard pass series will be able to help you out in achieving hip control from a standing position. This guard passing series is designed to […]

In a landscape where Brazilian jiu jitsu is a key element of MMA, tons of gyms have opened up across the world. One name stands at the forefront as the most globally recognized system. Gracie. The Gracies are credited with having brought that mass recognition to the general public, and are basically what some consider […]

In an art with so many great practitioners, Roger has set himself in class all his own and put himself in the Pantheon of modern martial excellence. He joins fellow BJJ champion Braulio Estima, full contact Karate legend Masutatsu Oyama, and MMA all-time great Anderson Silva. The great heroes of mythology often have prestigious pedigrees, […]

The following is a step by step breakdown of key concepts within the famed 10th Planet grappling system written by James Worley, a friend of mine. The intent is to examine the system for its tenets and to educate those interested in grappling – without falling into the trap of “Eddie is the greatest/Eddie is […]

This post is the conclusion of a long interview conducted with Anthony and Ottavia Bourdain. If you missed the first segment, you can find it here: Part I Interviewer to Ottavia Bourdain: What do you think it would take to get Anthony in a gi and doing some jiu jitsu? Ottavia Bourdain: Oh man, I […]

When two separate walks of life cross paths, the resulting union can be either a disaster or an epic win. In the case of Anthony Bourdain and his lovely wife Ottavia, you have two extremely different paths melding together in exciting fashion. Anthony is a world renowned chef, author and television personality. Ottavia is a […]

Dave Herman and Lavar Johnson may not watch, but if you’re a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fanatic, Thursday kicks off the World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championships, a four day event at Cal State – Long Beach’s Walter Pyramid. Some of the top BJJ competitors in the world will hit the mats from 9 AM PST – approximately 8 […]

For all the BElitists around the world, this is your formal invitation to chit-chat with your brethren while watching a star studded BJJ card, featuring a superfight that makes me want to bite my knuckles in anticipation. The much talked about match between UFC welterweight contender, Nick Diaz, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master, Braulio Estima, […]

Later today, the World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Expo will be presenting a superbly matched card, with a much talked about superfight headliner. UFC welterweight top contender, Nick Diaz will be competing in the name of children’s charity against BJJ super power, Braulio Estima. The matches will be streamed live, and in HD via Mobileblackbelt.tv from the […]

With Brock Lesnar’s reemergence into the WWE after a four year stint in the UFC, we’ve gotten to see a bit of a blast from the past and a peek at the future. He started off his first appearance back with his signature F5 of John Cena, and now, just a little over a week […]

The debut of the World Jiu Jitsu Expo kicks off with a bang on May 12, featuring a superfight that can only be defined as epic. UFC welterweight contender, Nick Diaz will be facing off against ADCC superstar, Braulio Estima in Long Beach, CA. Diaz has been on hiatus from the UFC pending the outcome […]

Just a reminder that Ben Askren is more than just the controversial Bellator champ and one fighter who’s not afraid to antagonize UFC President Dana White. – Kid Nate With the Olympic trials and Olympics fast approaching it is high time to engage in a brief discussion of Ben Askren, the one participant in the […]

For those that listened to Ariel Helwani’s recent interview with WWE Champion CM Punk, you learned that he knows his MMA and is also a white belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, training when his schedule allows it. As a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu student, Punk (Phil Brooks) did a session with Rener Gracie recently, filming a video for […]

Matthew Roth and Ben Thapa have already reviewed Marcelo Garcia’s latest instructional Advanced Brazilian Jiujitsu Techniques for Bloody Elbow but I wanted to get a little more in-depth so I asked Victory Belt if I could interview Garcia’s co-author Glen Cordoza. Cordoza is also the co-author of Garcia’s first instructional The X Guard as well […]

Last Sunday on the Verbal Submission show I co-host with MMA Mania’s “Bellator” Brian Hemminger and MMA Valor’s Gerry Rodriguez, we had Rafael Lovato Jr. For those of you that are a little fuzzy on who he is, Lovato Jr. is one of the most accomplished American competitors in Brazilian jiu-jitsu – ever.  He was […]

We are less than a month away from Sport Brazilian Jiu Jitsu’s most prestigious tournament and its biggest star’s participation may be in jeopardy. Perhaps the world’s best BJJ competitor, Roger Gracie has been recovering from an injury that has kept him from training for over a month according to the GracieMag blog: “I’m not […]

Osama Bin Laden did judo?

> > > Click here for Saturday’s LIVE Coverage Update: UFC Lightweight Cole Miller will be taking part in the men’s Brown Belt division, Sunday from 1:15pm PT / 4:15pm ET. North America’s biggest Gi Jiu Jitsu tournament is currently taking place in Irvine, California at the UCI Bren Event Center where Sport Jiu Jitsu […]