JUNE 26, 2025, LAS VEGAS – NEVADA, USA, was the time and place set for the first edition of the UFC BJJ superfight event, a show designed to produce the first grappling champions of the UFC banner. On the line were the Bantamweight (135lb), Lightweight (155lb), and Welterweight (170lb) titles, with the challengers emerging from the reality show Road To UFC BJJ, where several jiu-jitsu athletes competed for their spot in the event finals. The UFC BJJ also had a few superfight matches outside of the belt matches.
Overall, the event provided good matches and solid entertainment. At BJJ Heroes, we are not big fans of the continuous rule changes that currently plague the jiu-jitsu and submission grappling professional circuits. It seems as though everyone is trying to be different from one another for the sake of being different, and with no clear objective. 3 rounds, slanted walls, judge decision rather than points, from the perspective of someone who has been following the sport for nearly 30 years, are simply distractions, as what matters most is the matchmaking and the quality of the grappling on display. With this little rant over, we go to the action:
The UFC BJJ 1 had in the welterweight title match, Andrew Tackett x Andy Varela, its most entertaining clash, proving once again that Scramble-Jitsu is the way forward for jiu-jitsu as an entertainment platform. On the other side of this were more guard-dense exchanges and footlock entanglement clashes like Mikey Musumeci vs Rerisson Gabriel or, to a lesser extent, Danilo Moreira x Carlos Henrique.
Cassia Moura was one of the stars to emerge from this show. The Brazilian teen ran through Talita Alencar, taking down the former champion, passing, taking the back, and dominating the 3 rounds of the match. She was quite close to the finish in the very first round, with an RNC, but the time ran out in the round before she could get the finish. Solid work from the LEAD athlete. Below are the match results of last night, as well as the tournament match results from the show that screened throughout the past week.
– Keven Carrasco def. Ty Costlow via Triangle
– Bella Mir def. via Carol Joia Darce choke
– Pedro Machado def. Felipe Pimentel via Triangle armlock
– Cassia Moura def. Talita Alencar via decision
– Keith Krikorian def. Joao Assonitis via RNC
BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
– Mikey Musumeci def. Rerisson Gabriel via Outside heel hook
LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
– Carlos Henrique def. Danilo Moreira via Armbar
WELTERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
– Andrew Tackett def. Andy Varela via Arm in RNC
LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNAMENT
Quarter-Finals:
– Carlos Henrique def. Gianni Grippo via Anaconda
– Isaac Doederlein def. Keith Krikorian via decision
– Kyvann Gonzalez def. Coney Fehr via Footlock
– Danilo Moreira def. Mauricio Rios via decision
Semi-Finals:
– Danilo Moreira def. Kyvann Gonzalez via decision
– Carlos Henrique def. Isaac Doederlein via Armbar
WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT
Quarter-Finals:
– Andrew Tackett def. Aaron Wilson via RNC
– Davis Asare def. Austin Oranday via Straight ankle lock
– Elijah Carlton def. Jason Nolf via decision
– Andy Varela def. Nathan Haddad via RNC
Semi-Finals:
– Andrew Tackett def. Jason Nolf via RNC
– Andy Varela def. Davis Asare via Anaconda
