UFC BJJ 7: Full Results, Analysis & Takeaways

By BJJ-Rules | April 3, 2026 | Meta APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada

Introduction — Five Submissions, Two New Champions, and the Spectacle We’d Been Waiting For

After two frustrating editions in terms of action (one submission across eight bouts at UFC BJJ 6, two out of nine at UFC BJJ 5), we were starting to wonder whether the Bowl format could actually produce the finishes fans crave. UFC BJJ 7 answered in the best possible way: five submissions in eight matches, two title changes, and a main event that pushed champion Andrew Tackett to his absolute limit.

On paper, this card had everything: three title fights, Nicholas Meregali’s expected return (ultimately scratched), Lucas Valente’s debut against Carlos Henrique in a rivalry loaded with history, and a generational main event pitting Tackett (22) against Vagner Rocha (43). In practice, the night delivered. And then some!

Rebeca Lima dethroned Aurélie Le Vern for the women’s featherweight title, Valente captured the lightweight belt with a stunning third-round foot lock in what may go down as the round of the year, and Tackett survived a heroic effort from Rocha. Two belts changed hands, and BJJ got a night worthy of its ambitions.

Full Results — UFC BJJ 7

UFC BJJ 7 Awards:

Match of the Night: Andrew Tackett vs Vagner Rocha.

Submissions of the Night: Declan Moody and Raphael Ferreira.

Match by Match: Recap & Analysis

Match 1 — Rana Willink vs Carol Joia (Women’s Featherweight, 145 lbs)

Result: Willink via submission (knee bar) — R3, 2:34

A lot of hand-fighting and standup work through the first two rounds, with Joia pushing forward physically and Willink using the Bowl’s slope smartly to defend takedowns. The turning point came in the third round: Willink isolated Joia’s leg, stripped the far foot defense, and locked up a clean knee bar. Tap was instant. First Bowl win for Jocko Willink’s daughter, who followed her father’s gameplan to the letter.

Match 2 — Raphael Ferreira vs Kenzo Biyong (Featherweight, 145 lbs)

Result: Ferreira via submission (RNC) — R1, 2:05 🏅 Submission of the Night

The most spectacular opener of the night. Raphael Ferreira, 18 years old, has been grappling since the age of five, and it shows. The prodigy from Utah is a whirlwind: acrobatic, explosive, perhaps a touch too aggressive at times, but incredibly fun to watch. His back take on Biyong was disarmingly fluid, almost nonchalant. He climbs, settles in, slides the forearm under the chin, and it’s over. Biyong wagged his finger as if to say “I’m fine,” but he wasn’t fine at all.

Two matches, two submissions to open the night. You could already tell this edition was going to be different from the previous two.

A word on Biyong: the Dutch featherweight, a former footballer turned grappler, used his platform this week to speak publicly about his sister living with autism. His message went viral. The result didn’t go his way, but his impact extends well beyond the mat.

Match 3 — Declan Moody vs Patrick Gaudio (Heavyweight, 265 lbs)

Result: Moody via submission (RNC) — R1, 3:38 🏅 Submission of the Night

Enter the heavyweights, and you feel it right away: the pace slows, exchanges get heavier, every movement costs more energy. Moody was originally scheduled to face Nicholas Meregali, who withdrew late in fight week. Gaudio, Meregali’s teammate, stepped up to heavyweight on short notice. Brave, but the size gap was real.

Despite the weight class, the match stayed active: both men hunted for submissions and traded leg locks. Then Gaudio made a bizarre mistake, giving up his back during a transition. Moody pounced: body triangle, rear-naked choke, done. The Australian, a former lightweight turned heavyweight, displayed surprising agility for his frame. His training partner Nicky Rodriguez had warned us: “If this guy gets top position, he submits everyone.” That’s exactly what happened.

Three submissions in three matches. The Bowl was heating up.

Match 4 — Adele Fornarino vs Alex Enriquez (Women’s Flyweight, 125 lbs)

Result: Fornarino via submission (knee bar) — R1, 2:02

A rematch, this time inside the Bowl. And Fornarino showed exactly why she’s considered one of the best guard players in BJJ, regardless of gender or weight class. The Australian settled into her guard with almost theatrical calm, her eyes fixed on one spot while pretending not to look there at all. When she got what she wanted (the leg), it was over. The knee bar was inevitable.

Four submissions in four matches. The skill gap was simply too wide for this to last any longer. Fornarino, ADCC world champion at weight and absolute, then called for the 125-pound title and floated the idea of becoming UFC BJJ’s first-ever double champion. With 10 straight ankle locks in her last 17 wins according to BJJ Heroes, she has the tools to make it happen.

Side note: Fornarino went viral this week after a photo with Sean Strickland surfaced online. She was wearing an “Everybody watches women’s sports” shirt, and Strickland told her upon arriving: “I can’t wait to watch you compete.” The moment spread massively on social media, and Fornarino drove the point home: “They can talk all they want. At the end of the day, they’re watching.” A strong message for women’s grappling.

Match 5 — Renato Canuto vs Yonathan Cardenas (Welterweight, 170 lbs)

Result: Canuto via unanimous decision

The least exciting match of the night. Canuto, a former welterweight title challenger, dominated tactically but never found the finish. Cardenas, the first Chilean in UFC BJJ history (a veterinarian by trade, former boxer turned grappler), showed heart but lacked the level to truly compete. The standout moment was Canuto’s D’Arce choke attempt in the first round and his fluid transitions in the third, but nothing to write home about.

Match 6 — 🏆 Rebeca Lima vs Aurélie Le Vern (c) — Women’s Featherweight Title (145 lbs)

Result: Lima via unanimous decision — new women’s featherweight champion

A tough loss for Aurélie Le Vern, the first champion in UFC BJJ women’s history, who lost her belt in her first defense against Rebeca Lima. Lima’s victory was thoroughly deserved.

Lima built her entire game around one weapon: her closed guard. And what a weapon. Every time Le Vern ended up inside that guard, time froze. Impossible to pass. Impossible to create space. Every posture attempt was punished with an underhook and a reset. It’s a nightmare to deal with, and Le Vern never cracked the code.

The first round clearly belonged to Lima: a dangerous back take with an RNC attempt, then an explosion from guard to finish on top in the final seconds. Commentators mentioned a possible 10-8. The second round saw Le Vern try to work from top, but Lima kept dragging the position back into closed guard. In the third, the match turned into a leg lock battle: Le Vern found an interesting knee bar, but Lima answered with an Aoki lock in the closing seconds.

Unanimous decision: Lima is the new champion. It wasn’t the most spectacular bout of the evening, but technically, Lima was clearly superior. Le Vern’s errors were more frequent (notably two moments where she gave up her back). Unfortunately, the Frenchwoman simply didn’t do enough to keep her belt.

Two belts in Midland, Texas

Lima joins her teammate Cassia Moura on the UFC BJJ champions list. Two belts under the same roof at Bastos Jiu-Jitsu in Midland, Texas, for two Brazilians who left Rio to start over in the United States. Lima wasn’t even supposed to be in this fight (she replaced Brianna Ste-Marie, who withdrew due to injury). When coach Bruno Bastos told her Le Vern wanted an opponent, Lima’s answer was instant: “Don’t even ask. Just put my name down.”

France loses its belt. It’s a shame, but it was deserved.

Match 7 — 🏆 Lucas Valente vs Carlos Henrique (c) — Lightweight Title (155 lbs)

Result: Valente via submission (foot lock) — R3, 3:07 — new lightweight champion

The fight of the night. And quite possibly the round of the year in BJJ.

Context: a quadrilogy. Valente was 3-0 against Henrique going in (two IBJJF wins, one under special rules). Henrique, UFC BJJ lightweight champion since season one, had called Valente “boring” in the media. Both are Brazilian, both compete in MMA (Valente is 4-0, Henrique fought at Fury FC last month). The rivalry is real, personal, and loaded.

The first two rounds were tactical. Valente pushed Henrique against the Bowl’s slope, hunted the back, shot for leg entries. Henrique responded with physical pressure, head snaps, and impressive cardio. The match was tight and hard to score.

Then came the third round. And everything exploded. Henrique launched a spectacular flying armbar. Valente survived. Commentators compared the sequence to a knockdown in boxing followed by a standing eight-count. Right away, Valente, exhausted but sharp, switched from defense to offense. He grabbed Henrique’s leg, locked up a straight ankle lock, and got the submission at 3:07. Title change. The new champion lifted his eight-month-old son overhead “like The Lion King,” as commentators put it.

“My master Draculino called me before the fight. He said: I don’t know if it’ll be the first, second, or third round, but we’re going to submit him. I just believed him.” — Lucas Valente

Valente also shared his long-term ambitions: becoming BJJ’s “Triple C.” IBJJF world champion (done), UFC BJJ champion (done tonight), and one day UFC champion in MMA. Worth keeping an eye on.

Match 8 — 🏆 Andrew Tackett (c) vs Vagner Rocha — Welterweight Title (170 lbs)

Result: Tackett via unanimous decision — retains title (3rd defense) 🏅 Match of the Night

22 vs 43. The face of UFC BJJ against a veteran. On paper, this looked like a showcase for Tackett. In reality, Vagner Rocha gave the champion the hardest fight of his Bowl career.

Tackett controlled most of the match: takedowns, guillotine attempts, top pressure, and back control in the third round. But Rocha absorbed everything. Guillotines, heel hooks, ankle locks, knee bars: nothing moved him. The 43-year-old veteran, with wrists “as thick as baseball bats,” defended every submission attempt with disarming composure. His signature finger wag after surviving an ankle lock in the first round was one of the night’s best moments.

In the second round, Tackett told his corner he’d “popped a rib,” a recurring injury for him. Despite that, he found a way to take Rocha’s back in the third round and control the final minutes with a body triangle. Rocha attempted a desperate ankle lock in the closing seconds, but time ran out.

Unanimous decision for Tackett, who moves to 5-0 in the Bowl. A deserved win, and the back take in the third round likely sealed the verdict. Still, seeing Rocha, 43 and with three weeks of preparation, hold on for 15 minutes without ever being in serious submission danger adds nuance to the narrative of an untouchable champion. Tackett won, but he didn’t dominate the way people expected.

Rocha, the hero who didn’t win

Yet Rocha was immense in defeat. His post-fight message says it all: “Tell me again that 43 is too old. I’m here. I said yes when 20 others said no. And I made the champion work until the last second.”

Tackett then renewed his call: “Who wants the title? Stop saying no.” The official UFC BJJ narrative emphasizes the 20 rejections, but the reality is more nuanced: grapplers capable of challenging Tackett exist outside the platform. Names like Andy Murasaki, Jonnatas Gracie, and many others could create thrilling matchups. The problem may not be a lack of talent, but the difficulty of bringing them under contract.

Editorial Takeaway — The Night UFC BJJ Owed Us

What Worked

The spectacle, finally. Five submissions in eight matches. The first four bouts all ended in finishes. After two disappointing editions on that front, UFC BJJ 7 reminded everyone why this format exists. The contrast with editions 5 and 6 is striking, and it’s great news for the platform’s credibility.

Valente vs Henrique, round 3. The round of the year. A flying armbar from the champion, an instant counter from the challenger, a devastating foot lock. This is the kind of sequence that makes the sport explode.

The next generation. Raphael Ferreira (18, RNC in R1), Declan Moody (heavyweight, RNC in R1), Adele Fornarino (knee bar in R1, wants the 125-pound title): UFC BJJ is building its future around spectacular finishers. That’s the best calling card for attracting new viewers.

Vagner Rocha. The night’s hero didn’t win. 43 years old, three weeks of preparation, a fight against the division’s undefeated champion, and he went the full 15 minutes while pushing Tackett to his limits. The perfect anti-hero. UFC BJJ needs more competitors with this mindset.

What Was Missing

Meregali, scratched again. Announced as one of the headliners, the Brazilian was once again forced to withdraw. His return at UFC BJJ 5 was labored, and he hasn’t been seen since. The heavyweight division needs him, but his body can’t keep up. The question of his reliability is becoming serious.

Le Vern loses her belt. The first women’s champion in UFC BJJ history didn’t do enough to keep her title. Too many technical errors, not enough offensive initiative against Lima’s closed guard. Lima’s victory is undeniable.

The welterweight “problem.” UFC BJJ’s messaging highlights 20 rejections before Rocha agreed to fight Tackett. It’s an effective narrative, but reality is more nuanced: the global grappling scene has athletes capable of challenging Tackett (Murasaki, Gracie, ADCC and WNO veterans). The real challenge is recruiting them and offering terms that make them want to sign. The issue isn’t a lack of rivals. It’s the attractiveness of the contracts.

What’s Next? The Future of UFC BJJ

UFC BJJ 8, May 21, 2026: Mikey Musumeci defends his bantamweight title against Dantzler in the main event. Cassia Moura makes her first defense of the women’s bantamweight belt against Bianca Basilio. Also on the card: William Tackett (Andrew’s brother) vs Enrico at middleweight, Azamat Bakytov vs Tommy David, and Danilo Moreira vs Ethan Crelinsten. Stacked card.

Miyao vs Musumeci: still not officially announced, but the face-off at UFC BJJ 6 planted the seed. With Dancler challenging at UFC BJJ 8, we hope Miyao is next. It’s the fight the fans are demanding.

The Midland, Texas dynasty: in just a few months, two women’s titles (Moura at bantamweight, Lima at featherweight) under the same roof at Bastos Jiu-Jitsu. The small Texan gym has become the epicenter of women’s competitive BJJ. Coach Bruno Bastos deserves an article of his own.

The heavyweight division: Meregali scratched, no title created yet, but Declan Moody sent a clear message. The Australian wants to compete at 205 or heavyweight. A Moody vs Mason Fowler light heavyweight title fight would be fascinating.

Conclusion

UFC BJJ 7 is the best night the platform has produced in a long time. Five submissions, two title changes, emerging talents bursting onto the scene, a veteran refusing to break, and a final round between Valente and Henrique that will be remembered. If we’d known beforehand, we would have watched every second without fearing boredom. This edition proves that the Bowl format can deliver elite-level spectacle when competitors are willing to take risks.

BJJ is alive. UFC BJJ is growing. And for the first time in several events, we genuinely can’t wait for the next one.

See you on May 21 for UFC BJJ 8. The show goes on!

Follow all BJJ news on BJJ-Rules — France’s #1 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu media.

UFC BJJ YouTube: youtube.com/@ufcbjjofficial