EN
FR
PT
A champion in a hurry. A queen dethroned. Grand Prix final that promises fireworks. UFC BJJ 10 delivered on every front on August 20 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Full results, fight-by-fight analysis and our recap of the tenth night in the Bowl.
One minute and 44 seconds. That is all Andrew Tackett needed to remind everyone who rules at 170 pounds. Across from him stood Jonnatas Gracie, the challenger who had publicly called him out after his February win. Yet the welterweight champion left no room for doubt: instant takedown, back take, submission. A fourth title defense, dispatched. All of it inside a redesigned Bowl, lowered by eight inches to give the crowd a better view. In addition, the night crowned a new champion and launched the women’s flyweight Grand Prix. Eight matches, four of them women’s bouts: here is everything you need to know.
| Main event 170 lb title | Andrew Tackett def. Jonnatas Gracie Submission (face crank) · Round 1, 1:44 |
| Co-main event 145 lb title W | Brianna Ste-Marie def. Rebeca Lima Submission (arm-triangle) · Round 2, 1:57 |
| Flyweight GP W semifinal | Cassia Moura def. Bre Stikk Submission (armbar) · Round 1, 4:31 |
| Flyweight GP W semifinal | Adele Fornarino def. Carol Brunacio Submission (straight ankle lock) · Round 1, 2:53 |
| Middleweight | William Tackett def. Fedor Nikolov Submission (heel hook) · Round 2, 2:13 |
| Bantamweight | Jalen Fonacier def. Mourece Ramirez Unanimous decision · 3 rounds |
| Middleweight | Vagner Rocha def. Andy Varela Submission (crescent choke) · Round 3, 2:06 |
| Strawweight W | Danielle Kelly def. Ana Lima Unanimous decision · 3 rounds |
Source: official UFC.com results, August 21, 2026.
In addition, the full event is available as a free replay on the UFC BJJ YouTube channel:
Who won the UFC BJJ 10 main event?
Andrew Tackett defeated Jonnatas Gracie by submission (face crank) at 1:44 of the first round. As a result, he retains the UFC BJJ welterweight title. It is his fourth straight defense, and above all his fifth championship-match win since claiming the inaugural belt at UFC BJJ 1.
The fight in full: 104 seconds of control
The script was quietly brutal. Right from the signal, Tackett shot in and put Gracie on the mat. He then went straight after the Brazilian’s neck. Gracie escaped and tried to counter with a leg attack. However, the champion defended cleanly and resumed his offense. Once on the back, he locked a rear-naked choke that landed across the jaw rather than under the chin: technically, a face crank. Two adjustments were then enough to bring the pressure to its peak. Consequently, the pain left Gracie no option but to tap.
The challenger had earned his shot by outpointing Yan Lucas at UFC BJJ 5, then calling for this fight on the mic right after. Tonight, however, he never had time to set up his offensive guard game. Across the Bowl, Tackett’s reign speaks for itself. First, the title won over Andy Varela by first-round submission. Then Renato Canuto choked with a D’Arce. Next, Elijah Dorsey submitted with a heel hook. Finally, Vagner Rocha beaten on points in April, the only time the champion has seen the judges’ scorecards.
Callouts all the way to the Octagon
The post-fight mic work was as aggressive as the match. First, Tackett called out the upcoming ADCC 77 kg winner, Jozef Chen, the Ruotolo brothers and Micael Galvao. He then widened the net toward the Octagon by naming Sean Brady and Paddy Pimblett. The champion did praise both UFC fighters’ grappling, while promising his own would be too much for them. The message is therefore clear: at 170 pounds, Tackett now wants challenges worthy of his level.
Brianna Ste-Marie is the new featherweight champion
The co-main event crowned a new queen. Indeed, Brianna Ste-Marie submitted defending champion Rebeca Lima with an arm-triangle at 1:57 of the second round. She thus becomes the UFC BJJ women’s featherweight champion. It is redemption for the Canadian, an ADCC silver medalist and former combat jiu-jitsu world champion. A back injury had forced her out of her scheduled title fight against Aurelie Le Verne at UFC BJJ 7. Lima had stepped in on short notice and taken the belt. Four months later, Ste-Marie finally claims what she was owed.
A first round in Lima’s trap
The first round nevertheless belonged to the Brazilian’s playground. Lima pulled guard immediately and hunted for a leg. Ste-Marie still avoided the danger and settled into half guard, already setting up her arm-triangle. Then Lima capitalized on a trailing leg to attack a kneebar. The Canadian smothered it by stacking on top of her. In the final thirty seconds, Ste-Marie even dove on a leg attack of her own, though the bell rang before she could finish it.
The signature arm-triangle
From the restart, the Canadian went to her favorite weapon. First the dominant position, then the left arm perfectly wrapped around the neck. Next the transition to mount, and finally the shoulder rolled toward the mat to tighten the squeeze. Lima tapped at 1:57. Ste-Marie had promised “pressure over time, until the opponent breaks”. She had even described her perfect world in an interview: pass the guard and finish with a head-and-arm choke. That is exactly what happened.
Flyweight Grand Prix: Moura vs Fornarino in the final
The night also launched the tournament for the first-ever women’s flyweight title (125 pounds). Two semifinals ran back to back, and both ended inside the first round. As a result, the final will pit Cassia Moura against Adele Fornarino.
Cassia Moura submits Bre Stikk, eyes a historic double
Cassia Moura, 20 years old, is already the reigning bantamweight champion. She submitted American debutant Bre Stikk (“The American Savage”) with an armbar at 4:31. Same game plan as always: first a devastating arm-drag to bring the fight to the mat, then the immediate back take. With both hooks in, the Brazilian worked patiently while Stikk defended stubbornly. Moura moved to mount, but Stikk escaped and got back to her feet. So a second arm-drag sent the American right back to the mat.
Back on the back, Moura fought Stikk’s hands to lock in the rear-naked choke. The American defended her neck. So the champion switched targets in a flash: a swing to the armbar, and the tap came with 29 seconds left in the round. As a reminder, Moura took the 135-pound title from Ffion Davies in March. She then defended it against Sabrina Gondim by rear-naked choke at UFC BJJ 8. She is now one win away from becoming the first two-division UFC BJJ champion. On the mic, the young Brazilian summed up her mindset: “nobody is hungrier than me, everybody knows my story”.
Adele Fornarino delivers again, ankle lock in under three minutes
On the other side of the bracket, Australia’s Adele Fornarino confirmed her finisher status against Carol Brunacio. The Brazilian came out at full speed, diving straight onto a leg. Yet Fornarino stayed remarkably calm and worked free of the danger. She then flipped the script: an armbar attempt followed by a leg attack, both defended by Brunacio.
What followed did not take long. Working from her guard, Fornarino isolated a leg and created the opening she wanted. A tight straight ankle lock, and the tap came at 2:53. In her UFC BJJ 7 debut, she had already submitted Alexandria Enriquez with a first-round kneebar. Consequently, the Australian heads to the final with two quick submissions in two outings. Moura vs Fornarino: two all-offense profiles, one inaugural belt on the line. The date of the final, however, is still to be announced.
William Tackett makes his case for the middleweight title
Before his younger brother’s main event, William Tackett submitted debutant Fedor Nikolov with a heel hook at 2:13 of the second round. It is his second straight heel hook finish, after the one he landed on Manuel Ribamar at UFC BJJ 8. A doubly successful night for the family, then.
Tackett set the pace right away with a powerful takedown. He then worked through the rubber guard of the 10th Planet Russian. Guard passed, side control installed. The fight briefly returned to the feet, but Tackett immediately put Nikolov back on the mat. Having arrived in the United States in 2022 with nothing to his name, according to the broadcast, the debutant could offer nothing offensively from his guard. His stubborn defense only slowed the tempo. Then, in the second round, Nikolov attempted a flying triangle. Tackett slipped it without strain, brought his opponent back down and moved to mount. Finally, he slid onto the legs and locked in the decisive heel hook.
As a reminder, William lost to Ronaldo Junior for the inaugural 185-pound title at UFC BJJ 4. On the mic, he therefore asked for another shot. His move to Las Vegas and his work at the UFC Performance Institute helped him recover from his injuries. He now says he is back at his very best.
Fonacier stays unbeaten but meets the judges
Jalen Fonacier owns three of the four fastest submissions in UFC BJJ history. Namely a foot lock and two heel hooks, against Everton Teixeira, Pedro Nakano and Bebeto Oliveira. Yet, for the first time, he had to go to the scorecards. Across from him, Mourece Ramirez, who beat Victor Delibero at UFC BJJ 9, indeed showed remarkable defense and an even more remarkable pain tolerance.
Fifteen minutes of leg hunting
The pattern repeated for fifteen minutes. Fonacier on the mat, hunting legs. Ramirez standing, forced to defend. In the first round, Fonacier first made his opponent roll repeatedly to escape the leg locks. He then capitalized on an escape attempt to take the back. His rear-naked choke, however, was survived until the bell. In the second, more of the same: a leg entanglement off the start, then a beautifully built heel hook. Ramirez nevertheless defused it by rolling toward the slope of the Bowl. In the third, Fonacier kept the pressure on relentlessly. Ramirez absorbed everything until the final buzzer.
In the end, the unanimous decision left no room for debate: Fonacier is 4-0 in the Bowl. On the mic, the bantamweight also owned the change of register. “Everybody wants submissions in seconds. Me, I can go 15 or 30 minutes, you tell me.” In addition, he declared himself a candidate for a future men’s 125-pound division: “I didn’t even need to cut weight for this fight”.
Vagner Rocha, 44, gives a veteran’s masterclass
At middleweight, the veterans’ duel turned into a show of character. At 44, Vagner Rocha keeps earning the respect of the entire division. He has indeed set aside his elite coaching career to compete in the Bowl again. Back up at 185 pounds after his April title loss to Andrew Tackett, he also remains the only man to have taken the champion the distance. Tonight, the Fight Sports Brazilian submitted Andy Varela with a crescent choke at 2:06 of the third round.
A war of attrition won with patience
The first round was a standing war of trenches. Varela’s pressure nearly pushed Rocha out of the Bowl, which drew a wide smile from the Brazilian. Then an accidental thumb to Varela’s eye forced a short break. On the restart, the two wrestlers neutralized each other in the clinch. Neither wanted to pull guard. Each was visibly trying to wear the other down.
In the second, urged by referee Jason Herzog to produce action, Rocha stepped it up. First a takedown on the slope of the Bowl, then hands and head in Varela’s face, and finally uncomfortable top pressure. Varela tried to keep his butterfly guard and almost seemed to enjoy the physical battle. So much so that Herzog called both men to order: “do jiu-jitsu”. Rocha then moved to half guard, and on to mount. He next used a gift-wrap to spin to the back.
Varela went all in early in the third. He grabbed Rocha’s neck off a takedown and cranked on an anaconda choke. The veteran nevertheless survived. Then, once the fight returned to the mat, he slid beautifully over Varela’s butterfly guard. Mount secured, a smothering crescent choke, and the tap at 2:06. On the mic, Rocha finally announced he is chasing UFC BJJ gold in his true division, 185 pounds.
Danielle Kelly wins her debut against Ana Lima
In the opener, Danielle Kelly won her Bowl debut by unanimous decision over Ana Lima. The Brazilian was nevertheless coming off a first-round armbar win over Amanda Mazza at UFC BJJ 9. A clash of styles, then: Kelly’s wrestling pressure against the leg locks and razor locks of the Fight Sports Miami representative.
Three rounds to flip the script
The first round was the hottest for the American. Lima pulled guard immediately and nearly locked a razor lock, which Kelly escaped well. The Brazilian then chained arm attacks from her guard. But Kelly turned the round around in the final seconds with an armbar attack that came very close. Only Lima’s S-grip kept her in the fight.
Boosted by that finish to the round, Kelly then took charge in the second. First a takedown in the center of the Bowl, then top pressure, and finally a knee cut guard pass praised by the commentary team. A leg lock exchange followed, Aoki lock against straight ankle lock. The American came out of it on top.
In the third, she stayed the course. A huge takedown, moreover, nearly sent Lima out of the Bowl. More pressure, a leg entanglement escape rolled perfectly into north-south, then a simultaneous double foot lock at the buzzer. Unanimous decision, and plenty of emotion for the Philadelphia native now based in Austin. A pioneer of women’s grappling on UFC Fight Pass (a 17-second submission of Cynthia Calvillo back in 2019) and a former ONE champion, she finally savored the moment: “a lot of people don’t take me seriously; tonight, I proved them wrong”.
The takeaways: one boss, one shifting hierarchy
Ten events in, one constant: Andrew Tackett is crushing his division. Four defenses, three of them first-round finishes, and callouts that now reach beyond pure grappling. Therefore, the real question is no longer who can beat him at 170 pounds. It is rather which opponent the organization will agree to give him: an ADCC champion, a Ruotolo, or a UFC fighter. On the women’s side, meanwhile, the roster is deepening fast. A new featherweight champion with an ADCC pedigree. A 20-year-old prodigy chasing a historic double. And a Grand Prix final well worth the wait. Four of the night’s eight matches were women’s bouts, and they largely carried the card.
The night’s awards, moreover, confirm that reading. The four “Submission of the Night” prizes, presented by sponsor Hampton Adams, went to Andrew Tackett, Brianna Ste-Marie, Cassia Moura and Vagner Rocha. In other words, two reigning champions, a new champion and a 44-year-old veteran: the full depth of the roster in four faces.
Finally, the night showcased what sets the UFC BJJ ruleset apart. Three fights went to the scorecards, all settled on the 10-point system. Priority goes to submission attempts, then to offensive techniques, then to control of position and pace. For a look at how officiating works on the traditional side, our article on referee gestures and verbal commands covers the IBJJF rulebook. Likewise, every technical term in this article is defined in our BJJ glossary.
Up next: UFC BJJ 11 lands on September 24
The follow-up is close. UFC BJJ 11 is scheduled for Thursday, September 24 at the Meta APEX, once again live and free on YouTube. Headlining, Mikey Musumeci faces UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell in a hotly anticipated featherweight bout. In the co-main event, the light heavyweight title will be on the line between Mason Fowler and Nicholas Rodriguez. France’s Aurelie Le Verne will also be on the card, against Rana Willink at featherweight. Then UFC BJJ 12 follows on October 8, with the lightweight title contested between Renato Canuto and Ethan Crelinstein, a matchup originally booked for this card before being cancelled.
FAQ: UFC BJJ 10 in short
Who won UFC BJJ 10?
Andrew Tackett won the UFC BJJ 10 main event by submitting Jonnatas Gracie with a face crank at 1:44 of the first round. The event took place on August 20, 2026 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Tackett retains the welterweight title for the fourth time. In the co-main event, Brianna Ste-Marie beat Rebeca Lima to become the women’s featherweight champion.
How did Brianna Ste-Marie win the title?
Brianna Ste-Marie submitted defending champion Rebeca Lima with an arm-triangle choke at 1:57 of the second round. She first neutralized the Brazilian’s leg attacks throughout the opening round. She then established the dominant position, locked her arm around the neck from mount and forced the tap.
Who meets in the women’s flyweight Grand Prix final?
Cassia Moura will face Adele Fornarino in the final for the inaugural women’s 125-pound title. Moura, the reigning bantamweight champion, submitted Bre Stikk with a first-round armbar. Fornarino submitted Carol Brunacio with a straight ankle lock, also in the first round. The date of the final has not yet been announced.
Which submissions were rewarded at UFC BJJ 10?
Four “Submission of the Night” awards, presented by sponsor Hampton Adams, were handed out at UFC BJJ 10. They went to Andrew Tackett (face crank), Brianna Ste-Marie (arm-triangle), Cassia Moura (armbar) and Vagner Rocha (crescent choke).
Where can I rewatch UFC BJJ 10?
UFC BJJ 10 aired for free on the UFC BJJ YouTube channel and on UFC Fight Pass. The full event, the in-Bowl interviews and the fight-by-fight recaps remain available as replays. The full video is embedded at the top of this article.
What is the next UFC BJJ event?
UFC BJJ 11 takes place on Thursday, September 24, 2026, live and free on YouTube. Mikey Musumeci faces Bryce Mitchell, and the light heavyweight title is on the line between Mason Fowler and Nicholas Rodriguez. France’s Aurelie Le Verne meets Rana Willink. UFC BJJ 12 follows on October 8 with the lightweight title contested between Renato Canuto and Ethan Crelinstein.