UFC BJJ 11 Results: Musumeci vs Mitchell Full Recap

A champion stripped of his leg locks, already announcing his move to MMA. Then a title kept on a draw nobody saw coming, and a Frenchwoman getting her season back on track. UFC BJJ 11 delivered a packed night on September 24 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Full results, fight-by-fight analysis and takeaways from the eleventh night in the Bowl.

Fifteen minutes. That is how long Mikey Musumeci needed to get past Bryce Mitchell, without ever getting the tap. A first for the bantamweight champion, who had won all four of his previous Bowl outings by submission. The UFC fighter went the distance, helped by an unusual pact: no leg lock submissions for “Darth Rigatoni”. In the co-main event, the light heavyweight title produced the most surprising verdict of the night. Mason Fowler keeps his belt against Nick Rodriguez on a split draw. The card also featured the return of Aurelie Le Vern and the debuts of two athletes discovered through the UFC BJJ Open series. Eight matches, three submissions: here is everything you need to know.

A major change for the series: UFC BJJ 11 was no longer streamed for free on YouTube. The event was reserved for UFC Fight Pass subscribers, with the platform now offering a dedicated jiu-jitsu plan. The full replay remains available there.

Who won the UFC BJJ 11 main event?

Mikey Musumeci beat Bryce Mitchell by unanimous decision after three rounds. The bantamweight champion moved up to 145 pounds for the occasion, with his belt not on the line. Across from him stood an active UFC fighter, heavier, stronger, and above all protected by a pre-fight agreement: Musumeci had promised not to hunt leg lock submissions. The result was a tactical, sometimes puzzling match, and the first judges’ decision in the career of the 135-pound king. A match Musumeci nevertheless described at the press conference as “probably my favorite match ever in UFC BJJ”.

The leg lock pact, and a crowd that booed

The first round immediately set up the misunderstanding. Musumeci grabbed a leg within seconds. The Meta APEX crowd, convinced he was breaking his word, booed him loudly. In reality the champion was using leg locks purely to sweep and improve position, never to finish. Mitchell, for his part, looked hesitant to fully engage every time Musumeci had hold of his foot. The fight then settled into the Italian-American’s guard, with Mitchell on top applying pressure.

It was from there that Musumeci landed his first big blow. After another sweep, he locked up a head-and-arm choke, an anaconda according to Musumeci himself, that had Mitchell gasping for air. The UFC fighter held on and escaped, though he admitted backstage he thought he was going out. Musumeci immediately switched to a tight guillotine, also defended. As the ten-second clapper sounded, the champion used the slope of the Bowl to hit an arm drag and a takedown just before the horn.

A patient second round

Mitchell opened the second round by ignoring Musumeci’s low-five, then stalking him around the Bowl. The action went back to the mat with the UFC fighter on top. Another leg lock used as leverage let Musumeci regain the initiative and go back on the attack. Mitchell stayed composed, defended well, then settled back into the champion’s guard. Musumeci pushed for a finish late in the round. He never managed to isolate an arm.

Flying triangle, power slam and back take

The third round was the roughest. Mitchell attacked from the start by grinding his head into Musumeci’s face, until referee Vitor Ribeiro stepped in. On the restart, the champion attempted a flying triangle. Mitchell punished it with a heavy slam. Musumeci then took back control of the match. Following his teammate William Tackett’s instructions to the letter, he found his opponent’s back.

With a body triangle locked in, he hunted the rear-naked choke for a long stretch. Mitchell defended his hands diligently. Musumeci transitioned to an armbar, but the UFC fighter stayed compact and never let the arm extend. Sean Strickland, in Mitchell’s corner, spent the round bantering with Musumeci and the crowd. One last exchange saw Mitchell charge in to put the champion on the mat in the closing seconds. After fifteen minutes of back-and-forth, the judges gave Musumeci the win.

At the mic: two takedowns, a popping knee and the call of MMA

The press conference was as revealing as the match. Musumeci explained that for once he wanted to have fun rather than “finish the person as fast as I can, like a robot”. Above all he savored his two takedowns, the first he has landed in competition since age 14, sixteen years without a single wrestling move in a match. A mental breakthrough for the man nicknamed the “butt scooter”: “I hit the takedown and I’m like, wait, I could do this.” He also owned up to one mistake, the jumping guillotine in round three that got him slammed: “I didn’t know that was a thing.”

On the first-round boos, he confirmed he never attacked the leg to finish: the grip was only there to sweep, “just like a single leg or a double leg”. The crowd still created a mental loop, to the point where he let go of the leg every time he caught it. Mitchell, annoyed in the moment, later acknowledged there had been no foul play. Musumeci also stressed his opponent’s physical strength, unable to pry his arms open on the armbars, and revealed his knee popped three times when he tried to lift Mitchell from an omoplata. A minor sprain, according to him, nothing serious.

After UFC BJJ 11: MMA next, and a belt to vacate

The big news concerns what comes next. Musumeci trains MMA every day at Syndicate under John Wood and promises a first fight in the cage before the end of the year, “probably by November, December”, at flyweight (125 pounds), a division where he twice won the IBJJF Worlds as a black belt. He plans to sit down with Hunter Campbell and Claudia Gadelha in the coming days to discuss vacating his bantamweight belt. “I’ve already won every title I wanted in jiu-jitsu in my weight class,” he summed up, saying he now prefers MMA-style matches against names like Arman Tsarukyan or Brian Ortega. Mitchell, meanwhile, offered to host him at his farm in Arkansas to work on striking. The two look set to become training partners.

Fowler keeps his title on a split draw

The UFC BJJ 11 co-main event produced the strangest ending of the night, and the Match of the Night according to the promotion. Mason Fowler defended his light heavyweight belt against Nick Rodriguez, CJI champion and one of the best no-gi grapplers on the planet. After three hard-fought rounds, the judges could not separate the two men. Split draw, and the champion keeps his title. A verdict that visibly surprised both athletes, with Rodriguez having dominated the end of the match.

A first round for the champion

First, Fowler pulled guard and the fight hit the mat immediately. While Rodriguez probed for an opening, the champion exploded out from underneath and took the back superbly. Settled in back control, he took his time, then launched a sequence that forced Rodriguez to defend through the transitions as the pair rolled across the Bowl. The challenger eventually got his back to the mat and brought Fowler into his guard. The pace dropped through the end of the round.

Rodriguez takes over

The second round swung Nicky Rod’s way. He punished an omoplata sweep attempt from Fowler by moving into half guard. As the ten-second clapper sounded, he tried to lock up a choke. Fowler answered with a theatrical gesture, arms spread wide, to show the judges he was in no danger. Everything was still to play for in the third.

Rodriguez wasted no time. An immediate shot, a pace imposed, and Fowler forced to work off his back. The challenger passed into mount, then side control, showcasing his dominance. With a minute left, back to mount and a choke locked in. Fowler avoided the submission. His applause as he stood up after the horn looked like that of a man who believed he had lost his belt.

A verdict that satisfies no one

Then came the surprise: split draw. One judge for each athlete, one for a tie. In the event of a draw, the champion keeps his belt. Fowler therefore stays on top of the 205-pound division by the slimmest of margins. The debate is open on how the first round was scored, where the champion’s back take likely weighed heavily. A rematch looks inevitable.

Aurelie Le Vern bounces back at UFC BJJ 11

The former featherweight champion was back in the Bowl for the first time since losing her title at UFC BJJ 7. Against Rana Willink, the Frenchwoman delivered a dominant performance, sealed by a unanimous decision. The expected rebound, even without the submission.

First, Le Vern spent the first round on the attack, chaining submission attempts. Willink proved a tough customer on the ground. In the second, the Frenchwoman changed tempo: less raw energy, more method. The adjustment paid off. She calmly took Willink’s back, then transitioned step by step toward the arm. Willink resisted solidly, drawing applause from a knowledgeable crowd for her escape. Le Vern kept the pressure on, isolated the right arm and extended a straight armlock at the horn. Saved by the bell, as the promotion put it on social media.

A one-sided third round

The third round opened with a big slam off the slope of the Bowl. Le Vern then moved to mount, then to the back, locking in a dominant position within seconds. Willink, on defense for almost the entire match, nearly surprised her opponent with a leg attack, but lacked the angle to finish. In the final minute, the Frenchwoman went back on the offensive without finding the finish. Logically, the unanimous decision was hers. As a result, the Guianese is back in the 145-pound title picture.

Jay Rodriguez calls his submission, then delivers it

At middleweight, Jay Rodriguez made a statement on his return to the Bowl at UFC BJJ 11. He had announced before the match that he would finish Kevin Beuhring with an inverted D’Arce. That is exactly what he did, at 2:54 of the second round. A commanding win, rewarded with Submission of the Night honors, that puts him straight into the conversation for the 185-pound title.

Rodriguez took the initiative from the start. Conversely, Beuhring preferred to play off his back and wait for a mistake. The opening was so passive that referee Jason Herzog stood both men up. J-Rod kept pushing, with Beuhring operating almost exclusively on the mat. A late guard pass gave the former a positional advancement that likely secured him the round.

In the second round, Rodriguez maintained the pressure. A smart guard pass took him to mount against a still-defensive Beuhring. He then locked up his inverted D’Arce and forced the tap. At the mic, he called for a title shot against Ronaldo Junior, the reigning middleweight champion.

Pedro Machado wins, Lucas Norat refuses to tap

Former light heavyweight title challenger Pedro Machado returned to the win column at UFC BJJ 11. He dominated compatriot Lucas Norat over three intense rounds without ever getting the tap. Unanimous decision for Machado, and a special mention for Norat’s resistance.

The first round started at full speed. Midway through, Machado locked up an armbar that looked decisive. Norat escaped with remarkable technique. He then countered with a heel hook attempt in the final seconds, but ran out of time to line it up properly.

The second round belonged to Machado. After a cagey start, he took Norat’s back and spent two and a half minutes working toward a rear-naked choke. Then he switched targets in a flash: a swift transition to the armbar, arm extended, Norat in deep trouble. The tap looked like a formality. Norat ignored the pain and escaped yet again, to everyone’s astonishment, just before the end of the round.

The third round mirrored the first two: attack versus defense. Machado chained a kimura, an armbar and a triangle, all defended. Norat’s defense commands respect, but it earns no points under UFC BJJ rules. Machado’s relentless submission attempts rightly earned him the decision.

Jordan Holy turns Ryan Elgarico around over the distance

Texan featherweight Jordan Holy had to weather a fast start from Ryan Elgarico before turning the match around. Unanimous decision after three rounds with a reversed script: a first round for Elgarico, then two rounds of Holy dominance.

At first, Elgarico came out fast, switching positions constantly to get past Holy’s guard. The Texan chose to bide his time and counter his opponent’s risk-taking. As he began hunting a heel hook, Elgarico exploded out and landed in side control. A guillotine, then a tightened anaconda choke. Admittedly, Holy escaped well, but Elgarico kept the pressure on until the horn.

The second round was a different story. Holy took control of the pace and racked up submission attempts. He targeted Elgarico’s legs relentlessly, kneebars and heel hooks throughout the round. A late heel hook visibly hurt the Red Hawk Academy product, who gritted his teeth until the buzzer. One round apiece, everything rode on the third.

Holy went back to his heel hook from the start, without success. He then dominated from top position, slowly and methodically. A transition to the back, hooks in, and patient hand-fighting in search of a rear-naked choke. He eventually changed angle and came close to a last-gasp armbar at the buzzer. That late surge convinced the judges, unanimous in favor of the Texan.

Mason Stritzel, 18, from the UFC BJJ Open to a heel hook

Less than two months ago, Mason Stritzel was competing at a UFC BJJ Open test event in Chicago. His performances caught the eye of the UFC BJJ brass, who offered him a spot on this card. At 18, fresh out of high school, the bantamweight seized his chance: a heel hook win over Seve Zazueta at 4:06 of the second round.

Stritzel attacked immediately, grabbing Zazueta’s leg to create an opening. Zazueta worked free, then kept his opponent stacked for most of the round. The young American never looked overawed by the occasion or the pressure.

In the second round, Stritzel went straight to the mat to initiate a leg entanglement. Zazueta smartly evaded it and settled into his guard. He had to avoid a triangle, then a triangle armbar, constantly changing his point of attack against a very tight guard. Zazueta never found the opening. Stritzel, meanwhile, eventually worked himself into position to lock up a heel hook. An immediate tap, and a dream debut in the Bowl for the youngest athlete on the card.

Daniel Deeder finishes Kolby Gonzalez with a brutal kimura

The other UFC BJJ Open recruit, welterweight Daniel Deeder, also made a winning debut. It took until the third round for an opening to appear against Kolby Gonzalez, just 16 years old. A kimura at 2:20, an ending that made the whole Meta APEX wince, and the second Submission of the Night award handed out by the promotion.

Deeder jumped guard from the outset. Meanwhile, Gonzalez, composed, settled into half guard. After a period of inactivity, referee Ricardo Almeida stood both men up. Deeder then attempted a flying reverse guard entry and caught Gonzalez’s foot for a toe hold. The teenager stayed compact and neutralized the attack. Deeder switched targets to an armlock, again defended cleanly.

In the second round, Gonzalez attempted a flying back take. Deeder saw it coming and evaded it, then wagged a disapproving finger at the youngster. Gonzalez turned to his wrestling to put Deeder on the mat, right on the slope of the Bowl. Another Almeida restart, and Gonzalez went looking for an arm-triangle from the top. Deeder got out, then began working a footlock at the buzzer.

The third round looked like a stalemate, Gonzalez on top, Deeder patient. Then the opening came. Deeder grabbed the teenager’s left arm and torqued it into a kimura of rare violence. Gonzalez did not tap. Deeder kept adding pressure until the arm gave way, forcing the stoppage. A brutal ending that reopens the debate on the age of athletes allowed into the Bowl.

UFC BJJ 11 takeaways: the Bowl enters a new era

Eleven events in, and three strong signals to take from UFC BJJ 11. The first is sporting: Musumeci showed he can dominate without his leg locks, but he also lost his aura of invincibility. Fifteen minutes without a tap against an MMA fighter is a first in his UFC BJJ run. And if his statements hold, this may have been the bantamweight champion’s last match in the Bowl in this form, with his belt set to be put back in play when he leaves for MMA. The second is about officiating: the Fowler-Rodriguez draw raises the question of how close rounds are judged, and of the rule that favors the champion in a tie. The third is structural: the UFC BJJ Open series works as a talent pipeline. Two recruits, two submissions, one of them rewarded.

The night also underlined what sets the UFC BJJ ruleset apart. Five of the eight matches went to the judges, all scored on the 10-point system. Submission attempts come first, then offensive techniques, then control. That is what cost Lucas Norat the win despite a heroic defense. To compare with the IBJJF logic, our article on point scoring in BJJ breaks down both systems.

Fight Pass: the gateway narrows

Then there is the broadcasting question, and here it is hard not to voice a regret. The free live stream on YouTube was UFC BJJ’s great strength: elite matches accessible to everyone, including the curious who had never watched jiu-jitsu in their lives. By moving to Fight Pass, the promotion chooses direct monetization. Understandable from a business standpoint, but a shame for the sport. The Bowl had become a gateway to BJJ for an audience far wider than practitioners. That gateway has just partly closed.

UFC BJJ’s end-of-year calendar

The promotion unveiled its schedule through December the day after the event. Three numbered events are planned at Meta APEX: UFC BJJ 12 on October 8, with the lightweight title on the line between Renato Canuto and Ethan Crelinstein, then UFC BJJ 13 on October 29 and UFC BJJ 14 on December 3. In parallel, the UFC BJJ Open, the open circuit that unearthed Stritzel and Deeder, stops in Fort Lauderdale on September 26 and 27, Indianapolis on October 24 and 25, and Denver on November 21 and 22.

Until then, test your knowledge of the series with our BJJ quizzes, and look up every technical term in this article in our BJJ glossary.

FAQ: UFC BJJ 11 in brief

Who won UFC BJJ 11?

Mikey Musumeci won the UFC BJJ 11 main event by unanimous decision over UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell. The event took place on September 24, 2026 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. The bantamweight champion competed at 145 pounds with his title not on the line. In the co-main event, Mason Fowler retained the light heavyweight title on a split draw against Nick Rodriguez.

Why didn’t Musumeci use leg locks against Mitchell?

The two athletes had made an agreement before the match: Musumeci committed to not hunting leg lock submissions. He kept that promise for all three rounds. He did, however, use leg lock entries to sweep and improve position, which drew boos from the crowd in the first round. His real finishing attacks came through the anaconda, the guillotine, the rear-naked choke and the armbar.

Is Mikey Musumeci moving to MMA?

Yes, according to his own statements at the press conference. Musumeci trains MMA at Syndicate in Las Vegas and announced a first fight before the end of 2026, probably in November or December, at flyweight (125 pounds). He plans to talk with the UFC about vacating his UFC BJJ bantamweight belt.

Why does Mason Fowler keep his title after a draw?

The judges returned a split draw: one judge for Fowler, one for Rodriguez, one for a tie. In a championship match, a draw means the champion retains his belt. Fowler therefore remains light heavyweight champion despite a third round dominated by Rodriguez. The bout was named Match of the Night by the promotion, and a rematch looks likely.

How did Aurelie Le Vern do at UFC BJJ 11?

France’s Aurelie Le Vern beat Rana Willink by unanimous decision. She dominated all three rounds, with several back takes and repeated arm attacks, without getting the tap. It was her first match since losing her featherweight title to Rebeca Lima at UFC BJJ 7.

Where can I watch the replay, and what is the next event?

Unlike previous events, UFC BJJ 11 was not streamed for free on YouTube. The event was reserved for UFC Fight Pass subscribers, where the full replay remains available. The next event, UFC BJJ 12, is scheduled for October 8, 2026 with the lightweight title between Renato Canuto and Ethan Crelinstein. UFC BJJ 13 follows on October 29 and UFC BJJ 14 on December 3.

Read next

To keep the night going: UFC BJJ 10: full results, analysis and takeaways, our profile of Aurelie Le Vern and all our UFC BJJ coverage.

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