UFC color commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan talked about his greatest combat sports moment. Rogan said that a BJJ match dating back to 2003 made the biggest impression on his development.
Joe Rogan is a sports enthusiast, mainly in combat sports such as boxing, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and especially mixed martial arts. Since 2001, the 55-year-old has been commentating for the UFC and has befriended many mixed martial artists.
However, one match that would be hard for him to forget isn’t from an MMA cage. But, a BJJ match instead. During his appearance on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, he recalled the moment with great excitement.
“It was in Brazil in 2003 for the Abu Dhabi world championships. Eddie Bravo was over there competing. That was the year he tapped out Royler Gracie. It was the craziest upset ever. It was insane. He wasn’t even a black belt yet. Eddie was a brown belt. ”
“Royler, who was Royce’s brother, who was more successful even than Royce in jiu-jitsu tournaments. He’s one of the greatest Gracies of all time in terms of his accomplishments in winning world jiu-jitsu tournaments. He was the man. [Eddie got him with a] triangle off his back. It was amazing.” Rogan said.
Rogan is a close friend to Eddie Bravo, who had started a BJJ movement subsequently that broke some of the rules of traditional Gracie jiu-jitsu and had become a polarizing figure.
This match put him on the map and basically prompted him to go from a Rogan sidekick on the Man show to come into his own.
“It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen in my life because for him to go there He was such an underdog. And he had this very strange style of jiu-jitsu that he really formulated.” Rogan said.
He added, “He came up with — it’s not like he invented submissions, but he came up with new ways to set things up that were completely unique to him and his system. That’s how he created the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu. It’s one of the best days of his life. It’s one of the best days of my life.”
After that big victory, Bravo earned a black belt in BJJ and started teaching his own version of of jiu-jitsu.
He had a rematch with Royler Gracie in 2014 that resulted in a draw but was in many ways a moral victory with Bravo catching Gracie in an excruciating leglock while Gracie refused to tap despite a number of audible pops.