Robert Drysdale recently shared his perspective on the origins of the UFC and its connection to BJJ – offering a take on Rorion Gracie’s long-term vision.

Speaking on the Jiu-Jitsu Revolution Podcast, Drysdale pointed out that Rorion spent years in the United States before ever launching the UFC:

Rorion Gracie, the founder of the UFC, he moved to California… late ’70s… And he doesn’t start the UFC until 1993, so he had been there for 14, 15 years and he had not pulled the trigger on MMA.

Instead, Rorion initially focused on promoting Jiu-Jitsu through other methods:

He was trying to promote Jiu-Jitsu through other means, dojo storming, you know, Hollywood movies.
An MMA event like the UFC was not something on his radar.

According to Drysdale, the turning point came from events in Brazil, from early televised challenges:

I think Rorion got the inspiration from that.
“Okay, if it’s working in Brazil, imagine what we would do in California or in the United States.”

I think they were watching these things. This is how we got to sell it to the world…
“We’re going to create a real life blood sport and we’re going to call it the UFC.”

However, his most controversial claim centered on Rorion’s commitment to MMA itself:

I don’t think Rorion ever fully believed in MMA as a sport in itself, because the first opportunity he had, he sold the UFC for a million dollars…

It’s like a multi-billion dollar business. They sold it for a million bucks.
Because if you’re selling that for a million bucks, what you’re doing is, I’m good, I don’t want nothing to do with this.

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