Today’s “Before They Were Stars” segment features arguably one of the best MMA champions of all time Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in a submission grappling match. This video features a twenty-three year old Nogueira (prior to his Pride debut) and David Dodd (Arizona Combat Sports) at the 1999 US trials for entrance to the Abu Dhabi tournament. Enjoy this classic match!

For this week’s Before They Were Stars segment, we feature the 4x Absolute World Champion Roger Gracie as a purple belt. In this match, you can see that while his jiu jitsu was very good, he was still trying to find a niche for himself. Enjoy this rare look into Roger’s past!

A Vintage BJJ match between Matt Serra (Renzo Gracie) and Babs Olusanmokun (Alliance NYC). At the time, the rivalry between the two schools was fierce. This match was the “match to end all matches” to establish BJJ dominance in NYC. Continue reading →