UFC is launching another combat sports property this week with UFC Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, as the MMA company builds out an increasingly deep moat in the fighting space. When UFC was founded in 1993, BJJ was the discipline of some of the early legends of the sport — including Royce Gracie from the famous Gracie family, who won the UFC 1 tournament. That was the start of what would make it a key part of the lore of the property and what attracted Dana White and the Fertitta brothers to buy UFC for $2M in 2001. But the style, which is heavy on grappling and ground control, has never taken off on its own and is just one of several types of martial arts used in UFC alongside striking, wrestling and others. Now, White is betting that he can make it more of a mainstream attraction, starting UFC BJJ with the first event slated for Wednesday during UFC International Fight Week. It will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass. An accompanying eight-episode reality show, “UFC BJJ: Road to the Title,” began airing on YouTube last week. Multiple divisions will be featured across men’s and women’s competitions, with rankings and champions for each. Matches will have three five-minute rounds and take place at the Apex in Las Vegas. In the combat sports vertical, White is now in MMA with UFC; BJJ with UFC BJJ; slap fighting with Power Slap; and boxing with Zuffa Boxing.

WITH STYLE & GRACIE: White told SBJ that he’s been working to set up this venture for about three years, and that “jiu jitsu is really what got me into this sport.” He said the sport is big globally, “there are big tournaments that go on, guys make lots of money — but it’s very fragmented, so the mainstream people don’t know who these guys are; they’re incredible athletes and amazing role models, just all the things you want in a sport.” Former UFC fighter Claudia Gadelha has been hired as UFC BJJ Senior Dir of Jiu-Jitsu Strategy & Business Development to help oversee the operation. Gadelha, who grew up in a small town in northeast Brazil near the Amazon rainforest, said the sport’s structure and how it’s been officiated over the decades didn’t lend itself to having entertainment value. But she said UFC “definitely has a blueprint of what it takes to turn these athletes that are role models into superstars, so little kids can learn more about jiu-jitsu and learn about a different path to be successful in life and win in life. And when you look at what the UFC did to MMA and even Slap, which is a monster, if we can do that to the sport of MMA and Slap, we will do the same thing to jiu-jitsu and this sport has massive potential.”