Hironaka has black belts in both BJJ (which he picked up in five years, almost unheard of in Japan) and Judo (which he has been training at for over 15 years. While it’s hard to track his competition record in Japan on the grappling circuit, he has a very high profile win over Jean Jacques Machado at LA Sub X where it is fair to say he controlled the match handily. With a current record of 11-5 only four of those victories have come by way of submission (36%)

Demian Maia is among the most accomplished BJJ stylists to ever enter the octagon, and a candidate among many to be the best pound for pound BJJ stylists on the circuit now. Representing Brasa, Demian is the current ADCC 87K champion. He also has numerous BJJ Black Belt titles and significant wins. He currently has a perfect 7-0 record in MMA, five of those victories by submission (71%) As one of the highest profile and most skilled BJJ stylists competing in MMA we’re definitely following him closely.

In addition to the above mentioned fighters, there was one more highly touted BJJ black belt involved with the broadcast:

Kenny Florian is a black belt under Roberto Maia and has been a long time personal friend of OntheMat. Prior to entering MMA, Kenny was extremely active on the grappling circuit all over the world, and traveled back and forth between his native Boston and Brazil at least a dozen times for training and competition. Kenny was always known for being a game competitor, competing (and winning) many absolute tournaments, thus it was no surprise when he made it the finals of the first Ultimate Fighter reality show, competing two weight classes above his natural category where he would finally settle. Since making his mark in the UFC, Kenny has not competed in a submission only tournament concentrating on his MMA skillset. With a record of 9-3 five of those victories are by submission (55%)