One of the top grappling competitors in the world, Robert Drysdale is also a light heavyweight prospect in the sport of mixed martial arts. Born in the United States, Drysdale moved to Brazil at age six before returning to Las Vegas in 1999. Drysdale then went on to establish himself as one of the biggest superstars in the grappling world before turning his attention to MMA. Still based out of Las Vegas, Drysdale made his professional debut in 2010 and holds immense potential as an MMA fighter.

Drysdale began training BJJ in 1998 under Lewis-Perderneiras, and in 2004 was awarded his black belt while training in Sao Paulo, Brazil (with the Brasa Club) by Lew Vieira. Since then and as a BJJ stylist, Drysdale has earned a reputation as being one of the very best pure grapplers on the planet (and arguably ever). The accomplishments and accolades Drysdale’s received over his career have been numerous and at the highest level of competition (full list here http://www.robertdrysdale.net/ index.php/bio-a-titles.html). Among them, he is a former ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champion (he also won a Bronze), a four time BJJ World Champion (in addition to three 2nd place finished and one third), and a four-time Brazilian National Champion – amongst countless other awards and accolades. As a jiu jitsu practitioner, “world class” and “elite” are the only appropriate terms to describe the quality of Drysdale’s ground game. Incredibly gifted, both his submission and positional games are top notch. Drysdale has a tremendous understanding of the technical nuances of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and is respected as a coach almost as much as he is a competitor. Although grappling success doesn’t automatically translate to the same in mixed martial arts, Drysdale’s talent level in undeniable. He will need to continue acclimating himself to the striking aspect of MMA as well as the fact opponents will be avoiding the ground at all costs, but given his grappling pedigree there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about his future as a fighter.