BJJ worked in the early UFCs because the Gracies were among the very few competitors who had participated in MMA matches previously (having trained for Vale Tud

BJJ worked in the early UFCs because the Gracies were among the very few competitors who had participated in MMA matches previously (having trained for Vale Tudo matches). A pure BJJ fighter today would get demolished by anyone training for MMA, but arguably Royce wasn't a pure BJJ fighter at the beginning of the UFC. On top of that Severn, Frye, and Coleman all came from western wrestling backgrounds and they did pretty well in UFC...