UFC 153 Fight Card: Demian Maia and the 10 Best Grapplers in the UFC

Saturday night marks the return of Demian Maia, a highly regarded jiu-jitsu practitioner who won his first five UFC contests via submission. Few have ever scored five submissions inside the Octagon, let alone in successive bouts.

Maia is undoubtedly one of the best grapplers that the sport has ever seen and possibly the best on the current UFC roster. However, there are lots of guys who members of the UFC elite wouldn't dream of rolling on the mat with. 

In preparation for his welterweight battle with Rick Story, here is a look at Maia and the 10 best grapplers currently in the UFC.

This list focuses on pure grappling ability more than grappling for MMA. In the event that two fighters were ranked too closely to separate them, the benefit of the doubt went to the fighter with better pure grappling credentials.

Brian Ebersole

Credentials: 

NCAA Division I wrestler
Twenty submission victories 

Similar to Matt Hughes, Brian Ebersole is a fighter who technically doesn't have a black belt in jiu-jitsu, although his skills are on par with the best in the business. His submission defense against TJ Waldburger was some of the finest ground work displayed in the UFC.

Not only does Ebersole have 20 victories by way of submission, he also won decisions against notable grapplers such as Waldburger, Carlos Newton, Chris Lytle and Claude Patrick.

Dong Hyun Kim

Credentials: 

Judo 4th dan black belt
One submission victory
Four UFC decision victories

The judo of Dong Hyun Kim is frightening. If you need evidence of that, look at the photo on this slide and imagine how the Korean stud was able to put Sean Pierson in such a position.

Using aggressive clinch work and judo throws efficiently, Kim raked in decision victories over notable grapplers Nate Diaz and TJ Grant, which scream in favor of his grappling excellence.

Jon Fitch

Credentials:

Guerrilla jiu-jitsu black belt
Four submission victories
Thirteen decision victories

Some consider American Kickboxing Academy's Jon Fitch to be a wet blanket who throws weak punches from guard without trying to finish or improve position. Regardless of the legitimacy of that statement, it's clear that Fitch has an incredible top game that has flustered any man unfortunate enough to experience it.

Georges St-Pierre

Credentials: 

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
Gaidojutsu black belt 
Five submission victories
Nine decision victories

It would be great to include credentials regarding Georges St-Pierre and his incredible wrestling. However, the Canadian phenom has no official credentials, as he did not wrestle in high school or college.

Under Greg Jackson, "Rush" holds the rare rank of Gaidojutsu black belt, which has served him well in his MMA career. GSP is one of a few men to ever submit Matt Hughes, and he is the only man to dominate BJ Penn on the ground for an entire fight.

BJ Penn

Credentials: 

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
Six submission wins

Grappling Awards:

• CBJJ World Championships
  • 2000–Black Belt Pena: First Place
  • 1999–Brown Belt Leve: Third Place
  • 1998–Blue Belt Pena: Second Place
• CBJJ Brazilian Team Championships
  • 2000–Marrom Preta Leve: First Place
• Other Credentials
  • Grapplers Quest Lightweight Championship Superfight winner
  • 1997 Joe Moreira Tournament: Blue Belt, First Place
  • 1999 Copa Pacific Tournament: Gold Medal

With a black belt under Andre Pederneiras, lightweight BJ Penn was considered to be the best MMA grappler in the world after back-to-back submission wins over Takanori Gomi and Matt Hughes.

Penn also has excellent boxing skills, which has led to an equally impressive resume in terms of knockouts, but jiu-jitsu is the bread and butter of "The Prodigy."

Jake Shields

Credentials: 
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
NCAA Division II wrestler
Ten submission victories
Fifteen decision victories 

When Ed Herman instigates a takedown, his opponent is typically in trouble. Herman is a notable grappler with solid submission skills. When he attempted to out-grapple Jake Shields, however, he found himself outclassed for three rounds.

Shields holds wins over many notable mat technicians, including Dan Henderson, Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit and Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Prior to his time as Strikeforce middleweight champion, Shields won grappling matches against UFC notables Jon Fitch and Diego Sanchez, submitting the former via rear-naked choke. 

Frank Mir

Credentials: 

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
1998 Nevada state wrestling champion
Two Submission of the Night awards
Nine submission wins
Two decision wins 
2008 submission of the year
2011 submission of the year
Fastest submission in UFC heavyweight history

What can be said about the grappling abilities of Frank Mir that has yet to be said? With eight submission wins in the UFC, fans have witnessed Mir earning the tapout from the likes of Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar and even the famed Minotauro Nogueira. 

Mir is seen by many as the best submission artist in the history of the heavyweight division. In terms of MMA grappling, that might be true. However, there are a few names who deserve a higher ranking in terms of true grappling ability.

Demian Maia

Credentials: 

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 3rd degree Black Belt
Eight submission victories
Four submission of the night awards 

Grappling Awards:

• ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships
  • 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling Gold Medalist
  • 2005 ADCC Submission Wrestling Silver Medalist
• Super Challenge
  • 2007 Super Challenge under 83 kg Champion
• Pan American Championship
  • 2006 Pan American Champion
• World Cup
  • Three-time World Cup champion
• CBJJ World Championships
  • Two-time World Champion
• CBJJ Brazilian Championships
  • Brazilian champion
  • Seven-time State champion
• CBJJ Brazilian Team Championships
  • Four-time Brazilian team champion

Maia is, by many, the best grappler in mixed martial arts, and you've got to wonder how a welterweight bout with Rick Story is going to play out. After all, Story has a high fight IQ and will certainly refrain from his usual grappling-heavy assault.

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report MMA for all things UFC 153.

Ronaldo Souza

Credentials: 

Judo black belt
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
Twelve submission victories
Three decision victories 

Grappling Awards:

• ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship:
  2011 Superfight Runner-up
  2009 Superfight Champion
  2005 87 kg Gold Medalist
  2005 Open Weight Silver Medalist
  2003 87 kg Silver Medalist 

• CBJJ World Championships:
  2005 Medium Heavy: First Place
  2005 Open Weight: First Place
  2004 Medium Heavy: Second Place
  2004 Open Weight: First Place
  2003 Medium Heavy: First Place
  2003 Open Weight: First Place

• CBJJ Pan American Championships:
  2004 Medium Heavy: Second Place
  2004 Open Weight: First Place

• CBJJ European Championships:
  2005 Medium Heavy: First Place
  2005 Open Weight: Second Place

• BJJ World Cup:
  2005: Second Place
  2005: First Place 

With the impending doom of Strikeforce looming, I'm going to go ahead and count Ronaldo Souza as a member of the UFC roster.

Souza is one of three men to ever submit four-time ADCC champion Marcelo Garcia in no-gi competition. Garcia is known to many as the greatest pound-for-pound grappler in history.

Fabricio Werdum

Credentials: 

Brazilian jiu-jitsu 2nd degree black belt
Judo black belt
Eight submission wins
2010 submission of the year

Grappling Awards:

• International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation
  • 2004 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Black Belt Gold Medalist
  • 2003 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Black Belt Absolute Bronze Medalist
  • 2003 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Black Belt Gold Medalist
  • 2003 Pan American Championships Black Belt Absolute Silver Medalist
  • 2003 Pan American Championships Black Belt Bronze Medalist
  • 2002 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Brown Belt Bronze Medalist
  • 2002 Pan American Championships Brown Belt Gold Medalist
  • 2001 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Purple Belt Silver Medalist
  • 2001 Pan American Championships Purple Belt Absolute Gold Medalist
  • 2001 Pan American Championships Purple Belt Gold Medalist
  • 2000 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Blue Belt Absolute Gold Medalist
  • 2000 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Blue Belt Gold Medalist
  • 2000 Pan American Championships Blue Belt Gold Medalist

• Abu Dhabi Combat Club
  • 2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling Silver Medalist
  • 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling Gold Medalist
  • 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling Gold Medalist
  • 2005 ADCC Submission Wrestling Bronze Medalist
  • 2003 ADCC Submission Wrestling Absolute Bronze Medalist
  • 2003 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships Silver Medalist

Not only is Fabricio Werdum one of the most gifted jiu-jitsu players in the world, he has a black belt in judo to supplement his grappling abilities. 

If that's not enough to make him one of the most dangerous men to ever step foot in the Octagon, Werdum also has a black belt in muay thai under Rafael Cordeiro.

Combat sambo submission machine Fedor Emelianenko found out how deadly Werdum's submission skills were when Vai Cavalo needed only 69 seconds to become the only man to ever submit the Russian legend.