UFC BJJ 10 Brings Three Title Fights Back to the APEX This August

Three belts are on the line when UFC BJJ 10 lands at Meta APEX on August 20, and a reigning ADCC double gold medalist is skipping her own world championship to be on the card.

UFC BJJ Returns to the APEX on August 20

The UFC's dedicated no-gi grappling series is back for a tenth edition, and it is once again happening inside Meta APEX, the same production space the promotion uses for its regular fight cards. UFC BJJ 10 is set for Thursday, August 20, and the card streams for free on the UFC BJJ YouTube channel starting at 5 p.m. Pacific. There is no pay-per-view paywall involved, which has been part of the appeal since the series launched, letting casual fans and hardcore competition nerds watch the same broadcast.

For anyone training around Las Vegas, another live grappling event on the local calendar is a nice excuse to sharpen up before the cameras roll. A handful of the announced competitors either live in the city full time or run fight camps through its open mat scene, so the card carries a bit more local flavor than the typical touring grappling event.

Three Titles Change Hands or Get Defended

The headline attraction is a welterweight title defense, with reigning champion Andrew Tackett facing new challenger Jonnatas Gracie in the main event. Two more championship bouts round out the top of the card. Reigning featherweight champion Rebeca Lima defends against Brianna Ste-Marie, who is making her UFC BJJ debut directly in a title fight, a rare and pressure-filled way to introduce yourself to a promotion.

The lightweight strap is also up for grabs, with Ethan Crelinsten taking on Renato Canuto in a matchup UFC.com framed simply as "two of the world's most exciting submission artists" squaring off. Three title fights on one card is more than any single UFC BJJ event has carried this year, and it gives the show a heavier stake-driven feel than the usual mix of prospect showcases.

Fornarino Trades ADCC for the APEX

The most interesting subplot involves Adele Fornarino, the reigning ADCC double gold medalist at 55 kilograms. Rather than defend her titles at the 2026 ADCC World Championship in September, she has been pulled from that roster because her UFC BJJ contract has her booked against Carol Brunacio on the August 20 card instead. Fornarino's ADCC slot went to trials silver medalist Valerie Wong Hamilton.

It is a small but telling sign of where professional grappling is heading. UFC BJJ has increasingly enforced exclusivity clauses in its contracts, and reports around the ADCC 2026 roster changes noted that not a single reigning UFC BJJ champion is currently entered in this year's ADCC field. Competitors who used to freely move between the two biggest stages in the sport are now being asked to pick a lane, and Fornarino choosing her contracted promotion over her own world title defense shows how firmly that line is being drawn.

What It Means for Local Training

None of this changes what happens on the mats at your own gym, but watching a card built around three title fights is a good reminder of how much of high-level no-gi grappling still comes down to fundamentals: hand fighting for grips, controlling hips before chasing a finish, and staying patient in scrambles rather than forcing a submission. Those are the same details a white belt drills in a Tuesday night fundamentals class near the Strip.

If a card like UFC BJJ 10 gets you curious about what it actually feels like to hunt for a guillotine or defend a leg entanglement instead of just watching one on a screen, that curiosity is worth acting on. A single trial class at a Las Vegas jiu-jitsu gym is a low-pressure way to see how those techniques translate once you are the one on the mat.

The Full UFC BJJ 10 Lineup So Far

Here is every matchup UFC.com has announced for the August 20 card at Meta APEX.

1. Andrew Tackett vs. Jonnatas Gracie: Welterweight title main event, Tackett's first defense against a new-look challenger.
2. Rebeca Lima vs. Brianna Ste-Marie: Featherweight title co-main; Ste-Marie challenges in her promotional debut.
3. Ethan Crelinsten vs. Renato Canuto: Lightweight title fight between two well-regarded submission hunters.
4. Adele Fornarino vs. Carol Brunacio: Women's featherweight bout that pulled Fornarino away from her ADCC title defense.
5. Cassia Moura vs. Bre Stikk: Women's flyweight matchup adding depth to the women's side of the card.
6. William Tackett vs. Fedor Nikolov: Middleweight bout featuring a competitor who has made Las Vegas his training base.
7. Vagner Rocha vs. Andy Varela: A second middleweight pairing rounding out that division on the card.
8. Ana Lima vs. Danielle Kelly: Women's strawweight bout closing out the currently announced matchups.

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