Gilbert Burns has picked his two standouts for best jiu-jitsu in the UFC, splitting the honor between MMA application and pure technique.<\/p>\n
The welterweight<\/a> contender named former lightweight<\/a> champion Charles Oliveira as the fighter who best deploys jiu-jitsu in mixed martial arts, while featherweight<\/a> Diego Lopes earned his nod for pure technical grappling. “MMA jiu-jitsu, it’s Charles Oliveira. Pure jiu-jitsu, it’s Diego Lopes,” Burns said, per Sherdog.<\/p>\n Why Oliveira and Lopes Stand Out<\/p>\n Oliveira holds the UFC record for most submission wins with 16 finishes by tap across lightweight<\/a> and featherweight<\/a>, a resume that includes front chokes, guillotines, and rear-naked strangles against top-ranked opposition. Lopes, a featherweight who earned a black belt under Andre Galvao at Atos, has shown crisp transitions and positional control in his UFC run.<\/p>\n Burns himself is a three-time world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has 8 submission wins in the octagon. He trains at Sanford MMA in Florida and has faced welterweight<\/a> title challenger status twice in recent years.<\/p>\n Oliveira fights again in the lightweight title picture later this year, while Lopes is angling for a top-five featherweight matchup after back-to-back wins.<\/p>\n