Originally Posted by IronMan @ MMAOpinion

Roger Gracie will have his first bout in Strikeforce on August 15th.

I’ve been debating writing this piece as a part of the “Names to Listen For” column for a little while now, because (to be point black about it) I don’t consider these guys prospects, but I figure it’s important to mention them, because most MMA fans don’t know who they are. For those familiar with the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling scene, I apologize for the over-simplifications and will try my darndest to do justice (in the span of a paragraph apiece) to do justice to the best submission grapplers in MMA.

The name that many MMA fans getting into Strikeforce will start to hear alot is one Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fans have been hearing for a while: Roger Gracie (2-0 MMA). While not, patrilineally, a Gracie, Roger is the son of Reyla Gracie (the daughter of Rolls Gracie) and Mauricio Motta Gomes (one of the six men who recieved blackbelts from the legendary Rolls Gracie). Roger has two wins in MMA, both by submission, but (like all of the fighters I’m going to mention in this piece), his accomplishments in submission grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are far more impressive. His record includes five wins in the blackbelt -97kg division (2004-07, 2009), a win at +97kg (2008) and two open weight division, not to mention that he’s finished either first or second in the Open Weight division at Mundials every year since he got his blackbelt in 2003. Adding in the taking both the 88-98kg and Open Weight divisions at ADCC in 2005 and taking home a superfight title in 2007, it’s hard to dispute that Gracie is the greatest active grappler in heavyweight MMA, and should prove a force as he makes his debut in the Strikeforce organization on August 15th.