Described as “America’s jiu-jitsu superhero” by Vice Magazine, Robert Drysdale is a retired mixed martial artist and jiu-jitsu 4th degree black belt. Drysdale won multiple World Championships leading him to be named “the most accomplished American Grappler of his generation” by BJJ Heroes. He is the only American in history to have won the two most prestigious jiu-jitsu titles, the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship and the IBJJF World Championship. He is now an instructor at Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu, his own BJJ academy, and has cultivated a successful coaching career training numerous BJJ and UFC champions including Randy Couture, Dan Hardy, Forrest Griffin, Michelle Nicolini, Frank Mir and many more.

Born in Utah to an American father and Brazilian mother, Drysdale moved to Brazil in 1987 where he spent much of his childhood and was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu. After a brief spell in the states, Drysdale returned to Brazil which was quickly becoming the Mecca for his sport and began training and competing for Brasa Jiu-Jitsu Club in São Paulo, receiving his Black Belt from the legendary Léo Vieira. Drysdale went to win multiple world and national titles and became only the 2nd US national after BJ Penn to win a IBJJF black belt World title.

Drysdale made his successful professional MMA debut in 2010 defeating Bastien Huveneers and in 2016 became the Legacy Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight Champion. He retired from MMA in 2019, and in addition to running his own academy also works as a sports commentator reporting in both English and Portuguese.