Robert Drysdale is an American and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, a world champion in both the gi and ADCC, and an author and filmmaker who researches the history of the art. His social channels cover teaching, competition and that historical research.
Background and lineage
Drysdale was born on 5 October 1981 in Provo, Utah. He started training in 1998 at Quatro Tempos Academy in Itú, São Paulo, and Léo Vieira awarded his black belt in 2004. He is a fourth-degree black belt under Vieira.
Competition highlights
- IBJJF World Championship (2005): black belt gold, making him the second American to win a black belt world title after BJ Penn.
- ADCC (2007): won the absolute division, submitting Marcelo Garcia in just over two minutes.
- MMA: a 7–0 record with every win by submission, plus one no contest. A 2014 UFC win over Keith Berish was overturned after a failed drug test. He won the Legacy FC light-heavyweight title in 2016 and retired in 2019.
Academies
Drysdale opened Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu in Las Vegas in 2008, and Wikipedia says it still operates. In 2012 he co-founded the Zenith BJJ association with Rodrigo Cavaca.
History work
In 2018 Drysdale announced Closed Guard: The Origins of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil, a documentary tracing the art from Japanese immigrants to the present. Wikipedia gives no release date. In September 2020 he published the companion book, Opening Closed Guard: The Origins of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil: The Story Behind the Film. It includes interviews with figures such as Carlos Gracie Jr. and Royce Gracie. His research is a useful companion to our profiles of Carlos Gracie Sr. and Hélio Gracie.
Related pages
The book's title refers to the closed guard. Follower counts on this page are curated snapshots, not live data.