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Hot Springs National Park

Arkansas BJJ's foundation was laid through a Brazilian connection that landed in Little Rock in the 1990s. Nova Uniao black belt Toni Pontes came to Arkansas as part of John Lewis's effort to spread the Nova Uniao system across America, and the students he produced changed the state permanently. Two of those students — Danny Dring and Matt Hamilton — went on to earn black belts under Pontes and built the first serious BJJ programs Little Rock had seen. Hamilton became a professional MMA fighter in the mid-90s, won the 1999 Amateur National Title at 155 pounds, and eventually became the first Arkansan to compete at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. When Dring and Hamilton parted ways in 2006, a teenager who had moved from the Philadelphia suburbs to Little Rock at age 15 went with Hamilton. That teenager was Rolando "Roli" Delgado, and the gym they opened together — Westside MMA — became the most consequential address in Arkansas jiu jitsu.

Delgado went on to compete in the UFC and Bellator (finishing with an 11-6-1 record, appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 8 in 2008), but his more lasting impact on Arkansas came through coaching. In 2006, a complete beginner named Hillary Williams walked into Westside MMA and started training under Delgado and Hamilton. Four years later she was a black belt — awarded June 12, 2010, the day she won the World Championships in the combined Women's Brown/Black Middleweight division. Williams became a four-time World Champion, a six-time Pan American Champion, an ADCC medalist, and the fourth American in history to win a World title at the black belt level. She remains Westside's most decorated product, and her trajectory — beginner to world champion in four years, out of a gym in Little Rock — established Arkansas as a place serious competitors could be developed. Delgado formalized his international standing in 2015 when he became the GFTeam representative in the United States under Denilson Pimenta, which later seeded multiple GFTeam-affiliated academies across the state.

The geographic spread of Arkansas BJJ breaks along predictable lines. Little Rock anchors the central corridor. Westside MMA and Westside BJJ both operate there, as does Rock City MMA, which fielded one of the larger contingents at the 2023 Arkansas State BJJ Championships. Northwest Arkansas — the Fayetteville-Bentonville-Springdale-Rogers corridor — has emerged as the other major hub. Diamond State Martial Arts in Fayetteville runs under instructor Daniel Williams, a BJJ and Judo black belt affiliated with Rafael Lovato Jr.'s Lovato Jiu-Jitsu organization. Alliance Jiu Jitsu operates out of Cave Springs. Inferno Martial Arts spans Bentonville, Springdale, Rogers, and Siloam Springs. Overcome Jiu Jitsu is also in Bentonville. Fort Smith holds its own in the western part of the state — Omega Brazilian Jiu Jitsu runs out of 2023 S N St and has been a consistent presence in regional competition. Northeast Arkansas is covered by Joey Perry Martial Arts Academy, which has operated out of Jonesboro since 1995 and has expanded to Wynne and Paragould; founder Joey Perry, who has trained since 1985, built his program on a West Coast Martial Arts base and added BJJ and grappling to a curriculum that earned the academy the top-rated family martial arts studio designation in Arkansas seven consecutive years. In the Ozarks, Harrison is home to Troy Holton's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, affiliated with Roli Delgado and GFTeam; Holton himself brings a law enforcement background with over 27 years as a police officer and 25 years as a defensive tactics instructor. Mountain Home has Colt Combatives, which mixes catch wrestling with hybrid combat sports.

The competitive infrastructure is real. The Arkansas State BJJ Championships, run by the American Grappling Federation and held annually at the Conway Expo and Events Center, draws more than 85 academies. GFTeam's Arkansas footprint alone spans at least four affiliated gyms — 501 BJJ and Kickboxing, Gendai Budo, Paragon Martial Arts, and Pinnacle Martial Arts Academy — all competing under the same banner that Delgado brought into the state. The training culture here skews practical. A high proportion of gyms have instructors with law enforcement or military backgrounds, and the MMA-to-BJJ pipeline that Westside MMA established in the early 2000s shaped how the state approaches grappling: technical, competition-oriented, and less concerned with affiliation politics than results on the mat.

For anyone looking to train in Arkansas, MatMade lists 123 gyms across the state, covering every major city and several smaller ones. The density varies — Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas have the most options and the longest competitive track records — but the gaps between them are closing. The state that produced a four-time world champion out of a gym in its capital city has proven it can develop serious jiu jitsu at any level.

Arkansas

BJJ & Martial Arts in West Memphis, Arkansas