Robert Drysdale -- the 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Open Weight tournament winner -- tasted mixed martial arts victory for the first time ever over the weekend, submitting Josh Musick with a sweet-looking first round armbar at TUFF-N-UFF.
The event took place at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 17, marking the amateur debut in the sport for perhaps the most dangerous 205-pound Brazilian jiu-jitsu player on the planet today.
For about a decade Drysdale terrorized the international jiu-jitsu circuit, winning medals and finishing some of the best in the business (see Garcia, Marcelo among others). The American-born world champion recently returned to the United States from Brazil and settled back in to "Sin City," however, to prepare for a successful transition to mixed martial arts.
He’s off to a good start.
Drysdale can often be seen Wednesday nights on Spike TV, serving as an assistant coach for Frank Mir on this season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). He also serves as the head Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor at X-treme Couture in Las Vegas.
Of course, while there he doubles as a student and a teacher. It’s hard not to pick up a thing or two about mixed martial arts at X-treme Couture when Randy Couture, Shawn Tompkins, Wanderlei Silva, Forrest Griffin and the rest of the insanely talented crew there are all milling around.
In fact, Mir, Silva, his boxing coach Skipper Kelp and several others were in his corner on fight night to ensure that Drysdale was prepared and ready to go, showing that everyone likes to associate with a winner.
Drysdale -- who already boasts aggressive jiu-jitsu that is well suited for MMA -- has a natural overhand right that he has been training tirelessly in the gym at all times to integrate into a wicked all-around arsenal.
With a high-powered MMA marketing and management agency run by one of the most powerful agents in the business, Dean Albrecht -- who also represents many of the best fighters in the world and top jiu-jitsu fighters including Demian Maia, Mir and Nate Marquardt among others -- behind him, Drysdale has all the important pieces required to becoming a star … again.
Check out the video of Drysdale's win over Musick after the jump.