UFC BJJ 5 goes down later tonight in Las Vegas, NV, with a pair of title matches anchoring a pro grappling card featuring over a dozen world ranked grapplers. Of special interest on the card is the return of Nicholas Meregali. Meregali was a top pound-for-pound grappler before a loss and multiple injury setbacks put him out for nearly 18 months. Tonight he returns, taking on IBJJF World & ADCC Trials champion Nico Maglicic.
- See All Of FloGrappling's World No-Gi Rankings Here
- Technique Breakdown: Marlon Tajik's Lethal Lock System
- 2026 ADCC European Trials Preview: A Talented Class In Serbia
- The FloGrappling Show Ep. 72: Which Country Has The Scariest Grapplers? | ADCC Trials Preview
Stay up to date with everything going on here with a live update blog. Most recent matches are at the top, and will be updated in real time. You can watch the entire card free for yourself on the UFC BJJ YouTube channel. Rankings are according to FloGrappling's Official World Rankings.
UFC BJJ 5 Live Updates
UFC BJJ Bantamweight Championship Bout - #1 Mikey Musumeci vs Shay Montague
Round one. Shay pulls immediately, Mikey on top. Mikey trying to work to north south but Shay has unreal flexibility. Shay wants to grab a leg and invert but Mikey staying low and away. Mikey still wants north south, he's working hard but that flexibility is a real issue. Shay gets called for lack of action by the referee. Mikey works to a high tripod but Shay is able to invert through to free himself again. Shay is saying in the corner something that has his corner concerned. He's going to continue on.
Round two. Shay may be operating on an injured knee. He pulls, it's a leg pummeling battle. Mikey passes. Shay escapes and attacks legs but withdraws. Mikey back on top. Mikey drops back on a leg and scores the submission.
- Mikey Musumeci def. Shay Montague by straight ankle lock at 4:09 of round two
UFC BJJ Middleweight Championship Bout - #3 Ronaldo Junior vs Tarik Hopstock
Round one. Tarik pulls, Ronaldo pressuring into the guard with a low base. After an eye poke they restart on the feet, but Tarik pulls again anyway. Tarik finds reverse closed guard and a toe hold but time will expire. Enough to win the first round at least.
Round two. Tarik pulls again. Ronaldo still staying low or playing with very far legs when standing. Ronaldo starts picking up the pace, Tarik retaining well. Ronaldo keeping a higher pace from top, not much offense coming back from Tarik this round.
Round three. Tarik pulls, Ronaldo jumps around early but Tarik reguards. Ronaldo finds a body lock and is pressuring in deep. Ronaldo gets some separation and picks his pace back up with side switching. Tarik attempting some wrist locks while Ronaldo holds his arms, now Ronaldo threatens with multiple passes late. Going to the cards.
- Ronaldo Junior def. Tarik Hopstock by unanimous decision
Heavyweight Bout - Nicholas Meregali vs #16 Nico Maglicic
Nico is fearless early, bull rushing his way to a takedown almost immediately. Meregali playing knee shield. He uses a hook to sweep to top position, Nico into a single leg X and then waiter. Meregali clears. Nico all over the legs but Meregali is staying balanced. He knocks Meregali down but Meregali stomps his chest and stands right back up to top. Meregali sends a knee cut hard and then back steps into a cross ashi from top position. Round ends there, a pretty even first round but this pace is very high and may be unsustainable.
Round two. Standing and wrestling. Meregali heavy on the head. Into the body lock for Meregali. He throws Nico and lands in chest-to-chest half guard. He snatches a head and arm choke. Nico actually manages to survive quite a while, with Meregali mounting, off to the side, moving all around and looking for the finish all the time. Finally he takes the back and sets the body triangle. Nico holds out until the end, he will see a third round but that was a dominant second.
Round three. Nico uses another body lock to get on top against the pit wall. Nico pressuring in head first. Meregali finds some separation and starts working into the legs but Nico clears. Meregali back into the legs and sweeps on top. He passes, he's into the mount. Meregali rolls to the armbar, Nico rolls and has a figure four grip and holds until the bell.
- Nicholas Meregali def. Nico Maglicic by unanimous decision
Welterweight Bout - #16 Andy Murasaki vs #15 Andy Varela
Round one. Murasaki gets warned twice for pulling guard without contact. Varela clubbing hard and running around to start. Murasaki finally pulls. They are basically kicking each other. Referee steps in and tells them to knock that off, we restart with Murasaki pulling guard. Varela jumps off the pit wall and into the guard but quickly retreats. Murasaki snaps onto an arm and is trying to armbar Varela - he pulls it off!
- Andy Murasaki def. Andy Varela by armbar at 4:32 of round one
Featherweight Bout - #17 Taylor Ellis vs #7 Rebeca Lima
Round one. They both come out wrestling. Lima ends up jumping closed guard. She inverts to a leg but can't connect, Ellis back into the guard. Lima mostly controlling in the first few minutes with an open supine guard. Round one ends without anything significant.
Round two. Lima pulls in the first fifteen seconds and closes the guard, Taylor breaks it quickly as they jockey for frames. Lima closes guard again. Taylor stands, Lima opens up and enters 50/50 as Taylor sits. Taylor throws a harsh ankle lock with a reap on, Lima looks ok after an initial off balance. As Taylor puts on another straight ankle, Lima threads an Estima lock for a nasty submission win.
- Rebeca Lima def. Taylor Ellis by Estima lock at 3:55 of round two
Welterweight Bout - #8 Jonnatas Gracie vs Yan Pica-Pau
Jonnatas snaps his way into a front headlock and Yan spins out of danger, Jonnatas accepts guard. They stand and now Yan pulls. Once more before the end of the round, they stand and now Jonnatas pulls. Not much to judge in the first round.
Round two. Jonnatas pulls early. He gets to a strong body lock from butterfly guard but Yan powers out. Jonnatas does look at a triangle but Yan escapes quickly. Lot of pressuring from top that ultimately doesn't lead anywhere until the end of the round.
Round three. Jonnatas pulls and attempts an omoplata but Yan escapes. JG stands and pulls again. Jonnatas closes the guard. They stand them up for inactivity. Yan shoots, shrugs out of a guillotine, and is back on top. At the end, Jonnatas finds another omoplata, his deepest yet, but can't finish and Yan escapes. Round ends there.
- Jonnatas Gracie def. Yan Pica-Pau by unanimous decision
Featherweight Bout - Landon Elmore vs Rerisson Gabriel
Round one, Landon pulls and is hunting limbs early. He enters into a cross ashi and laces up multiple deep heel hook attempts but Rerisson is able to survive and escape in a very dramatic way. That was a mix of technique, flexibility, and eating a heel hook. Gabriel back into the guard with pressure, staying low and keeping his stance back. Round ends, Elmore takes it on points but Gabriel stayed alive - and limps to his corner.
Round two. Landon pulls, Rerisson rolls over the top with a front headlock but loses it in transition. He passes to the far side, but Landon escapes after a few seconds. They stand, Landon pulls again. Rerisson now drops back for a second on a leg but thinks better of it and comes back up. Rerisson passes again but Landon pulls his legs back inside with extreme flexibility of his own. His rate of offense has slowed since that deep early heel hook attempt. Round ends with Rerisson pressuring into the guard.
Round three, it's likely 1-1 but unclear on if there was a 10-8 in the first. Landon forces a duck early and Rerisson jumps on an anaconda choke attempt. Deep attempt but Landon escapes. Rerisson back to top and pressuring in. Rerisson warned for inactivity. Rerisson picks the pace back up with throw bys to the far side, mixing in more loose attempts. Veteran performance by Gabriel after the early danger. Time expires, Gabriel takes the final two rounds but scores could be a few different ways.
- Rerisson Gabriel def. Landon Elmore by unanimous decision
Flyweight Bout - #8 Mona Bailey vs Carol Brunacio
Both women coming off very strong No-Gi Worlds, though at different weight classes. Round one and Mona pulls to closed guard. Carol opens the guard and they trade foot lock attempts. Standing again. Mona pulls again.
Second round. Mona pulls. She is threading a heel hook attempt but Carol escapes and sits to double pull. They trade leg locks again until the end of the round. Tough to say who's leading on the cards.
Third round. Mona pulls, into a knee shield/split squat. Carol changing her focus to front headlocks and guillotines. She uses an underhook and chin grip to pin Mona's shoulders but Mona escapes. Mona enters into the legs, sits Carol down. They trade leg lock attempts again. Carol gets the better attempt and ends up coming back up with a guillotine attempt. Mona escapes. Third round ends, decision could go realistically either way.
- Carol Brunacio def. Mona Bailey by unanimous decision
Bantamweight Bout - Jalen Fonacier vs Bebeto Oliveira
In short order, Jalen pulls into a false reap and snaps on an inside heel hook - he wins by submission in record time in the first round.
- Jalen Fonacier def. Bebeto Oliveira by inside heel hook at 0:19 of round one
UFC BJJ 5 Results
- Mikey Musumeci def. Shay Montague by straight ankle lock in round two (4:09)
- Ronaldo Junior def. Tarik Hopstock by unanimous decision
- Nicholas Meregali def. Nico Maglicic by unanimous decision
- Andy Murasaki def. Andy Varela by armbar in round one (4:32)
- Rebeca Lima def. Taylor Ellis by Estima lock in round two (3:55)
- Jonnatas Gracie def. Yan Pica-Pau by unanimous decision
- Rerisson Gabriel def. Landon Elmore by unanimous decision
- Carol Brunacio def. Mona Bailey by unanimous decision
- Jalen Fonacier def. Bebeto Oliveira by inside heel hook in round one (0:19)
UFC BJJ 5 Full Card
- UFC BJJ Bantamweight Championship - #1 Mikey Musumeci vs Shay Montague
- UFC BJJ Middleweight Championship - #3 Ronaldo Junior vs Tarik Hopstock
- Heavyweight Bout - Nicholas Meregali vs #16 Nico Maglicic
- Welterweight Bout - #16 Andy Murasaki vs #15 Andy Varela
- Featherweight Bout - #17 Taylor Ellis vs #7 Rebeca Lima
- Welterweight Bout - #8 Jonnatas Gracie vs Yan Pica-Pau
- Featherweight Bout - Landon Elmore vs Rerisson Gabriel
- Flyweight Bout - #8 Mona Bailey vs Carol Brunacio
- Bantamweight Bout - Jalen Fonacier vs Bebeto Oliveira
Watch More BJJ On FloGrappling
FloGrappling is the streaming home to the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu events and news coverage.
FloGrappling is the streaming home of:
Join The BJJ Conversation By Following FloGrappling On Social
- Follow us on Twitter @flograppling
- Follow us on Instagram @flograppling
- Watch us on YouTube
- Like us on Facebook