For Andrew Tackett, becoming a professional submission grappler was less about making a career choice and more about trusting that jiu-jitsu would eventually become something big enough to build a life around.
The 23-year-old has been training since childhood, alongside a family that bought into the same vision. At a time when professional jiu-jitsu was a much smaller world, Tackett and his family saw potential.
“It’s almost like you’re investing in a stock, believing it’s going to grow one day and believing the payout will be worth it,” Tackett told Combat Press. “I’ve always had that feeling of just going into jiu-jitsu. My family did, too. My dad and my mom always had the feeling, too, and it paid off.”
That investment has certainly paid dividends.
Tackett has emerged as one of the most exciting submission grapplers of his generation, and on Thursday, Aug. 20, he returns at UFC BJJ 10 to defend his welterweight championship against Jonnatas Gracie. It is another opportunity for a competitor who has spent most of his life preparing for exactly this moment.
While other career paths occasionally crossed his mind growing up, college was never much of an attraction. Competition was.
“By the time I was 12, I kind of wanted to be a fighter,” Tackett said. “I love that aspect of proving I’m better than you, not proving I’m better than myself.”
That competitive drive eventually led Tackett and his family from Texas to Las Vegas. His older brother, William, made the move as well, as did his parents and grandparents. The objective was simple: Get closer to the UFC and an environment that could help Tackett continue developing as both a grappler and, potentially, a future mixed martial artist.
Tackett primarily trains at Syndicate MMA and the UFC Performance Institute, while occasionally getting work at 10th Planet Las Vegas and ATC Wrestling Club. However, despite the wealth of elite gyms and athletes around him, he keeps his core training circle relatively small.
That approach dates back to his days in Austin, Texas.
“We never really cross-trained because when we would go into Six Blades or New Wave or whatever gym, we had a hit on our heads, like a prize on our heads,” Tackett said. “I’d catch people sitting out and saving their energy so they could scrap with me and try to hurt me in the next round.”
Rather than chase rounds at every available academy, Tackett believes a small, trusted group can produce better development while reducing injuries and the inevitable politics that can come with cross-training.
“If you stay in your small little group, you can get good so fast, as long as you guys are all humble and wanting to grow together,” he said.
The Win That Changed Everything
Despite committing himself to jiu-jitsu at a young age, Tackett can pinpoint the moment when professional grappling stopped feeling like an aspiration and started feeling like something he could dominate.
It came against Tommy Langaker at Who’s Number One in 2024.
Tackett knew Langaker represented a significant jump in competition. He also knew beating an established elite grappler would answer some lingering questions about exactly where he belonged.
Then Tackett went out and delivered.
“I went into it and was like, ‘OK, this guy’s very good. I haven’t really beaten too many high-caliber athletes yet. I think I can win. I know I can win,’” Tackett said. “Then I just destroyed him.”
The performance changed his perspective.
“After that match, I was like, ‘All right, Tommy never gets destroyed. I’ve never seen that man get submitted,’” he said. “So, I was like, ‘OK, I can do this full time. I’m pretty good.’”
A victory over PJ Barch provided another confidence boost. Tackett entered that match injured and dealt with back problems during the contest, but still found a way to win.
“You need those things to spark a flame,” he said.
That flame has helped carry Tackett directly into the UFC’s expanding submission-grappling venture.
Finding a Home With UFC BJJ
Tackett has been involved with UFC BJJ almost from its inception, and his relationship with the promotion has become about more than competition.
The UFC Performance Institute has essentially become his second home.
“The fact that I get to use the PI every day because of UFC BJJ is so awesome,” Tackett said. “Competing for UFC BJJ has been great. They pay. It’s nice making money doing something that you love. It’s nice being appreciated.”
The UFC’s entrance into professional grappling has not been embraced by everyone within the traditional jiu-jitsu community, something Tackett readily acknowledges. However, he believes that resistance will fade as the promotion continues investing in the sport.
“I believe the more time that ticks off and the more we accept UFC coming in, the better it’s going to be,” he said. “They want to grow jiu-jitsu because if they don’t, they’re going to lose money. The more they grow jiu-jitsu, the more payback they get, and the more it makes their company look good.”
Tackett is similarly bullish on UFC BJJ’s move into open tournaments.
IBJJF remains one of the most consistent sources of competition for developing grapplers, while ADCC Opens have provided athletes another avenue to test themselves. Tackett believes UFC BJJ has an opportunity to take elements from both while creating something more appealing to competitors.
“I believe they can take the coolness factor of ADCC and the consistency of IBJJF, put that into one, and I think their Opens could totally destroy the market and take over,” Tackett said.
There is also a potentially valuable developmental pipeline attached to the concept. A grappler could compete at a UFC BJJ Open, get noticed by the promotion and eventually earn an invitation to compete on the professional stage.
“I think they’ve got a cool thing going,” he said.
Tackett Sees Multiple Paths to Victory Against Jonnatas Gracie
The focus Thursday night, however, is not on the future of the sport. It is on Tackett’s UFC BJJ welterweight championship and his title defense against Jonnatas Gracie.
Tackett has plenty of respect for the experience Gracie brings to the mat, but the champion sees a fundamental difference between their approaches: options.
“Jonnatas is awesome,” Tackett said. “He has loads of experience. He’s been training his whole life, just as long as I have. He has just as much competition experience, if not more, than I do.”
Experience, however, does not necessarily translate into more ways to win.
“He’s going to be playing at a disadvantage because he only has one or two ways to win,” Tackett said. “I have about three or four different ways to win, so I’m going to be playing off a lot more options out there. I think that’s going to be the deciding factor.”
Tackett expects the match to eventually reach Gracie’s guard, regardless of how the opening exchanges unfold. If Gracie elects to wrestle, Tackett believes he can put the challenger on his back himself. If Gracie pulls guard, the champion is equally comfortable attacking from the top.
“If he wrestles me, that’s amazing,” Tackett said. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to take him down if we decide to wrestle. I think no matter what, he’s going to end up in his guard, whether he pulls guard or if I take him down.”
From there, Tackett plans to turn the UFC BJJ 10 title defense into a battle of pace and conditioning.
“He has a very defensive, isometric guard that tries to hold you and control you,” Tackett said. “I do great with that. I’m just going to run around in his guard. I’m going to keep the pace high, and eventually you get tired because it’s extremely tiring flexing. It’s not that tiring moving.”
Tackett acknowledged that submitting Gracie is no easy assignment. In fact, the champion struggled to recall the last time he saw his challenger submitted.
But Tackett believes fatigue will eventually create the opening he needs.
“He’s very hard to submit,” Tackett said. “I can’t say the last time I’ve seen him get submitted, to be honest. I can’t name it.
“But when you get tired, I’m going to sub you.”
Tackett’s prediction is specific. He expects his pace to break Gracie down before finding the submission late in the second round or sometime in the third.
The UFC BJJ Ruleset Fits Tackett’s Game
The three-round format employed by UFC BJJ has generated plenty of discussion within the grappling community, but Tackett sees it as an ideal fit for his approach.
“I like the UFC BJJ rule set,” Tackett said. “For my style, I love it. I love the fact that they encourage the person who’s on top because I’m the one pushing the action.”
There is one area where Tackett believes UFC BJJ could be more aggressive: penalizing inactivity.
“I think one thing they could do better is being very stern with the negatives,” he said. “If someone’s not pushing the pace and someone’s stalling, just be like, ‘Bro, I’m giving you a negative. Sorry. Or I’m going to take a point away if you don’t get going.’”
The three five-minute rounds are another feature Tackett supports.
Submission grappling has traditionally included everything from short tournament matches to lengthy submission-only contests. Tackett has competed in the latter and believes extended matches can sometimes become stagnant once both athletes have figured out each other’s games.
Rounds provide a reset.
“Once you guys separate, go back to your corners and come back in, anything could happen,” Tackett said. “It’s a whole new match.”
He believes athletes will increasingly learn to use those breaks strategically as UFC BJJ develops.
“I think it encourages game plans a lot more,” Tackett said. “I think it encourages people not to fully sell out on one thing and then gas because you have more rounds. Once people learn to use the rounds, I think we’ll see a lot more exciting matches and a lot more strategy involved as well.”
Against Gracie, that structure could play directly into Tackett’s plan of forcing a high pace before attacking the submission as the challenger tires.
MMA Remains Part of the Plan
Regardless of what happens against Gracie at UFC BJJ 10, Tackett’s long-term combat-sports ambitions extend beyond submission grappling.
He wants to fight MMA.
“I’ve always wanted to fight,” Tackett said. “I’ve always wanted to punch people and stuff.”
For now, there is no rush.
At only 23 years old, Tackett would prefer to continue developing his striking and physical strength while maximizing his prime years in submission grappling. If he can wait until around 27 before making a serious move into MMA, that would suit him just fine.
The education has already begun.
Tackett currently trains striking roughly twice a week and has access to an almost absurd collection of MMA knowledge in Las Vegas. Even casual trips through the UFC Performance Institute can turn into impromptu lessons.
“Right before I came here, Forrest Griffin and I were just shadowboxing each other, and he was teaching me stuff in the cafeteria,” Tackett said.
Tackett is also sharing training rooms with some of MMA’s elite athletes, giving him plenty of opportunities to learn exactly how different the culture can be when punches, kicks and knees enter the equation.
Still, Tackett sees MMA as an opportunity he eventually has to explore.
“If I didn’t do MMA, I just feel like I’d be fucking myself out of an opportunity,” he said. “So, I’ll probably jump into it one day for sure.”
That day can wait.
For now, Tackett has Jonnatas Gracie standing across from him and another UFC BJJ welterweight title defense in front of him.
The champion has already mapped out how he believes the match will unfold. Wrestle when necessary. Stay on top. Keep moving. Force Gracie to work. Turn up the pace as the match progresses.
Then find the finish.
“When you get tired,” Tackett said, “I’m going to sub you.”