A Brazilian Olympics Without Jiu-Jitsu

Probably the most shocking thing about Brazil capturing the final bid for the 2016 Olympics yesterday is that one of the country's own sports, with which it shares its name, will not be an event during the summer.

The Olympics will feature other well-known sports, such as basketball, tennis, swimming and gymnastics - but it will not feature Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

With BJJ and MMA growing rapidly in popularity, it would only make sense for them to make their Olympic debut in Brazil. UFC President Dana White is always very spirited and enthusiastic about the huge swell of recognition of the sports - the increase in popularity are proof that he is right - and he is adamant they will only continue to grow.

"Jiu-jitsu and MMA deserve to have a place in today's Olympics, and specifically, an Olympics in Brazil," wrote Mike Chiappetta of Fanhouse.com.

"The IOC [International Olympics Committee] adds sports based upon their global prevalence, and there is no question that both have a larger international presence than some IOC-recognized sports, including sumo, floorball, boule and korfball."

However, there will be two new sports added to the 2016 Olympics: golf and rugby sevens. While MMA or BJJ cannot compete with the popularity of those sports, they would not have had the opportunity to, anyway. For the IOC to even consider adding a sport to their roster, the IOC must officially recognize it as a sport - and BJJ and MMA are not officially recognized by the IOC as a sport.

In terms of where the 2016 Olympics will be held, the IOC voted on four final cities. The city that received the least amount of votes was eliminated. This process continued until they only had one city left. The first to get eliminated with Chicago, then Tokyo, then Madrid, leaving them with their final and ultimate choice of Rio.

While BJJ has been around for over one-hundred years, it came to international attention in 1993 when Royce Gracie won the first-ever UFC event. In the final, he beat an opponent who was much larger than him; but by using his grappling and submission techniques, he was able to gain leverage and win the fight.

Famous BJJ practitioners include the Gracie family, the Nogueira brothers, Frank Mir, Demian Maia, Gabriel Gonzaga, BJ Penn, Georges St Pierre and Lyoto Machida.

Source: www.fiveknuckles.com