Reviewed by BJJ Gyms · Updated 2026-07-28
Card details as reported ahead of the July 31 event in Sao Paulo.
It's not every week that a current UFC lightweight and a former Bellator champion show up on a pure grappling card, but that's exactly what BJJ Stars 19 has booked for July 31. The event streams live from Vibra Sao Paulo starting at 7:40 p.m. ET, and it's built around a World Cup theme that leans into international representation across the bracket.
The headline attraction is a 16-man Masters absolute grand prix with a six-figure Brazilian real prize for whoever wins it, but the superfight between Moicano and Pitbull is the matchup most casual MMA fans will recognize by name, since both men have spent years fighting under bright lights in cages rather than on jiu-jitsu mats.
Moicano isn't just borrowing a black belt for the occasion. He trains under Alex Leleco, and his MMA record backs up the credential: he's tied for third most rear-naked choke finishes in UFC history, and he's already tested his grappling outside the cage with a win over Chase Hooper at a Fury Pro Grappling event a few years back.
Pitbull's path into this match is different but just as real. He holds his own black belt, spent his career mixing kickboxing with BJJ inside Bellator and PFL cages, and stepped onto the mats before, most notably in a submission loss to Arman Tsarukyan at ADXC 10. He's also the older brother of longtime Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull, so grappling under pressure is something of a family trade.
MMA fighters stepping into pure grappling superfights has become a real trend, and it's good for both sports. It gives fans a lower-risk way to see two names they already know test each other, and it gives grappling promotions a built-in audience that might not otherwise tune into a card full of unfamiliar names.
For anyone training jiu-jitsu themselves, matches like this are also a useful reminder that the skills carry over. A no-gi superfight without strikes rewards exactly the kind of positional control and submission setups you drill in class, whether or not you ever plan to step into a cage.
BJJ Stars 19 streams live on FloGrappling starting at 7:40 p.m. ET on Friday, July 31, from Vibra Sao Paulo. Alongside the Moicano-Pitbull superfight, the card includes five other superfights, including Marco Barbosa against Suyan Queiroz and Giovanna Carneiro against Livia Barasine.
If you're new to watching grappling events, superfights are usually the easiest entry point since each one is a standalone match with a clear submission-or-points outcome, rather than a multi-round tournament bracket you have to track across the whole night.
The Moicano-Pitbull superfight is the headline draw, but it's not the only match worth watching.
BJJ Gyms is an independent directory, not a gym. We feature 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu as our recommended no-gi system. Always take a free trial and vet any academy yourself before committing.
It's a professional no-gi grappling promotion based in Brazil, known for pairing grand prix brackets with standalone superfights featuring recognizable names.
No, it's pure grappling with no striking allowed, which is exactly why two active MMA fighters can test each other here with lower injury risk.
Yes. He recently took a submission loss to Arman Tsarukyan at ADXC 10, so he's tested himself against top-level grapplers outside MMA before.
BJJ Stars 19 streams live on FloGrappling starting at 7:40 p.m. ET on Friday, July 31.