Two Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts will collide in the co main event at UFC 91: “Couture vs. Lesnar” on November 15 — something we could not say before this weekend.

Joe Stevenson earned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from worldclass grappler Robert Drysdale this past Saturday, providing “Daddy” with a little lift heading into his important clash with Kenny Florian at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to MMADHouse.com.

The ceremony, which was apparently 13 years in the making, took place at Stevenson’s Cobra Kai gym Victorville, California.

Here’s a snip from Drysdale:

“Joe learns really quickly so training him makes it easy for me. Joe has a really good top game. He also has a really solid guillotine. And that fact that Joe learns quick when we train makes him good. Some guys take forever to learn new stuff and they can’t get it together…. Joe’s skill level is without a doubt better than 95 percent of the black belts.”

That’s quite a compliment from one of the most decorated, accomplished and cutting-edge grapplers alive today. Drysdale is not only the head Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor at X-Treme Couture, he is also the 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Open Weight winner.

And that’s just scratching the surface … we don’t have enough time or space to go into all his career accomplishments.

Long story short, it says a lot about the ground skills of Stevenson. He has finished nearly half his 29 professional wins via submission, possessing a dangerous guillotine choke that his most recent opponents simply can’t avoid and/or escape — three of his last four wins have come courtesy of the hold).

He’ll look to make it four out of his last five against Florian this Saturday night.

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