US Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) has added a new claim to his ever-expanding martial arts biography: that he once defeated a member of the Gracie family at the IBJJF World Championships in Brazil.
The claim, which Mullin made on a podcast with the same energy he used to challenge a union boss to a fistfight on the Senate floor, has prompted the BJJ community to conduct what researchers are calling ‘the most thorough bracket audit in the sport’s history.’
The results were immediate and unanimous: no one can find this match.
IBJJF records, which date back to 1996 and include every registered competitor at every major tournament, contain no entry for a ‘Markwayne Mullin’ at any weight, any belt level, in any year. They also contain no record of any Gracie losing to an American politician, though several Gracies have confirmed they would remember if it happened.
‘I’ve reviewed every Worlds bracket from 1996 to 2025,’ said one obsessive Reddit user who spent fourteen hours cross-referencing IBJJF databases. ‘The closest match I found was a Marcus Mullins who lost by armbar in the first round of blue belt masters in 2014. That guy is a dentist from Ohio.’
Mullin’s office did not specify which Gracie he defeated, which weight class the match occurred in, what year it happened, or what color belt he was wearing — details that most competitors remember about the most significant win of their lives.
The Senator, who holds a legitimate black belt under an instructor who has confirmed his rank, has previously claimed to have been in ‘over 200 street fights,’ a number that would make him the most prolific street fighter in the history of the United States Senate, narrowly edging out Andrew Jackson.
BJJ historians noted that even if the match did occur, beating a Gracie at Worlds is roughly as meaningful as beating a Kennedy at sailing — the family has produced so many competitors across so many generations that the statistical probability of encountering one at a major tournament approaches 100%.
At press time, Mullin’s communications director was drafting a follow-up statement clarifying that the Senator also submitted Eddie Bravo with a gogoplata, but ‘the footage was lost.’