>>76618604
>>76618618
Well it gained massive popularity in the 90s with the first ufc events televized.
The ufc was originally organized by some of the gracies that were in usa and rigged it so bjj would win and since the ufc had such a massive impact on audiences, bjj immediately got a lot of attention and then several americans started learning it and spreading it.
Bjj is easy enough that a complete beginner with absolutely 0 sport experience and 0 athletic gifts can just start it after a 9-5 or school and be completely ok the next day but hard enough that it makes them feel like they got a workout.
Joe Rogan also constantly fellates bjj constantly saying things like most fights end on the ground (a myth constructed from arrest attempt by the police where the suspect resist) and since pretty much everyone in the ufc does it, people assume that it means that you need to do bjj to be good.
There's also dorks that say that you can destroy everyone that doesn't know bjj, like mf any martial art can beat someone untrained, even a wing chun guy that does sparring will beat the majority of the population that have no idea how to fight and never been punched.
Tldr bjj is a marketing machine.
