Rico Chiapparelli is an American former amateur wrestler and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

trainer. Being from

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Chiapparelli became known as the "Baltimore Butcher," he was Junior National Champion as a senior in high school, and then was a standout wrestler for the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. While at Iowa, he was an NCAA National Champion in 1987 at 177 lbs. After college, he competed in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

in the men's senior level, and went on to become the USAW National Champion in 1989 at 180.5 lbs. He would make himself famous in MMA by founding the team Real American Wrestling. Currently, Chiapparelli is a mixed martial arts, submission wrestling, and wrestling instructor.

Mixed martial arts career

Having trained

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

under

Renzo Gracie Renzo Gracie (; born March 11, 1967) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family of Brazil, Renzo is a 7th Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Gracie Jr. He is the so ...

,Vale Tudo Relics: When Men Landed on MARS
/ref> Chiapparelli got into MMA when he was asked by his friend and wrestling colleague

Tom Erikson Tom Erikson (born July 6, 1964) is an American former amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist who competed in the super heavyweight division. Weighing between and throughout his career, "The Big Cat" began wrestling at an early age and was ...

to corner him in his debut for the 1996's MARS tournament.MMA History XVI: Rico Chiapparelli and the RAW Team
/ref> Though his participation on the event cost him his relationship with Gracie, after learning of the business and the value of wrestling in the sport, Chiapparelli formed the team RAW or Real American Wrestling. It was soon joined by Erikson,

Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American retired mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...

Randy Couture Randall Duane Couture (; born June 22, 1963) is an American actor, former United States Army, U.S. Army sergeant, former mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and former Collegiate wrestling, collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman ...

Frank Trigg Dewey Franklin Trigg III (born May 7, 1972) is an American retired mixed martial artist, color commentator, pro wrestler, MMA referee and TV host. Trigg is a veteran of the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships, Rumble on the Rock, Icon Sport-(Icon S ...

and

Vladimir Matyushenko Vladimir Vladimirovich Matyushenko ( be, Уладзімір Уладзіміравіч Мацюшэнка, ''Uladzimir Uladzimiravič Maciušenka''; born 4 January 1971) is a Belarusian retired mixed martial artist. A professional from 1997 u ...

, among others. Chiapparelli had his first and only MMA match on September 13, 2003, beating Luiz Pantera in the

Jungle Fight Jungle Fight is a Brazilian mixed martial arts and kickboxing promotion. It was created in 2003. The name is derived from its origin, the Amazonas state in Brazil. History Jungle Fight was founded by pioneering MMA fighter and long-time Brazi ...

promotion in Brazil.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 1-0 , Luiz Pantera , Decision (unanimous) , Jungle Fight 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Manaus, Amazonas,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, , -

References

American male sport wrestlers Iowa Hawkeyes wrestlers University of Iowa alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-wrestling-bio-stub