Rafael Cordeiro (born June 1, 1973) is a Brazilian

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 ...

(MMA) coach and founder of MMA Gym,

Kings MMA Kings MMA is a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym located in Huntington Beach, California, headed by coach Rafael Cordeiro. A successful mixed martial artist in his native Brazil, Cordeiro moved to the United States in 2008, he was previously affiliat ...

. He is best known for training multiple MMA world champions.

History

Cordeiro was a fighter affiliated with the Chute Boxe Academy where he participated in mixed martial arts and

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

. He was three-time Brazilian Muay Thai champion and lightweight champion at the

International Vale Tudo Championship The International Vale Tudo Championship (IVC) was a Vale Tudo and mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting promotion based in Brazil starting in 1997. The IVC was a fundamentally important platform in the promotion of Brazilian MMA in the late 1990s an ...

(IVC). In 1999, Cordeiro stopped competing professionally and started his career as a full time coach at Chute Boxe where would remain until 2009. In 2008 he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and in 2010 opened his own gym,

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Cordeiro has won the 2012 and 2016 coach of the year awards for MMA. In 2019, during the weigh-ins for

UFC 244 ''UFC 244: Masvidal vs. Diaz'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 2, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, United States. It was the UFC's ...

, the NYSAC "determined that

Kelvin Gastelum Kelvin Gastelum (born October 24, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gastelum has competed for the UFC since he won '' The Ul ...

made contact with another person while on the scale, a violation of the weigh in policy”. This was because he was in contact with Cordeiro, who was his coach for the bout. As a result, Gastelum and Rafael Cordeiro were fined $1,000 and $200 respectively by New York State Athletic Commission. In 2020, Cordeiro was trainer and cornerman to the former boxing world heavyweight champion,

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

for his

exhibition bout An exhibition fight is a sports match which is not part of a competition but instead serves the function of demonstrating the skills of the participants In boxing, an exhibition fight normally consists of three to eight rounds. The participants ge ...

against

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...

Notable students

Mixed martial arts

Anderson Silva Anderson da Silva (; born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist and boxer. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days. This started in 2006 and ...

- Former UFC Middleweight Champion *

Maurício Rua Maurício Milani Rua (; born 25 November 1981), also known as Shogun, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former model. He competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former ...

-Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Champion *

Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the ...

- Former PRIDE Middleweight Champion and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion *

Fabrício Werdum Fabrício Werdum (; born 30 July 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Heavyweight Champion who competes in the Heavyweight division. He is also a 4-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Wor ...

-Former

UFC Heavyweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Rafael dos Anjos Rafael Souza dos Anjos (; born October 26, 1984) is a Brazilian American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former UFC Light ...

-Former

UFC Lightweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Cris Cyborg Cristiane Justino Venâncio (born July 9, 1985), known professionally by her ring name Cris Cyborg (and formerly by her married name Cristiane Santos), is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist who as of January 2021 competes in Bellator MMA, ...

-Former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion *

Lyoto Machida (born 30 May 1978), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and karateka, who currently competes in the Light heavyweight division. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light ...

-Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion *

Murilo Rua Murilo Milani Rua (; born May 22, 1980), also known as Ninja, is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist who fought in Pride Fighting Championships. He is the older brother of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He is ...

- Former EliteXC Middleweight Champion *

Beneil Dariush Beneil Khobier Dariush (born May 6, 1989) is an Assyrian-American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of October 24, 2022, he is #4 in the UFC lightw ...

- Former RITC Lightweight Champion *

Marvin Vettori Marvin Vettori (born September 20, 1993) is an Italian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2012, Vettori is a former Venator FC Wel ...

- Former VFC Welterweight Champion *

Giga Chikadze Giga Chikadze ( Georgian: გიგა ჭიკაძე, born 25 August 1988) is a Georgian mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Chikadze fo ...

Boxing

- Undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990

Championships and accomplishments

** IVC Lightweight Championship (One time) *

World MMA Awards The World MMA Awards are awards presented by ''Fighters Only'' magazine to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of mixed martial arts. Winners are presented with the ''Fighters Only silver statuette''. The World MMA Awards are divided ...

** 2012 The Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year ** 2015 The Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 4–2 ,

Rumina Sato (, kanji for given name: 留美奈) is a Japanese retired mixed martial artist, famous for his career in the Shooto organization. In the past he fought mostly in the 155 lb division, but he moved down to the 145 lb division. Mixed mar ...

, Submission (kneebar) , VTJ 1999 - Vale Tudo Japan 1999 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:58 ,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Henry Matamoros , Decision (unanimous) , IVC 9 - The Revenge , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 30:00 ,

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 ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 , Sergio Melo , DQ (rope grabbing) , IVC 7 - The New Champions , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 11:32 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Altair de Oliveira , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BVF 4 - Circuito de Lutas 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:24 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Cosminho da Silva , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BVF 4 - Circuito de Lutas 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:38 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Daniel Daniel , TKO (cut) , CP X CB - Capoeira vs. Chute Boxe , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:42 ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordeiro, Rafael 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Curitiba Brazilian male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial arts trainers Brazilian Muay Thai practitioners Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States