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

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

(MMA) coach and founder of MMA Gym, Kings MMA. 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 or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

. 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and in 2010 opened his own gym, Kings MMA in

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as o ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Cordeiro has won the 2012 and 2016 coach of the year awards for MMA. In 2019, during the weigh-ins for UFC 244, the NYSAC "determined that

Kelvin Gastelum Kelvin Gastelum (born October 24, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gastelum earned a contract with the UFC after winning '' The ...

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 between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...

for his exhibition bout against

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. As an amateur he r ...

Notable students

Mixed martial arts

Anderson Silva Anderson da Silva (; born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and professional 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 ...

- Former UFC Middleweight Champion *

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

- 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 former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the most wins, knockouts, ...

- Former PRIDE Middleweight Champion and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion * Fabrício Werdum - Former UFC Heavyweight Champion *

Rafael dos Anjos Rafael Souza dos Anjos (; born 26 October 1984), also known by his initials RDA, is a Brazilian and American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Champion ...

- 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 class ...

Cris Cyborg Cristiane Justino Venâncio (born July 9, 1985), known professionally as Cris Cyborg and formerly by her married name Cristiane Santos, is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist and Professional boxing, professional boxer who com ...

- Former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion *

Lyoto Machida is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as a UFC Middleweight Championship title challenger. He mos ...

- Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion *

Murilo Rua Murilo Milani Rua (; born May 22, 1980), also known as Ninja, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He is the older brother of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio Rua. He was the inaugural EliteXC Middleweight Champion and a ...

- Former EliteXC Middleweight Champion * Beneil Dariush - Former RITC Lightweight Champion * Marvin Vettori - Former VFC Welterweight Champion *

* Giga Chikadze

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 is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, , - , 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 Martial artists 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 male 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