Ricco Rodriguez
“Suave”
Source: bjjheroes.comA school wrestler who found the Machado brothers, won the over-99 kg division at the first ADCC aged 20, and beat Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title.
Biography
Sources for this profile
BJJ Heroes, "Ricco Rodriguez" (athlete profile).(opens in a new tab)
According to BJJ Heroes, Rodriguez holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Jean Jacques Machado.
Where in the source: Opening sentence of the profile — "black belt under"
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BJJ Heroes traces his lineage from Mitsuyo Maeda through Carlos Gracie Sr., Carlos Gracie Jr. and Jean Jacques Machado to Rodriguez.
Where in the source: Fact box under the heading Ricco Rodriguez Jiu Jitsu, line Lineage
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BJJ Heroes says Rodriguez received his black belt from Jean Jacques Machado in 2006.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph on the years after the UFC title — "from the hands of"
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Rodriguez was born on 19 August 1977 in San Jose, California.
Where in the source: Biography, first sentence
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BJJ Heroes gives his nickname as "Suave", explaining that the word means smooth in Spanish as well as Portuguese.
Where in the source: Fact box, line Nickname
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BJJ Heroes calls Rodriguez the first U.S. national to win an ADCC gold medal, in 1998.
Where in the source: Opening sentence of the profile — "first U.S. national"
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His family moved to Jersey City Heights, where he went to elementary school, and later to Paterson, New Jersey.
Where in the source: Biography, first paragraph
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Rodriguez took up wrestling in New Jersey, competing for Toms River Intermediate East and then Toms River North High School under coach Curtis, and continued wrestling for Tottenville High School after the family moved to Staten Island, New York.
Where in the source: Biography, third paragraph, on his school wrestling
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After he finished high school his family could not afford to send him to college, and Rodriguez, believing he could succeed as a fighter, moved to the West Coast.
Where in the source: Biography, fourth paragraph, opening sentences
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In California he found work at a Gold's Gym in Redondo Beach, where he befriended Erik Paulson, who introduced him to the Machado brothers' jiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Biography, fourth paragraph, on his first job in California
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BJJ Heroes says his 1997 victory in the blue-belt open class made him the second American to take a world title at the CBJJ championship, today run by the IBJJF.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph beginning In 1997 — "second American"
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At the 1998 World Championship, now competing as a purple belt, Rodriguez lost in the semifinals in his weight division and in the open class.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph beginning In 1997, second sentence
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BJJ Heroes says his 1998 ADCC win made him the first champion of the organisation's over-99 kg division.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph beginning In 1997, last sentence — "first +99kg champion"
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BJJ Heroes says the ADCC win brought him to the notice of MMA promoters; his first professional fights came in 1999, when he won twice in one night at the Extreme Cage tournament.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph following the ADCC win, first sentence
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BJJ Heroes says he became one of Mark Kerr's main sparring partners while Kerr was already a star of no-holds-barred fighting, and that Kerr later helped him get his first MMA contract, which was with PRIDE.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph on the ADCC success, last sentences — "sparring partners"
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In 2000 he moved to Japan and trained at the Takada Dojo, with Kazushi Sakuraba as a training partner, and beat Gary Goodridge in PRIDE.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph beginning In 2000
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After three straight wins in Japan he returned to the United States and trained with Team Punishment, alongside Tito Ortiz and others, which led him to the UFC; he won his UFC debut at UFC 32 against Andrei Arlovski by TKO.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph on the return to the U.S. and the UFC debut
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Rodriguez won the UFC heavyweight title in 2002.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph beginning In 2002, first sentence
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BJJ Heroes gives his favourite position as the kneebar from half guard, from top position.
Where in the source: Fact box, line Favorite Position/Technique
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At ADCC 1998 Rodriguez won four matches in the over-99 kg division: Yousef Elzien by headlock, Ricardo Moraes 5-0 on points in the quarterfinal, Firas Nakdali by armbar in the semifinal and Sean Alvarez 3-0 on points in the final.
Where in the source: Fight history table (Opponent, W/L, Method, Competition, Weight, Stage, Year), rows ADCC O99KG 1998
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At ADCC 1999 Rodriguez beat Rocky Batastini by armbar and then lost to Sean Alvarez on points in the over-99 kg quarterfinal; in the absolute division he beat Kim Mason and Murilo Bustamante (3-0 on points), lost the semifinal to Hayato Sakurai by heel hook and beat Garth Taylor on points for third place.
Where in the source: Fight history table, rows ADCC O99KG and ABS 1999
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At ADCC 2000 Rodriguez beat Carlos Barreto by referee decision, Rodrigo Minotauro by kneebar in the quarterfinal and Ricardo Moraes by referee decision in the semifinal, before losing the over-99 kg final to Mark Kerr on points.
Where in the source: Fight history table, rows ADCC O99KG 2000
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At ADCC 2001 Rodriguez won by flying armbar and by kneebar (against Roger Neff in the quarterfinal), lost the over-99 kg semifinal to Mark Robinson on a penalty and the third-place match to Marcio Cruz by armbar; in the absolute he beat A. Cacareco 2-0 and lost to Vitor Belfort 2-0 in the quarterfinal.
Where in the source: Fight history table, rows ADCC O99KG and ABS 2001
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Rodriguez returned to ADCC in 2005, beating Halm Gocalli by headlock before losing the over-99 kg quarterfinal to Gabriel Napão 2-0 and his first absolute match to Marcelo Garcia by heel hook, and again in 2009, when he lost his first absolute match to Alexandre Ribeiro by armbar.
Where in the source: Fight history table, rows ADCC 2005 and 2009
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In later grappling matches Rodriguez lost to Fabiano Scherner in EBI overtime at Submission Underground 3 in 2016, to Tom DeBlass by referee decision at Fight to Win 30 in 2017 and to Lachlan Giles by inside heel hook at Kinektic 1 in 2019.
Where in the source: Fight history table, rows SUG 3 2016, F2W 30 2017 and Kinektic 1 2019
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ADCC, "ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship Statistics".(opens in a new tab)
ADCC's table of male world champions lists Ricco Rodriguez as the 1998 champion in the over-99 kg division.
Where in the source: Table ADCC MALE CHAMPIONS, row 1998, column +99kg
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ADCC, "ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship 1998" (official results).(opens in a new tab)
ADCC's official results for the 1998 Submission Fighting World Championship in Abu Dhabi, dated 20 March 1998, place Ricco Rodriguez first in the over-99 kg division, ahead of Sean Alvarez, Simon Siasi and Firas Nakdali.
Where in the source: 1998 RESULTS, division +99kg (Medal, Place, Name), rows 1st to 4th
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ADCC, "ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship 1999" (official results).(opens in a new tab)
ADCC's official results for the 1999 world championship, dated 24 February 1999, place Rodriguez third in the absolute division behind Roberto Traven and Hayato Sakurai, with Garth Taylor fourth; Sean Alvarez was runner-up to Mark Kerr in the over-99 kg division.
Where in the source: 1999 RESULTS, divisions Absolute and +99kg (Medal, Place, Name)
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At the same 1999 ADCC world championship, Jean Jacques Machado won the under-77 kg division.
Where in the source: 1999 RESULTS, division -77kg, Gold 1st
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ADCC, "ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship 2000" (official results).(opens in a new tab)
ADCC's official results for the 2000 world championship, dated 1 March 2000, place Rodriguez second in the over-99 kg division behind Mark Kerr, with Rigan Machado third and Ricardo Morais fourth.
Where in the source: 2000 RESULTS, division +99kg (Medal, Place, Name), rows 1st to 4th
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ADCC, "ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship 2001" (official results).(opens in a new tab)
ADCC's official results for the 2001 world championship, dated 11 April 2001, place Rodriguez fourth in the over-99 kg division, won by Mark Robinson ahead of Jeff Monson and Marcio Cruz.
Where in the source: 2001 RESULTS, division +99kg (Medal, Place, Name), rows 1st to 4th
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IBJJF, "World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 1997" results page.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF's results for the 1997 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship list Rodriguez, as "Rico Rodrigues" of Machado USA, as winner of the adult male blue-belt open class, ahead of Alex Paes, with Luciano Mafra and Fernando Terere third.
Where in the source: Division Adult / Blue / Male / Open Class, place 1 (academy Machado Usa)
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IBJJF, "World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 1998" results page.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF's results for the 1998 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship list Rodriguez (as "Rico Rodrigues") in third place in both the adult male purple-belt ultra-heavy division and the purple-belt open class, which Fernando Terere won.
Where in the source: Divisions Adult / Purple / Male / Ultra Heavy and Adult / Purple / Male / Open Class, place 3
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IBJJF, "World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 1999" results page.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF's results for the 1999 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship list Rodriguez (as "Rico Rodrigues") in third place in the adult male purple-belt open class, won by Eduardo Santoro.
Where in the source: Division Adult / Purple / Male / Open Class, place 3
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IBJJF, "Pan Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship 1998" results page.(opens in a new tab)
The IBJJF's results for the 1998 Pan American Championship list Rodriguez (as "Rico Rodrigues" of Machado) as winner of the adult male open class, ahead of his Machado team-mate Mat Hall.
Where in the source: Division Adult / Blue / Male / Open Class, place 1 (academy Machado)
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Carl Fisher, "Interview with Mr Suave, Ricco Rodriguez", SFUK, posted 26 April 2001 (Internet Archive capture of 17 July 2011).(opens in a new tab)
Interviewed in Abu Dhabi before the 2001 ADCC event, Rodriguez said he had prepared in Los Angeles with Rigan Machado and Mark Kerr as his training partners, and that Kerr had been training with him for two and a half to three years and picking up the techniques he showed him.
Where in the source: Answer to the question about his training partners before the event
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Rodriguez said he was still dedicated to the Machados: he had sat down with Rigan and Jean Jacques Machado, told them he wanted to become a no-holds-barred fighter, and they gave their approval and told him to train with the people who could help him get there.
Where in the source: Answer to the question whether he is still with the Machados — "gave me their approval"
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In April 2001 Rodriguez said he had accepted a proposal to live in Japan, called Japan his first home, and planned to return there for two years after Abu Dhabi; he described himself as committed to PRIDE.
Where in the source: Opening answer (Japan as first home), answer about the Machados (proposal from Japan) and answer about Europe
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Rodriguez described himself as a fighter who goes for kneebars and armbars and tries unusual things, and said many fighters were so afraid of losing that they would not attempt anything.
Where in the source: Answer to the question about the PRIDE fight with the Japanese opponent — "knee bars"
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Asked about Kazushi Sakuraba, Rodriguez praised him as a respectful fighter who performs for the audience, and said he had learned a lot from both the Machados and Sakuraba through cross-training.
Where in the source: Answer to the question about Sakuraba — "cross training"
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Rodriguez said he had become a world champion at 19 at the Worlds in Brazil, and that he was 23 at the time of the interview.
Where in the source: Answer to the question about when he will reach his prime
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Rodriguez said that a champion is not made overnight, that it takes time to succeed, and that he had to take on a lot of responsibility and grow up fast at a young age.
Where in the source: Answer to the question about staying focused, closing sentences
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GRACIEMAG Newsroom, "ADCC Classics: three days in '98, Soca, two Gracies, and a golden dagger for Ze Mario", 25 August 2015.(opens in a new tab)
GRACIEMAG writes that the first ADCC event was held at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club on 20–22 March 1998, as the creation of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with 16 competitors entered in the over-99 kg division.
Where in the source: Opening paragraphs, and the paragraph listing the five divisions — "+99kg (16)"
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GRACIEMAG names Rodriguez as one of the five men in ADCC's first class of champions in 1998, alongside Alexandre Soca, Renzo Gracie, Rodrigo Gracie and Zé Mário Sperry.
Where in the source: Paragraph beginning Five men — "first class of ADCC champions"
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According to GRACIEMAG, Rodriguez won the 1998 over-99 kg final against Sean Alvarez with a guard pass, shortly before the 20 minutes of regulation time ran out.
Where in the source: Paragraph on the +99kg division — "guard pass over Sean Alvarez"
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GRACIEMAG noted in 2015 that the 1998 over-99 kg division was still the only men's division in ADCC history without a Brazilian among its semifinalists.
Where in the source: Paragraph after the +99kg final — "no Brazilian among the semifinalists"
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Redação GRACIEMAG, "Mundial 2016: os craques que começaram campeões na faixa-azul", 31 May 2016 (Portuguese).(opens in a new tab)
Ahead of the 2016 World Championship, GRACIEMAG listed Rodriguez, the 1997 blue-belt open-class world champion, among the adult blue-belt world champions who later reached the UFC.
Where in the source: Paragraph on blue belts who reached the UFC — "absoluto em 1997"
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Redação GRACIEMAG, "Revisit 5 David-vs.-Goliath Matches to Get What Jiu-Jitsu Is", 2 January 2013.(opens in a new tab)
In a 2013 feature on how jiu-jitsu lets smaller grapplers beat much bigger ones, GRACIEMAG put Marcelo Garcia's match against Rodriguez at ADCC 2005 first among five 'David vs Goliath' matches.
Where in the source: Numbered list of five matches, item 1
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Sherdog, "Ricco 'Suave' Rodriguez MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography" (fighter database page).(opens in a new tab)
Sherdog lists Ricco "Suave" Rodriguez, born 19 August 1977, with a professional MMA record of 54 wins, 27 losses and one no contest.
Where in the source: Fighter header (name, nickname, age) and the wins/losses summary above FIGHT HISTORY - PRO
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Sherdog dates his professional MMA debut to 25 March 1999 at Extreme Cage, where he won twice that night, by decision over Scott Adams and by armbar over Rocky Batastini.
Where in the source: FIGHT HISTORY - PRO, the two last rows (EC - Extreme Cage, Mar / 25 / 1999)
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Sherdog's record shows three wins for Rodriguez in PRIDE in 2000, including a decision over Gary Goodridge at Pride 9 on 4 June 2000 and a decision over John Marsh at Pride 12 on 23 December 2000.
Where in the source: FIGHT HISTORY - PRO, rows Pride 9, Pride 10 and Pride 12
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Sherdog lists four UFC wins for Rodriguez before his title fight, all by TKO from punches: Andrei Arlovski at UFC 32 (29 June 2001), Pete Williams at UFC 34 (2 November 2001), Jeff Monson at UFC 35 (11 January 2002) and Tsuyoshi Kosaka at UFC 37 (10 May 2002).
Where in the source: FIGHT HISTORY - PRO, rows UFC 32 to UFC 37
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At UFC 39 on 27 September 2002 Rodriguez beat Randy Couture by TKO, submission to elbows, at 3:04 of the fifth round.
Where in the source: FIGHT HISTORY - PRO, row UFC 39 - The Warriors Return
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Sherdog lists a first-round TKO loss to Tim Sylvia at UFC 41 on 28 February 2003, followed by decision losses to Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 and to Pedro Rizzo at UFC 45 on 21 November 2003.
Where in the source: FIGHT HISTORY - PRO, rows UFC 41, Pride FC - Total Elimination 2003 and UFC 45
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The last professional fight on Sherdog's record is a decision loss to Hatef Moeil at Cage Fight Series 9 on 2 February 2019.
Where in the source: FIGHT HISTORY - PRO, first row (CFS 9 - Cage Fight Series 9)
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Wikipedia, "Ricco Rodriguez" (revision of 9 August 2026).(opens in a new tab)
Wikipedia states that Rodriguez won the vacant UFC heavyweight championship against Randy Couture at UFC 39, and lost it to Tim Sylvia by first-round knockout in his first title defence.
Where in the source: Section Ultimate Fighting Championship, second paragraph
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Duane Finley, "Submission Underground: Ricco Rodriguez Returns", FloCombat, 13 July 2016.(opens in a new tab)
In July 2016, aged 38, Rodriguez was preparing to return to grappling competition at Submission Underground in Portland, Oregon, against Fabiano Scherner, and told FloCombat he had started training at Renzo's.
Where in the source: Opening paragraphs and first quote — "started training at Renzo's"
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Rodriguez told FloCombat that coming back to grappling after MMA was hard because jiu-jitsu is 'the birth of fighting', that submission-only rules went back to where it all started, and that grappling let an older athlete keep competing at a high level without the toll of MMA.
Where in the source: Second and third quotes — "back to the beginning"
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Describing his plan for the submission-only match, Rodriguez said he would attack and go for the submission rather than defend, calling it the old-school way.
Where in the source: Quote on the game plan — "attack, attack, attack"
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Rodriguez said he and Fabiano Scherner had been due to meet in MMA in Puerto Rico, which did not happen, and that he accepted the grappling match when Chael Sonnen called him with the offer.
Where in the source: Quote on how the match came about — "got the call from Chael"
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Ian Shutts, "The Machado Brothers", Lowkick MMA, 22 November 2021.(opens in a new tab)
Lowkick MMA writes that in the 1990s the Machado brothers drew criticism in Brazil for teaching jiu-jitsu to foreigners, especially foreigners who competed, and names Mark Kerr and Rodriguez, both later ADCC champions, as students of theirs who went on to beat Brazilian grapplers.
Where in the source: Paragraph on criticism from Brazil — "gringos"
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