Rico Chiapparelli

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Rico Chiapparelli
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
World Cup
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg1989 Toledo82 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Iowa Hawkeyes
NCAA Division I Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1987 College Park 177 lb
Big Ten Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg1985 Evanston177 lb
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg1986 Minneapolis177 lb
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg1987 Madison177 lb

Rico Chiapparelli is an American former wrestler and mixed martial arts trainer. Being from Baltimore, Maryland, Chiapparelli became known as the "Baltimore Butcher." He attended Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore, where he was a Junior National Champion as a senior. [1] Chiapparelli then attended the University of Iowa, where he was a standout wrestler. [2] While at Iowa, he was an NCAA National Champion in 1987 at 177 lbs. [3] After college, he competed in freestyle wrestling in the men's senior level, and went on to become the USAW National Champion in 1989 at 180.5 lbs. [4]

Contents

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.[ citation needed ]

Mixed martial arts career

Having trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Renzo Gracie, [5] Chiapparelli got into MMA when he was asked by his friend and wrestling colleague Tom Erikson to corner him in his debut for the 1996's MARS tournament. [6] 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. [6] It was soon joined by Erikson, Dan Henderson, Randy Couture, Frank Trigg and Vladimir Matyushenko, among others. [7]

Chiapparelli had his first and only MMA match on September 13, 2003, beating Luiz Pantera in the Jungle Fight promotion in Brazil.

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
1 match1 win0 losses
By knockout00
By submission00
By decision10
Draws0
No contests0
Res.RecordOpponentMethodEventDateRoundTimeLocationNotes
Win1-0Luiz PanteraDecision (unanimous) Jungle Fight 1 September 13, 200335:00 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

References

  1. ↑ Rico Chiapparelli - All-Americans. nwhof.org. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  2. ↑ "The Hit List: NCAA Division I Wrestling Champions Who Have Competed in MMA".
  3. ↑ "1987 NCAA wrestling championships" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "U.S. freestyle wrestling champions".
  5. ↑ Vale Tudo Relics: When Men Landed on MARS
  6. 1 2 MMA History XVI: Rico Chiapparelli and the RAW Team
  7. ↑ "As explained by Joe Rogan at 1:21:00 on the JRE @267". September 25, 2012.


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