06/19/2026
Lions star RB Jahmyr Gibbs is training with MMA legend, Rafael Cordeiro, this offseason as he prepares for his fourth NFL season 🥊
Starting in March, Gibbs began implementing mixed martial arts (MMA) training into his offseason regimen, which he hopes will translate to increased success on the football field.
“It helps with body control. Your base and all that and faster hands. I would say with blocking, I get my hands up before they hit me. I feel like my body’s gotten in better shape, like physically it looks better. And conditioning-wise, that conditioning is way different from here because you use nonstop movement in every muscle of your body,” Gibbs said.
“Out here [in football], you get more breaks and [there is] much more using your legs. But there [in MMA], it’s just constant shoulders, knees, elbows, you go to the ground and all that so out here I barely get tired.”
Gibbs, 24, has completed more than 20 hourlong training sessions with Cordeiro of Kings MMA Gym in Huntington Beach, California. He was referred to the legendary Brazilian coach by one of his close friends after Gibbs posted a message on social media saying he was looking for a trainer.
“He now has the vision that the fighters have inside the octagon. He can see. When I say something, it makes sense for him,” Cordeiro said of Gibbs.
“So, we work on a lot of specific drills that will have him prepared for all situations — long distance, short distance, how to move, how to control, how to keep his hands up and the kid understands very, very fast.”
In his career, Cordeiro has helped guide the likes of former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum and legendary fighters Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Cris Cyborg among many others.
(via ESPN)