Who is Rafael Cordeiro and how many UFC champions has he trained?

Rafael Cordeiro is an MMA coach and a former mixed martial artist. He is best known for training multiple UFC world champions. Cordeiro is also the head coach at Kings MMA - a gym that he co-founded in 2010.

Cordeiro competed professionally in Muay Thai and MMA before he called it a career in 1999. The 47-year-old used to be a coach at Brazil-based 'Chute Boxe Academy' until he established Kings MMA gym along with partner Ricardo Testai.

Master Rafael Cordeiro is the man! Tremendous job in Kelvin’s corner. #UFC258 https://t.co/zG6oKcVWN0 pic.twitter.com/w5igwMJ78g

— Mike's MMA Picks (@MikesMMAPicks) February 14, 2021

Most recently, Rafael Cordeiro was seen in Mike Tyson's corner ahead of his highly-anticipated exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr.

Which UFC champions have been trained by Rafael Cordeiro?

Rafael Cordeiro has been a teacher to some of the greatest world champions in the history of the UFC. The Brazilian has most notably trained the former UFC middleweight great, Anderson Silva.

Assistindo @ufc em Florianópolis com a familia #cyborgnocombate #ufc #ufclasvegas #kingsmma #rafaelcordeiro pic.twitter.com/ltPI7egBhj

— Rafael Cordeiro (@kings_mma) December 31, 2017

Cordeiro was also a coach to the likes of Maurício Rua, Fabrício Werdum, Rafel dos Anjos, Cris Cyborg, and Lyoto Machida - all former UFC champions. Currently, some of the most noteworthy UFC stars training under Rafael Cordeiro include Beneil Dariush, Marvin Vettori, and Kelvin Gastelum, who recently won his fight against Ian Heinisch at UFC 258. The 47-year-old had also trained Mike Tyson from 1987 to 1990.

Cordeiro has received the Coach of the Year Award on two occasions, namely in 2016 and 2020, by Fighters Only magazine. His gym, Kings MMA, is considered to be one of the finest MMA gyms in the world.