Matt Lindland won silver in the olympics & the worlds in greco, panAm gold in freestyle. competed in ADCC and lost a ufc title fight twice in the same night 
BJ Penn Forever -ÂDon't know what BJJ tournaments existed when Rolls Gracie competed. He did win the 79 and 80 Pan Ams in sambo. He is also listed on wiki as winning them in free in 79 but that does not check out on th Pan Ams wiki results page and I think we would have heard of that.
You would have to assume he would have been a Mundials champ if they existed while he was alive.
Im pretty sure Rolls got bronze in 1980 in Sambo
Dean Lister definitely deserves mention. Â
buddie -ÂDean Lister definitely deserves mention. Â
Lister wrestled then?
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro - high level bjj gi / wrestling
Ricky Lundell - youngest American bjj black belt / wrestled in college / won a high level wrestling tournament
graciesrule -BJ Penn Forever -ÂDon't know what BJJ tournaments existed when Rolls Gracie competed. He did win the 79 and 80 Pan Ams in sambo. He is also listed on wiki as winning them in free in 79 but that does not check out on th Pan Ams wiki results page and I think we would have heard of that.
You would have to assume he would have been a Mundials champ if they existed while he was alive.
Im pretty sure Rolls got bronze in 1980 in Sambo
Yeah I have no clue, I was just going by his wiki.
branchdavidian - Matt Lindland won silver in the olympics & the worlds in greco, panAm gold in freestyle. competed in ADCC and lost a ufc title fight twice in the same night :D
So legit on the part of the free medal in the pan ams although aside from the US and Cuba, are there any other strong wrestling nations in the Americas?
MMA doesnât count for the sake of this argument.
Erik Apple -ÂBabalu won medals at pan ams for wrestlingÂ
I seem to recall hearing that during UFC commentary. Did he finish top 3 in any world level bjj/subgrappling como tho? And is PanAms for wrestling, as asked above, considered "world when I think the only strong wrestling nations in the Americas are US and Cuba?
Wasa-B -Âbranchdavidian - Matt Lindland won silver in the olympics & the worlds in greco, panAm gold in freestyle. competed in ADCC and lost a ufc title fight twice in the same night :DSo legit on the part of the free medal in the pan ams although aside from the US and Cuba, are there any other strong wrestling nations in the Americas?
MMA doesnât count for the sake of this argument.
Occasionally Canada, but yea otherwise dominated by Cuba/U.S.
wiggum - -Vera was a WKA world champion. I know his grappling credentials were solid, but I am not sure what they were.-Youâre right about ADCC Europe.
-Yeah. Randy took Jacare down and sat in guard, iirc. Still impressive, considering that it was Jacare.
Vera iirc was wrestling in the Olympic center for Greco,and competed in adcc as a blue belt.i donât think he won an adcc match.
Great thread as usual Wasa-B
I'm not saying he went as far as Worlds/Olympics in wrestling but Monson won a pair of Northwest Senior Reginal tournaments in Free and Greco, won the Pac-10 tourny in folk and has two golds, two silvers and a bronze at ADCC and has won FILA no-gi worlds.
He is a crazy communist but a damn good grappler.
EKPOGI: I remember hearing that, too, now that you mention it. Not sure if it was ever serious. He did well enough against Randy in the clinch.
BJ Penn Forever: Good call on Monson. Didnât know he was a PAC-10 champ.
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What about Jerry Rinaldi? Two time d1 all american and silver at adcc
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T?bikan J?dan -ÂWhat about Jerry Rinaldi? Two time d1 all american and silver at adcc
I didnât know that Rinaldi went into BJJ. He was a stud.
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wiggum - EKPOGI: I remember hearing that, too, now that you mention it. Not sure if it was ever serious. He did well enough against Randy in the clinch.BJ Penn Forever: Good call on Monson. Didnât know he was a PAC-10 champ.
From wiki
attended Lake Taylor High School where he excelled in wrestling and earned a four-year athletic scholarship to Old Dominion University. However, he dropped out of Old Dominion after a year and a half when he felt college was not for him, and enlisted himself in the United States Air Force. In the Air Force, Vera joined the wrestling team and trained at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His military wrestling career was cut short in 1999 when he tore ligaments in his right elbow. Arthroscopic surgery repaired the ligaments, but he had nerve damage from the experience, causing him to be unable to use his right arm. He was released from the Air Force on a medical discharge.
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wiggum -T?bikan J?dan -ÂWhat about Jerry Rinaldi? Two time d1 all american and silver at adcc
I didnât know that Rinaldi went into BJJ. He was a stud.
Yea, I went to Cornell and did some bjj there. I never met Rinaldi, but people talk about him up there. I ran into Gregor Gillespie up there a couple years ago. He was doing something with the wrestlers, but still chatted with me for a couple minutes lol
Goker has some great judo and sambo accomplishments. I think he won some BJJ tournaments too.
"The Baltimore Butcher" would fit in this category, Rico Chiapparelli.
Calhoon -Â"The Baltimore Butcher" would fit in this category, Rico Chiapparelli.
I know that Rico became a high level MMA/grappling coach. Did he win any tournaments?