At the tender age of six years old, Ricky Lundell, along with his father and brothers, began taking a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class under Pedro Sauer, who is widely considered one of the greatest Jiu Jitsu practitioners of all time. Ricky advanced rapidly under the tutelage of Sauer’s team, and while dominating in his athletic endeavours, also managed to establish a solid academic base, and graduated from Utah Valley University at the age of 18. At 19, Ricky Lundell became the youngest North American to reach the level of black belt in Gracie/Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Now here come the truly intriguing part:
When Ricky was 20, he was recruited by possibly the greatest amateur wrestler in the history of the the sport, Cael Sanderson, to wrestle for one of the best university teams in the world, Iowa State. Not only was Sanderson unbeaten in his entire collegiate wrestling career, but he also went on to win a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
This was the first time ever that a BJJ practitioner was head-hunted to join a wrestling team without any prior experience in the sport, but it was clear to many what Sanderson had seen in Lundell. Sanderson saw that Ricky was a perfectionist who was particularly renowned for his technical approach to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which was bound to help him adapt to wrestling. It was through his newfound love for wrestling that Lundell began subconsciously developing a system that incorporated the takedowns and smothering top control of wrestling with the intricacies of submissions and guard passing of BJJ; this system would become the ethos of his grappling school “The University of Grappling,” and the backbone of his overall coaching style.
For a long time, the submission artist’s Kryptonite has been a high calibre wrestler, and in modern MMA, guard-pulling is simply not a viable option unless your name is Shinya Aoki or Vinny Magalhaes, and guard players of that quality are few and far between. Like it or loathe it, one of the most effective ways of winning a MMA bout is with the stifling top control a wrestler offers. Mix this with technical guard passes and submission skills, and you have the perfect grappling base for MMA. This is what Lundell brings to the table.
In recent years, Ricky Lundell has been a key component in many UFC fighters’ training camps. He has worked extensively along with Robert Drysdale as former heavyweight champion Frank Mir’s grappling coach, and all their hard work came to fruition on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140, when Mir secured a bone-breaking Kimura, handing one of the greatest MMA grapplers of all time, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the first submission defeat of his career. Ricky has recently worked diligently with Nottingham, England’s own Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy on improving his wrestling and overall grappling game. Many notable insiders have raved about the ground game of the new and improved Hardy, who after suffering a tough losing spell managed to secure a knockout win in his last appearance in the Octagon against Duane “Bang” Ludwig at UFC 146.
At present, Ricky Lundell is working with Joe Lauzon, a fighter who has amassed a staggering finishing ratio in his fights, and after Lundell finishes camp with Lauzon, he is going to be coaching longtime bantamweight standout, and now flyweight title contender, Joseph Benavidez for his upcoming title bout with Demetrious Johnson.
To keep up to date with Ricky Lundell, make sure to follow him on Twitter @RickyLundell and check out his website www.UniversityofGrappling.com.
