On August 8th, 2017 Rikki Rockett turned 56 years old! He is among the BJJ celebrities who actually competes! Rikki was the drummer of the band Poison who sold 45 million records worldwide. He beat throat cancer in 2015.
In 1993, Rockett started watching a new promotion called The Ultimate Fighting Championship. At first he was frustrated by the success of a young grappler named Royce Gracie. As a martial artist from a striking background, he just couldn’t wrap his head around what was happening. “The first two UFCs, I was like ‘Would somebody hit this frickin’ guy?’” he joked to 8 Count. When he started to notice his dad’s old trick, the Osota Gari, being used, though, his interest was piqued. “That rekindled my interest in Jiu-Jitsu,” he told JiuJitsuSweep.com.
When he met Rigan and Jean Jacques Machado at a rally in 1998, the Brazilian brothers invited him to their school. “I had roots in wrestling and some ground fighting skills and thought I’d do just fine,” Rockett writes on his official website. “I got tapped out by their students more times than I can remember! I signed up the next day and have been an avid student ever since.”
Rockett earned his purple belt under the Machado brothers through a combination of group classes and private lessons from Renato Magno. When Magno opened his own gym, Street Sports Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Santa Monica, the drummer followed him there.
In the video below you can check Rikki competing! Happy Birthday Sir!
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