Meet Mike Tyson’s trainer Rafael Cordeiro, the Brazilian MMA ‘Master’ tasked with coaching 53-year-old ahead of comeback
IMAGINE being tasked with training a man that once offered a zoo keeper £9,000 to let him fight a silverback gorilla.
Well as the former Baddest Man on the Planet gets set for his comeback, that responsibility lies with Rafael Cordeiro.
Luckily, the three-time Brazilian Muay Thai world champion is nicknamed 'The Master' for a reason.
Cordeiro's passion for mixed martial arts started at a young age after he was born in Curitiba, a city about 500 miles south of Rio De Janiero.
After progressing through the ranks at the legendary Chute Boxing Academy, he made his name in MMA.
The 5ft 10in brawler became Brazil's Muay Thai champion and won the International Vale Tudo Championship.
He stepped out of the ring in his late 20s with a professional MMA record of four wins and two defeats.
And then he decided to continue his career as a coach.
The Brazil-born hardman moved to the USA and opened the famous Kings MMA gym in California.
It is there that he has trained a long-list of champions including Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida, Fabricio Werdum and Rafael dos Anjos.
As a result, Cordeiro won the 2012 and 2016 coach of the year awards.
And now the 46-year-old faces his toughest challenge yet as he looks to get Tyson back in fighting shape.
The 53-year-old has been knuckling down in the gym after announcing he will return for a four-round exhibition bout.
A picture of Tyson in the gym alongside Cordeiro showed off his incredible body transformation.
Cordeiro has been blown away by Tyson's efforts so far - and fears he still has the power to kill some.
He told the Ariel Helwani MMA Show: "As soon as we started training I said 'My Lord'.
"I didn't know what to expect from a guy who hasn't hit mitts for - I think - almost ten years.
"So I didn't expect to see what I saw - I saw a guy with the same speed, the same power as a guy who is 21, 22 years old.
"And I can tell you, you would have to be a good guy to spar with Mike, because if you don't prepare, he is going to drop you for sure - 100 per cent.
LATEST SPORT NEWS
"The power is different level.
"I have trained a lot of heavyweights in my career, with not a lot of respect for everybody, but he is almost as powerful as Wanderlei Silva is right now.
"When you talk about power, I held his right hook and thought 'he is going to kill somebody'."
