Ricky Lundell

Ricky Lundell is a jiu-jitsu black belt who represented the Iowa State Univerity Cyclones wrestling team - one of the strongest sides on the North American NCAA Division 1 collegiate circuit - where he was guided by the well-known coaching duo of Cael and Cody Sanderson. In joining the Cyclones, Lundell was the first-ever Iowa wrestler to join the ranks having never wrestled competitively. After his jiu-jitsu and wrestling career, Ricky became a coach, being particularly successful in mixed martial arts (MMA) with his hybrid wrestling/jiu-jitsu program, which he applied to important Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) athletes such as Carlos Condit, Frank Mir, and Travis Browne.

Ricky Lundell Wrestling

MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS

Collegiate:
N/A

Grappling:
- 1st Place FILA Grappling World Championship (2007, 2008)
- 1st Place Pancrase Submission Wrestling World Championships (2008, 2010).
- 3rd Place Gracie Jiu-Jitsu World Championships (2006)

Team:
- Iowa State University (Cyclones)

Ricky Lundell Biography

Ricky Lundell was born on April 30, 1986, in Provo, Utah, in the United States. The first sport Lundell paid attention to was jiu-jitsu, which he started at the age of 6, with his father and brother, in Utah under Master Pedro Sauer’s guidance, a direct student of the Gracie family.

A precocious young man, Lundell started college at Utah Valley University when he was only 15 years old, earning his degree in Associate of Science at the age of 18 the same year as his high school graduation. The following year, 2005, Ricky earned his black belt from coach Sauer, being referenced as the youngest (19) North American to earn the rank, a record that has since been broken by others in the sport.

Although Lundell is not known to have competed in the IBJJF jiu-jitsu circuit as a black belt, he did earn a bronze medal in the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu World Championships (2006), as well as gold medals in the FILA Grappling World Championship (2007, 2008) and the Pancrase Submission Wrestling World Championships (2008, 2010).

Ricky’s relationship with wrestling came by way of Cyler Sanderson - the younger brother of Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson. It was through his friendship with Cyler that Iowa Cyclones Wrestling team coaches Cael and Cody Sanderson (Cyler’s older brothers) recruited the talented Provo native for the ISU wrestling room, believing their wrestlers could gain from having a different grappling style on the mats, day-in, day-out.

The offer was accepted by Ricky, who, being 22 years old at the time, still fit the criteria to be granted one year of eligibility and the transfer from Utah Valley to Iowa State. This made the jiu-jitsu black belt the first Iowa wrestler to be brought in to the workgroup without any competitive experience in the sport.

After his short stint with the Iowa Cyclones, Ricky Lundell used his acquired knowledge to launch his own coaching methodology, one that earned him plenty of praise from many elite mixed martial arts fighters who worked with him directly. This included UFC belt challengers such as Carlos Condit, Frank Mir, and Travis Browne.

Lundell is also well known for his "1% Improvement Movement", a concept of self-improvement that gathered plenty of praise and momentum in fitness circles, and is explained below by Lundell himself in Bernardo Faria’s channel - one of the leaders of the Wrestling Fanatics website.

Ricky Lundell - 1% Improvement Movement