Full Transcript — Rigan Machado Interview on Training Hollywood's Biggest Stars, Ego, and 35 Years in Beverly Hills | INSIGHT Podcast

In this episode of INSIGHT, Emma Sargsyan sits down with Rigan Machado — 8-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, 365-0 across a 13-year unbeaten career, and for the past 35 years the man who runs Hollywood's most private training room in Beverly Hills. His students have included Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Robert Pattinson, Tom Hardy, Vin Diesel, Mario Lopez and Mel Gibson. In this conversation, he reveals what the world's most famous people are really like when fame can't protect them. Below is the full transcript.

Episode Highlights

"I'm the coach, you're the student. I'm the general, you're the soldier. I'm the pitbull, you're the Chihuahua. I don't care who you are — that's the first rule here." [ADD TIMESTAMP]

"Robert Pattinson came to the academy very shy, very private. After two or three classes, he started learning how to relax — after that, it was amazing." [ADD TIMESTAMP]

"Tom Hardy said, 'I want to compete.' I told him: go as a no-one. Leave the celebrity behind. Just go there and fight as a no-one. He won." [ADD TIMESTAMP]

"The power of Hollywood pushes these people up like a balloon. Jiu-jitsu brings them back to reality — in this environment, you're not a celebrity. You're just a student." [ADD TIMESTAMP]

"No money can buy my integrity. I exercise that every day." [ADD TIMESTAMP]

FULL TRANSCRIPT of the Rigan Machado Interview

Lightly edited for clarity and readability.

Emma Sargsyan (cold open): There is a room in Beverly Hills, on Wilshire Boulevard. And in that room, for the past 35 years, some of the most famous, most powerful, most carefully managed people on the planet have gotten on the floor. Not metaphorically — literally on the floor. Ashton Kutcher. Vin Diesel. Bradley Cooper. Robert Pattinson. Mel Gibson. Mickey Rourke. On the floor — unable to use their money, unable to use their name, unable to use their publicist or their assistant or their security detail. Just them, and a man from Rio de Janeiro who does not care who they are.

My guest today is the man who runs that room. He's considered by many to be the greatest grappler who ever lived: 365 wins, zero losses, unbeaten for 13 years, trained by the Gracie family — the family that created Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He has been in Beverly Hills for 35 years, and nobody has ever asked him the questions I'm about to ask him today. What do famous people actually look like when the performance stops? What does power do to a person when it cannot protect them? Which celebrities broke — and which ones were completely different from everything you expected? And what does a man who has never lost see when he looks at a world full of people who have never been tested?

His name is Rigan Machado. And this is not a conversation about martial arts.

Emma: Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview, Rigan.

Rigan Machado Interview with Emma Sargsyan

Rigan Machado: My pleasure.

Emma: Let me start with a quick question. You train celebrities — Ashton Kutcher was your first, then many others: Bradley Cooper, and I saw Paul Walker on your website. These are people whose image is heavily controlled. Every word they say, every time they blink — it's controlled. But when they're on the mat with you, none of that matters. The money cannot save them. The publicist is not there to make things right. Who are these people when the cameras are off?

Rigan: That's an excellent question. The bottom line is: what makes you a really good teacher, a good coach, is that you follow a culture, a philosophy. I dedicated my life to becoming an instructor. The academy, the mats — that's my church. It's my temple. And I'm the highest authority in that church. When somebody steps into the church — steps onto the mats — everything has to stay outside. I don't let the ego come inside. I don't let the fame come inside, because that affects my coaching. I look at each person as a simple human being, as a student, and I guide them with my knowledge and experience to reach the highest level they're looking for — emotionally, confidence, knowledge, fitness. Every student has different needs, and a celebrity is the same.

When a celebrity comes here, I tell them: I don't care who you are. That's the first rule here. I'm the coach, you're the student. I'm the general, you're the soldier. I'm the pitbull, you're the Chihuahua. You get to the highest level by listening to me and learning from my experience on the mat.

Emma: And the celebrities — are they okay with that? Do they submit to it completely?

Rigan: They love it. 99% of celebrities love it, because the bottom line is everybody likes to feel like a human. The power of Hollywood pushes these people up like a balloon — they become these big egos, this big power. But when you step into my world — it's not Hollywood, it's my world — to get results, you have to follow the rules. And the rules are mandatory for everyone.

Emma: Why do they come to you? To get trained, to get in shape — what's the motive?

Rigan: It's very interesting. When they come to the academy and they experience it, right away they see what jiu-jitsu is and what it can do for them — mentally, physically, emotionally. When they start to understand it, they fall in love. Ninety percent of the people who come want to train forever. All my students get addicted — celebrities included.

Emma: Is there an age restriction? Can a person of my age just start training, or is it too late?

Rigan: There's no limit, because everything is about leverage — about learning how to move your body better, how to defend yourself if somebody attacks you. It's never too late to learn how to protect yourself. Any age is good.

Emma: Going back to the celebrities. They have the public image we all see. Can you name a celebrity who came to you, and the real person was so different from the public image that even you were surprised?

Rigan: It's very interesting. I've met celebrities who arrived very shy. For example, I had the opportunity to train Robert Pattinson when he did the last Batman. When he came to the academy, he was very shy, very private. After two or three classes, he started learning how to relax — and after that, it was amazing. We were able to talk, to enjoy the classes more. Tom Hardy is the same: very quiet in the beginning, but once he started having a good time with the jiu-jitsu, he got very relaxed and started to enjoy it. Many students, when they step outside their comfort zone, have different reactions. Some celebrities come onto the mat and get shy. Some get excited. Some worry about getting hurt. Everyone reacts differently.

Emma: You have a technique especially for celebrities — so they cannot get hurt.

Rigan: Yes. I've been developing that for a long time. The biggest chance of getting hurt is at the beginning, when people don't know much and use a lot of body strength, a lot of explosion. As students get better, they use less strength and more technique. When a celebrity comes to the gym, I protect them from sparring with beginners, because beginners don't know how to control themselves and can go too hard. Sometimes a celebrity needs to protect their face, protect their body — they have to film next week. You have to be very careful. When I put a celebrity in sparring, I pair them with somebody at a very high level who can train technically and protect them. And we do a lot of drills, a lot of repetition, a lot of small challenges — keeping them learning, but in the safe zone. I always watch the training to be sure who their partner is, to protect them the best way possible.

Emma: Do I understand correctly that a celebrity who comes to your gym can train alongside a regular person?

Rigan: Yes. Most of the people who train at the academy are five-star people. Everybody is so nice — it's like a family. We've built this amazing family: that's my brother, that's my sister. When people come into that environment, they trust it, and the celebrities feel part of that family. Some celebrities like that. Some want to keep it private, and I respect that choice.

Emma: So they can do private sessions instead.

Rigan: Yes. The highest-level celebrities — the A-list — usually want private training, because they like to protect their environment. More than 70% of the people I coach, I go to their house. They're so busy that it's a scheduling thing — we build a jiu-jitsu gym in their house, and I go there to coach them. I have maybe seven clients I go to at home.

Emma: And those who come to your gym — how do you make sure they're not followed, that fans don't create problems?

Rigan: When there's too much hassle like that, I have to teach at the house — we can't do it at the academy. I've had celebrities where it created a difficult situation, people wanting to take pictures. When it gets to that level, we find a different solution: a place where nobody can bother us, so the training continues.

Emma: So there's no chance that when I come to train at your academy—

Rigan: No, you're going to be fine. You'll be training next to a five-star celebrity, and you're going to be fine.

Emma: I want to talk about psychology. You train a lot of A-list celebrities — people who almost always have control. And with you, they don't have that control. Like you said: you're the pitbull, they're the Chihuahua. What does that do to their psychology?

Rigan: With the kind of experience I have — I've been doing this so long, I've had the opportunity to teach over 10,000 people, and I've trained over 60 world champions from beginner level to world champion — you know what you're doing, one hundred percent. When a celebrity comes to me, I push everything out and look at them as a human. I know what they need to learn, and I know how to build them up. When they start getting results — moving better, fighting better, building confidence — they get addicted right away, because it's a very addictive sport. That's why it's the fastest-growing martial art in the world right now.

The most important thing is they have to have a good time. The training can't be too punishing — that doesn't work. They have to like being there, want to come every day. That's my trick: first, get them to love coming, so I never have to force them. When they love to come, I know they'll be consistent. And consistency is the next step — now we build the knowledge, the technique, the body, the mind. Sometimes I test them: let's see how far he can go today. And when they handle it — "I can't believe I trained for a whole hour!" — they get excited. That's how you build someone up, emotionally and in knowledge. More than 90% of my students get addicted.

Emma: Any sport becomes an addiction at some point if you're devoted — the moment you stop thinking of it as torture.

Rigan: Exactly. The moment you have fun, you want to go train. Why do you like to come? Because you feel stronger, you see the results, you feel it.

Emma: But a lot of people go to the gym, spend as much time as I do, and don't see results — for them it stays torture.

Rigan: I agree one hundred percent. But that's the ability of a coach — to make them excited to come. That's the first hook. Then the consistency is the answer: make it fun, make a nice workout, keep it light, and they ask, "When can I come next?" Hooked. Now the training begins. And I have to be careful not to go over the line — I keep them below the line so they don't overtrain, but once in a while I test them, because the mind is everything. You exercise the will.

It's amazing — I have students who call me and say, "I want to compete." One was Tom Hardy. I said, "You're one of the biggest stars in the world, and you want to go to a competition?" He said yes. My advice was: go as a no-one. Leave all the celebrity behind. Just go there and fight as a no-one. He went, he competed, and he won. He did really well. Another good example is Mario Lopez — the other day he went to a big competition and won. He was so excited. For me it's beautiful to see celebrities want to cross that line and compete. They don't have to — they're big celebrities — but they want to feel what competition is.

Emma: I have a question — be very honest with me. Brazilian jiu-jitsu has become very popular in the past couple of years. It's all over the media. And some people argue it's only because of these A-list celebrities — that it's a celebrity-driven trend, and in real life it's not that special. What would you say to them?

Rigan: Everything has a reason — and there's a reason it became the number one martial art in the world. In Brazil right now, it's the second-biggest sport behind soccer — millions of academies, millions of people training. In America it's huge; it's big in almost a hundred countries. The reason is that when you train jiu-jitsu, it's an extension of your home into a new family — new brothers, new sisters — a very healthy environment for your mind and your body. And the results are fantastic: you gain the confidence to protect yourself. The critics who talk about jiu-jitsu don't know what they're talking about. I recommend they try it first, get the experience, and then talk. And yes — it reached the big neighborhoods: Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Malibu. Celebrities thought, "Let me try." The UFC was created by the Gracie family — jiu-jitsu people — and became a big sport that helped spread jiu-jitsu faster. My cousin, Royce Gracie, was the one who won the first three UFCs doing jiu-jitsu.

Emma: And your coach?

Rigan: My coach was the head of the IBJJF — Carlos Gracie Jr.

Emma: I want to talk about competition between the martial arts themselves. Does rivalry exist between jiu-jitsu and the other arts?

Rigan: Competition is part of being human — I competed, I was an 8-time world champion. But between the arts, I think the UFC actually helped connect them, because MMA is a mix of styles. You need ground fighting, wrestling, boxing, kicks. To become a good mixed martial artist you have to learn different arts — and that united the martial arts.

Emma: I want to go back to the very beginning — the moment your first A-list celebrity walked into your room. What was going on with you? And why did you decide this was the path you'd take?

Rigan: I grew up loving Hollywood. That comes from my father — he took me to the movies all the time, we were always talking about the actors. We loved action films. When you come to the United States and you meet the celebrities you grew up watching — Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone — and they talk to you, you're overwhelmed. That's the guy whose movies you watched! But when you live in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and you meet celebrities every single day, that feeling starts to disappear, little by little. Today when I meet a celebrity, I meet another human being. For me that's an amazing feeling. I'm still a big fan — but it's not like the first time.

Emma: You've spent decades in the heart of Beverly Hills, where ego rules. You've seen what immense success does to people. Is there a collision between power and ego?

Rigan: Yes — one hundred percent, in everything. Hollywood is a very strong environment for that, because celebrities become like gods. They walk down the street, the paparazzi follow, everybody wants to date them. You have to be careful, because all this power doesn't just build your ego — you're walking with bodyguards, and it changes you a little bit. You can lose who you are, your identity. That's why a good structure matters — family, mental grounding. And that's why jiu-jitsu is good for them: it keeps them real. In my environment, you're not a celebrity. You're a normal student learning the sport, and to get good, you go through the same process as everybody else. It's interesting — I see celebrities in the beginning kind of shut down: "What am I doing here?" But when they relax and start having a good time, they fall in love, because it's good for them emotionally.

Emma: So the celebrities who practice jiu-jitsu are more grounded in real life?

Rigan: Yes. One hundred percent.

Emma: Another question. Does success make people more arrogant — or does being arrogant make you more successful?

Rigan: I'll tell you my experience. At an early age I was a world-class athlete, super successful — I won some of the biggest events very young. And I had a coach who put me into high-level training where I got beat up by everybody. It was humiliating; it destroyed me emotionally. And little by little, my coach said: the day you think you're that powerful — that's what happens. I learned: I'm going to stay in the safe zone. I will be humble for the rest of my life, because I'm not going to let this power control me. It doesn't matter how famous I am — I want to be the same guy, I want to treat everybody the same way. I've followed those rules ever since, because it can be overwhelming.

And celebrities sometimes don't have that support — the family support, the friends, the sport. There are so many people around them telling them what to do — managers, agents, lawyers, family members — because they've become a money machine. Sometimes they don't have time for themselves, to relax, to enjoy their own friends. And when all those people disappear, the question hits: who am I? Where are my people? I think a strong support system, especially family, protects you from letting yourself go too far. You're this powerful entertainment figure — but that's not who you are. That balance has to be protected. When you grow up in this industry very young without that support, it can affect you for life.

Emma: But isn't it very hard to stay grounded with that kind of success, surrounded by people all the time?

Rigan: I agree, one hundred percent.

Emma: And this is where jiu-jitsu helps — with the mindset. How exactly?

Rigan: When a person comes to the academy, I explain how it's going to work. We sit down and have a clear conversation: it's simple — for you to step into this environment, I need to push everything out. If I look at you as a big star — I'm a big fan — it will affect the training; I won't even know how to talk to you. But when we push that away, you're a normal student like everybody else, and I coach you the same way I coach everyone. I tell them: outside the mat, I'm your friend, I'm a big fan. Inside the mat, I'm not your friend. I'm your coach. And I'm going to coach you to get results.

Emma: You came from Rio de Janeiro and you've been in Beverly Hills for 35 years. What do you see in this city that someone who grew up here cannot see?

Rigan: Actually, I grew up in a very wealthy family in Brazil. My father was a judge — we grew up with bodyguards — and my uncle was a general. My connection to the fighting world comes from my cousins, the Gracies: my mother's sister married into the Gracie family — Carlos Gracie, the founder. And Rio de Janeiro looks like California — the population, the landscape, the sports, almost the same environment. In Brazil we followed American culture — the movies, the entertainment. So when I came to America, the only thing that changed was the language: no more Portuguese, English full-time. The adaptation was simple.

But what I love about California — about Los Angeles — is the opportunity, which is not the same opportunity you get in Brazil. Today I have a school in Beverly Hills. I teach stars. I've become a director. I launched my own energy drink. All my dreams, little by little, became reality — because California is the land of opportunity.

Emma: And you're making the most of it.

Rigan: I try to take advantage of every opportunity I get.

Emma: Let's talk about social media. You have around a million followers, you post constantly — training, philosophy, even AI content. Here's why I'm asking: social media is the ultimate performance. Everyone is curated, everyone is their best version, everyone is winning. And in your room, you give people no chance to be fake. What does social media do to people?

Rigan: It's amazing. I met a girl one time — a simple girl, a normal look. But when you look at her social media, it's a completely different person. Filters. She made herself look like a big actress — the truth is she'd never been in any movie, but she was always on the red carpet, always with nice cars. On her social media, she's a different human being. For me it's overwhelming to see how social media became a business — an emotional business for views. These new-generation influencers make millions and become so powerful. The world changed. Social media is something very powerful that I'm still learning about, because it changed business — it became so much cheaper and simpler to market your business.

But it has a dark side too. It can be dangerous — a lot of predators, a lot of bad people. I'm a parent, and my goal is to watch social media for my kids, to protect them, because you don't know who's trying to talk to them. The world can be dangerous — and social media can be dangerous too.

Emma: You've spent 30-plus years teaching some of the most traditionally masculine men in the movies how to be on the ground, how to be controlled, how to tap out — how to say, in front of another person, "I cannot do this." In 2026 we're having this whole conversation about what it means to be a man — whether masculinity is dying, whether men are lost, whether strength means something different than it did 30 years ago. From where you sit, having watched the most powerful men in Hollywood be physically humbled — what is genuine masculinity?

Rigan: I come from a different environment — I grew up in a military family, in an environment of athletes. But the world changed, and I believe in evolution: you have to learn how to adapt. I don't think men are ever going to die out — the mentality of protecting the family, the values, what a man is supposed to be. But the new generation changed a lot, because women have become powerful, and you have to figure out the balance. We grew up with my father as the provider and my mother protecting the kids — that old agreement of what the woman does and what the man does. I think evolution is moving us to fifty-fifty. And I like the fifty-fifty. I like a powerful woman — I think a powerful woman makes a powerful man, and a powerful man makes a powerful woman. Learning to adapt to this powerful new generation is amazing. As for me — I'm old-fashioned, I protect my own values, and I respect everyone's choices. That's private territory for each person.

Emma: Let's talk more about tapping out. In jiu-jitsu, tapping means: I have reached the limit of what I can do. It doesn't mean giving up — it gives you the room to get out unharmed. In real life, tapping out looks like weakness. Which one has it right — real life, or the mat?

Rigan: That's an amazing question, and I'll tell you why. Growing up, the founder — Carlos Gracie — used to guide us: the most powerful muscle you have is your will. That's the muscle you need to work out every day. Discipline. Focus. Accomplishment — what you start, you finish. Whatever rules you create to become a successful athlete inside the mat, use the same tools outside the mat, because that exercise helps you inside and outside. You can learn techniques on YouTube — there are millions of techniques there. But the advantage we offer is this: we're going to make you a better father. A better husband. Healthier. More confident. That's what a real coach is — how do we help another human being become better themselves? That's what we specialize in. That's what it means to be a teacher of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Emma: You started with jiu-jitsu. Now you're directing movies, and you have your own energy drink. How do those align — and what's next?

Rigan: I believe everything is a blueprint, and I look up to mentors. One of my mentors is Ashton Kutcher. He's so successful in movies and TV — but he's also very successful in technology; he has a couple of hundred different business ventures. We've been training together for 15 years, and I look up to him: how do you find time for all that? And he gave me advice. I have passion for film, and I'm in the environment — I know directors, writers, producers, studio people, agents. So I started learning, getting experience working in films behind the scenes: training actors to look like fighters in fight scenes, doing stunts. Little by little: let me get involved in production. I want to learn how to package a film, how to speak Hollywood. I produced a few films. Now I've come to the point where I'm going to direct — starting with small films, learning from my mistakes to make the next movie better, and better again. It's like wanting to become a world champion in jiu-jitsu: you can't jump straight to world champion. You have to take all those fights to earn the experience. Same with film. When I have five or six movies done, I'll step up — bigger productions, better scripts, better films. The challenge right now is to master action. My goal is to be able to do any level of action in film — small films, studio films, anything.

Emma: Training actors to appear in films versus training for real-life skills — how different is it?

Rigan: It's actually the same. First you learn the rules; then you get results. The only difference: one trains to be good at the sport, the other trains to make fight scenes look real. And for a fight scene to look real, you have to understand how a fighter thinks, how a fighter moves, how they combine techniques. So the process is the same: you read the actor, what they can do physically, then you add techniques — let's see if they can learn twenty techniques and mix them so it looks good on screen. That's what I do.

Emma: You've been doing jiu-jitsu—

Rigan: Fifty-five years. From a very young age. And 35 years here.

Emma: We all see the success, the glamour of what Rigan Machado has done. I want you to be honest: what has jiu-jitsu taken away from you?

Rigan: I think jiu-jitsu kept me humble. It kept me human. And that's the most important thing for me: never thinking I'm better than the other person. I'm equal to everybody. The moment you see people that way, you treat everybody the same. That's my code of life. I want to love everybody, treat everybody right, build good friendships, respect. I have a line I don't cross, because my integrity is never for sale — no money can buy my integrity. And exercising that every day is what matters. I want my friends to one day look at me and say: that's a good man.

Emma: But everything you've named is what you gained — mindset, willpower. Hasn't it taken anything from you? Would your life be different without it?

Rigan: I don't know. I can't imagine another life. It's part of me — my lifestyle, my code of honor. I don't know how to live without it. I think jiu-jitsu saved my life.

Emma: People enter your room, and after some time they leave completely changed. What exactly are you doing to them that they don't realize?

Rigan: You have to come one day — I can see you becoming a world-class female competitor.

Emma: Oh my god. Okay — that's another conversation.

Rigan: It's very simple. When someone comes to the academy, I look at the basics first — posture, the look in their eyes, the way they speak. Those are little tools you learn by coaching.

Emma: And that makes you think I'm a good candidate?

Rigan: Yes. In jiu-jitsu, you would be a phenomenal athlete — you have all the tools. But the point is: when you learn to read people, you look at how strong the heart is, how strong the focus is, the physical ability — and little by little you see what they're made of and what they need. The more you learn about them, the more you know where to take them. Pretty soon you're building them up — like building a chess master, except the pieces are their own body, their own mind, their own heart, their own focus. You get results by learning to read all of that the right way.

Emma: Someone watching this episode right now is thinking of changing their life—

Rigan: By the way — anybody who watches this show can come to my academy, mention her name, mention her show, and you'll get a free introduction class with Rigan Machado. Because of her — she's an amazing interviewer, and it's my honor to be on this show.

Emma: Thank you. So — a person watching who doesn't know what to do with their life, who maybe can't afford classes right now. What's your advice for starting to change?

Rigan: Make things happen. The moment you love something and you fight for it — that's a good beginning. There are no walls, no problems — there's always a solution. Life is not easy: if you want something, you have to fight for it. Fight to be a good husband. Fight to be a successful businessman. Fight to be a good athlete. Be consistent. Challenge yourself as a human. And if you don't have the money — go after the money, because everything has a cost: the person who teaches you has to get paid, the place you train has to be paid for. That's how the system works. How much do you want it? Fight for it. That's the first step.

Emma: It's all in our minds, right? Is there actually anything we cannot do that isn't controlled by the mind?

Rigan: The other day a guy came to my academy — born without half his body. Only his arms. He became a successful wrestler, a great athlete, with his arms. He has a tattoo on his back: "No Limits." Today he's a big influencer — he was on America's Got Talent. We became friends, and for me this guy is the example. Because if a guy like that can — what's your excuse? You have legs, you have arms, you have a mind, you have a heart, you have the intelligence to do whatever you want. What's stopping you?

Emma: Thank you very much.

Rigan: My pleasure.

[Editor's note: the athlete Rigan describes is Zion Clark, the wrestler and America's Got Talent athlete born without legs, whose motto — "No Excuses" — is tattooed on his back.]

Watch the full conversation on the INSIGHT YouTube channel. New episodes every Saturday, 1pm PT.