Carlos Machado dropped into RMA as part of his Australian tour to run the members through a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) workshop.

The session came about through RMA’s affiliation with UFC fighter Anthony Perosh, who trains BJJ under Machado.

Knowing this, RMA owner Frank Cirillo thought he’d find out what the chances were of Machado stopping by Griffith.

“I sent a message to Anthony asking what’s the possibility of getting him here,” Cirillo said.

“In all honestly, I didn't expect it to happen. I just thought I’d ask.

“Then the next day I got a message with a date on when he would be coming.”

Cirillo was still pinching himself that they managed to get such a well-known figure from the BJJ world to the Riverina and couldn’t praise Machado enough.

“It’s an amazing thing,” Cirillo said. 

“He has an extremely high profile around the world.

“He’s Chuck Norris’ BJJ instructor. 

“It’s the last person I thought we’d get here. What we got was one of the most humble, nice, happy, excited men I’ve ever met.”

Machado ran a three-hour class, which was one of a kind, according to Cirillo.

Cirillo said that everyone at the workshop, young and old, learned something from the legend.

“There’s always something to learn. It’s an art that always evolves,” he said.

“He asked us what we wanted to learn.

“He pretty much created a lesson around what we wanted to learn.

“Carlos doesn't teach the same thing everywhere he goes. He tailors each session to the group that he’s teaching.”

Machado stayed in Griffith long enough to find out what the town is most known for and hinted that he would be back.

“We gave him a bit of a Griffith experience,” Cirillo said.

“We took him out for dinner, authentic Italian, coffee, wine and he told us now we’re on the map.”

Originally from Brazil, Machado now resides in Texas, where he runs BJJ training centres and also travels nationally for workshop tours.

Machado is a former world masters champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has been involved in martial arts for more than 40 years.