The Detroit Lions loved what they got from running back Jahmyr Gibbs in the 2025 season, who has emerged as one of the NFL’s most deadly threats at his position.
During the 2025 season, he emerged as a highly productive and versatile offensive weapon, finishing with 1,223 rushing yards on 243 carries, averaging an impressive 5.0 yards per attempt. He also found the end zone 13 times on the ground over the course of 17 games, consistently providing a reliable scoring threat week after week.
But now, he’s got his mind set on bigger and better things in the upcoming 2026 NFL season, and is gaining a physical advantage thanks to his training with MMA legend Rafael Cordeiro.
Detroit Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs Trains With MMA Legend Rafael Cordeiro
Gibbs has been training with MMA legend Rafael Cordeiro, which he hopes will give him a physical advantage in the upcoming season.
“It helps with body control. Your base and all that and faster hands,” Gibbs told ESPN. “I would say with blocking, I get my hands up before they hit me.”
“I feel like my body’s gotten in better shape, like physically it looks better. And conditioning-wise, that conditioning is way different from here because you use nonstop movement in every muscle of your body,” he said. “Out here [in football], you get more breaks and [there is] much more using your legs. But there [in MMA], it’s just constant shoulders, knees, elbows, you go to the ground and all that so out here I barely get tired.”
Referred by one of his close friends, Gibbs has been training in California with Codeiro, who praised the vision of the Lions running back.
“He now has the vision that the fighters have inside the octagon. He can see. When I say something, it makes sense for him,” Cordeiro told ESPN. “So, we work on a lot of specific drills that will have him prepared for all situations — long distance, short distance, how to move, how to control, how to keep his hands up and the kid understands very, very fast.”
He continued:
“He shows zero fear. Zero hesitation. And this is the most important thing. I can teach techniques. I can teach punches, kicks, jiu-jitsu … sure I can,” Cordeiro said. “But to make people keep eye contact until they get to the end of the fight, this is something.”
Can Gibbs’ offseason training help him reach a new level that will help Detroit get back to the postseason?
The Lions Will Be Relying On Gibbs More This Season
Gibbs will be shouldering more of the load offensively thanks to the trade of his good friend David Montgomery to the Houston Texans, which he admitted was an odd feeling.
However, head coach Dan Campbell made it no secret that the Lions are now looking to Gibbs more.
“He’s going to be our bell cow now. He really became more of that last year, but we’re going to hang our hat on him quite a bit,” Campbell said of their top running back. “We’re going to do a lot of things we feel like he does well.”
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