Rigan Machado, the 9th degree jiu-jitsu red belt who has trained more than 450 celebrities for film roles, opened up about his personal relationship with Chadwick Boseman on the Jiu-Jitsu Dummies Podcast.
Machado, who has coached names like Keanu Reeves, Bradley Cooper, and Mel Gibson, described Boseman as one of the most memorable students to ever step onto his mats in Beverly Hills.
“I trained this guy. We became really good friends but he was fantastic athlete. It was Chadwick Boseman, he played the Black Panther,” Machado said, recalling the actor’s dedication when he first arrived at the academy.
He continued, “I training him. He got a*dict to jiu-jitsu, he loved jiu-jitsu. But after a while he started to lose a lot of weight. His health start [degrading]. He have to quit. After a while, he pass away. I was overwhelmed because when he came to my camp he weigh 200 lb (90.7 kg). Cut muscles everywhere and I believe he’d be one of the top students.”
Machado explained that he was working directly with Marvel Studios at the time, including executive producer Louis D’Esposito, as Boseman trained for his role. The two grew close outside of training sessions as well, having lunch together when schedules allowed.
It was during that period that Machado began noticing changes in Boseman’s body that he did not understand at the time.
“I realized as he stopped training, when we become come friends. We have lunch all the time when he’s not busy. And I noticed something like he probably lost like 20 pounds (9 kg). He looked very skinny. He from 200 lb (90.7 kg) he was 160 lb (72.6 kg) and stuff,” Machado said. “He was telling me he for the character he play he have to lose weight. He never told me he losing weight because he was sick.”
Machado was candid that he had no idea Boseman was privately dealing with a serious illness, something the actor kept hidden from the public and from most people around him, including his coach, until his passing was announced in 2020.
Machado said the situation became clearer in hindsight, particularly when Marvel approached Boseman about returning for another Black Panther film and he turned down the offer.
“I said why you don’t want to do Black Panther… they’re going to pay me a fortune to train you,” Machado recalled telling him. “No, I want to do something different. I didn’t know I realized something was not right because don’t make sense to me.”
Beyond the physical transformation, Machado spoke warmly about Boseman’s character, describing him as consistently down to earth despite his massive fame.
“I always talk to him. He always call me once in a while. He was a friend. He was the most humble person I ever met in my life. I never met a guy like him my life, like humble. He didn’t have one ego, always humble, always nice,” Machado said.
