Rico and Master Royce Gracie at Octagon MMA, Dallas TX.

Rico Castro is a Judo Black Belt and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Carlos Machado.

Rico started Judo when he was five years old, encouraged by his father, also a Judo practitioner, with Sensei Adauto Domingues in the state of Parana, Brazil.

In 1995, Rico began Jiu-Jitsu to become more proficient with the ground techniques (Ne-Waza) in order to help him compete in Judo tournaments. Among other national tournments and qualifiers for international tournments, Rico won the state championship 4 consecutive times.

Rico was born and raised in Brazil, where he trained and competed under great Jiu-Jitsu and Judo Masters, such as Judo Coach Tomy Dyer, who is the President of the Fort Worth Judo Club and former Director of Development for USA, and also 1988 Olympic alternate; Ryan Gracie with Master Ryan Gracie, Nino Schembri, Brigadeiro with Master Vinicius Canevari and Nova União with Master Rodrigo Feijão and finally, with Carlos Machado when Rico moved to Dallas in 2005.

Currently, Rico trains with the 3x World BJJ Champion Bruno Bastos, from Nova União at Octagon MMA, Dallas, TX.