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Iron sharpens iron, or so the saying goes. Just ask UFC legend Randy Couture, who has the phrase – albeit in Latin – tattooed on his arm. By definition, MMA is an individual sport – there are no tag team matches in the Octagon – but since the dark ages of the sport in the mid-1990’s, the best fighters in the world have been teaming up to train together in order to improve their skills. MMA gyms are also commonly known as UFC gyms because of the large popularity of the fighters and event itself.
Well over 20 years on from the heyday of Ken Shamrock’s Lions’ Den and Mark Coleman’s Hammer House, the sport is still largely ruled by super-camps comprised of the world’s best fighters training and sparring together.
In no particular order, here are 10 best MMA training camps in the world today.
#1 American Top Team
The Florida-based American Top Team has been around for the best part of two decades now, after being formed by Dan Lambert and former UFC fighter Marcus ‘Conan’ Silveira back in 2001. Interestingly enough, despite its name, the most prominent fighters training there in its early days were Brazilian – names like Jorge Santiago, Thiago Alves and Wilson Gouveia.
Now of course, ATT is a huge, internationally-flavored team that top fighters from around the world call their home – with 40 affiliates worldwide also representing the American Top Team banner. Over the years, ATT has produced countless numbers of champions across multiple organizations, and the gym was able to finally boast a UFC champion when Robbie Lawler captured Welterweight gold in 2014.
While ATT is clearly a world-class facility with tremendous coaches such as former UFC stars Din Thomas and Mike Brown, what really makes the Florida-based gym stand out is its longevity. Successful teams that started in the same era like Team Miletich and Brazilian Top Team largely fell apart years ago, but ATT has remained a constant.
#2 Roufusport Martial Arts
Formed by former kickboxing champion Jeffery ‘Duke’ Roufus, the Roufusport Martial Arts gym is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has risen in prominence over the past decade to become recognized as one of the best in the sport. Roufus-trained fighters have been around in the UFC for years – dating back to Alan Belcher, Pat Barry and Eric Schafer in the mid-2000’s – but it was Anthony Pettis who really put the gym on the map in his WEC days.
Anthony Pettis, who became famed for his creative striking style, came into the UFC in 2011 and captured the Lightweight title in 2013, giving Roufusport their first UFC champion. Since then, the likes of Tyron Woodley, Matt Mitrione and Ben Rothwell have spent time training with Roufus – as did former WWE Superstar CM Punk when he decided to embark on an MMA career.
These days Roufusport can also call upon the skills of one of the best grapplers in the sport in the form of Ben Askren, who serves as a wrestling coach for the team amidst his own fight training. Interestingly too, Roufusport also offers an online training academy.
#3 Jackson-Wink MMA
Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Jackson-Wink MMA Academy arguably put the city on the map back in the mid-2000s, as they sent a crazy amount of fighters into the UFC – names like Diego Sanchez, Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans – with the majority of them seeing instant success. That instant success shone a new spotlight onto coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, and soon the gym became the home to some of the world’s best fighters.
Names like Georges St-Pierre, Andrei Arlovski, Nate Marquardt and Jon Jones flocked to Albuquerque for their training and their in-fight gameplans, and while the success continued and Jackson’s reputation soared, some of the originals – such as Sanchez and Evans – were pushed away from the team, changing it massively from its early days.
In 2019, Jackson-Wink MMA is still considered one of the best camps in the world, as their star pupil Jones holds the UFC Light-Heavyweight title while other top-ranked stars like Holly Holm, John Dodson and Michelle Waterson continue to succeed in the UFC.
#4 American Kickboxing Academy
AKA or the American Kickboxing Academy is another MMA gym that’s been around for years, as it was initially formed by current coach Javier Mendez in the 1980’s before becoming more MMA-based in the mid-1990’s with the involvement of then-UFC champion Frank Shamrock and UFC veteran ‘Crazy’ Bob Cook. And over the years, the San Jose-based camp has gained massive amounts of respect for producing several world-class fighters.
Current UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov spends his time in the US with the team, while former UFC Heavyweight champions Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez were both produced by the gym after arriving as inexperienced amateur wrestlers. Other notable AKA fighters include the likes of Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Luke Rockhold and Josh Thomson.
AKA is perhaps most notable – and has come under criticism over the years – for having its fighters take part in notoriously violent and strenuous sparring sessions, with their training style being blamed for many pre-fight injuries. Judging by their success though, they’re clearly doing something right!
#5 Team Elevation
There’s an infamous old adage that states “those who can’t, teach”, and while it’d be unfair to say that the adage fits Denver, Colorado’s Team Elevation, it’s not untrue to suggest that the team’s fighters have gone onto far more success in the UFC than coaches Eliot Marshall and Cody Donovan did. While Marshall and Donovan struggled in the Octagon – going 4-6 between them – they’ve coached some outstanding fighters to tremendous success.
Initially considered an offshoot of Jackson-Wink MMA thanks to the involvement of striking coach Trevor Wittman, Team Elevation has grown in reputation over the past few years and now top UFC fighters like Curtis Blaydes, Alistair Overeem, Cory Sandhagen, Cat Zingano and Neil Magny all call the gym home.
And while the team can’t boast a current UFC champion, former Bantamweight kingpin TJ Dillashaw was previously training out of the camp while Donald Cerrone – who has more wins than any other fighter in UFC history – has also trained with Marshall and Donovan too.
#6 Kings MMA
A decade or so ago, Brazil was home to some of the most powerful camps in MMA. Teams like Chute Boxe, Brazilian Top Team, Team Nogueira and Nova Uniao could all have claimed to be the very best in the sport, and the rivalry between Chute Boxe and BTT was one of the most notorious in the sport. But since the US MMA boom that began with the advent of The Ultimate Fighter, more and more of Brazil’s finest have moved to US-based camps.
But while teams like Chute Boxe have suffered, Brazilian fighters have continued to thrive, and today one of the world’s best MMA gyms remains dominated by a Brazilian flavour despite being based in Huntington Beach, California. Kings’ MMA – coached by former Chute Boxe trainer Rafael Cordeiro – has risen in prominence in recent years and now acts as home to some great fighters.
When both Fabricio Werdum and Rafael Dos Anjos won UFC gold in 2015 at Heavyweight and Lightweight respectively, it was the striking coaching of Cordeiro that was largely given credit for the rise of the two men, who were once considered pure grapplers. And with fighters like Kelvin Gastelum, Beneil Dariush and Marvin Vettori fighting out of the gym, it’s clear that Kings’ MMA is here to stay.
#7 Hard Knocks 365
Initially formed under the ‘Blackzilians’ name back in 2011, the Florida-based Hard Knocks 365 team was brought together following the defection of Rashad Evans from the Jackson-Wink camp, and the defection of a number of prominent American Top Team fighters such as Jorge Santiago, Danillo Villefort and JZ Cavalcante.
Initially funded by Glenn Robinson – who has since passed away – the team is now largely coached by former standout wrestler Greg Jones and famed striking coach Henri Hooft. And the combination has proved to be a massive success in MMA, not only attracting the likes of former UFC Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and former UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort, but also producing current Welterweight titleholder Kamaru Usman.
With other standout fighters including Michael Johnson, Gilbert Burns, Volkan Oezdemir and Vicente Luque, the gym – which is still considered a hot rival to American Top Team in the Florida area – is undoubtedly one of the best in the world right now.
#8 Alliance MMA
Located in San Diego, California, Alliance MMA was initially founded by UFC star Brandon Vera and coach Lloyd Irvin in the late 2000’s. Since then both Vera and Irvin have departed the team, but the gym continues to be one of the most prominent in all of MMA under the guidance of head coach Eric Del Fierro.
Nowadays Alliance MMA houses top fighters from across multiple promotions, with athletes starring in the UFC, Bellator, Invicta FC and ONE FC. Perhaps their most famed product is former UFC Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, whose cerebral style really put the gym on the map a handful of years ago.
With the likes of Phil Davis, Michael Chandler, Jeremy Stephens and European imports like Alexander Gustafsson, Jimi Manuwa and Jan Blachowicz also training out of the gym, it’s no wonder that Alliance MMA is definitely considered one of the world’s best training facilities.
#9 Nova Uniao
Located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Nova Uniao fight team was founded back in the early days of the sport by former UFC title challenger Andre Pederneiras. Since then, it has produced a tremendous number of successful fighters, including former champions in multiple promotions.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Nova Uniao is the consistency in which the team produces great fighters. A decade or so ago the likes of Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro, Thales Leites and Wagnney Fabiano were the standouts, before eventual UFC champions like Jose Aldo and Renan Barao grew in fame.
Today, Nova Uniao continues to produce world-class fighters, with the likes of Claudia Gadelha and Jussier Formiga coming out of the camp. With a team of coaches so used to producing incredible talent, how long will it be before Nova Uniao produces yet another MMA champion?
#10 SBG Ireland
The team that Conor McGregor put on the map with his incredible rise to fame a handful of years ago, SBG Ireland is so much more than just ‘The Notorious One’. SBG – shorthand for Straight Blast Gym – was founded by coach John Kavanagh in 2001, and with a large roster of talent, consider themselves Europe’s premier MMA team.
Outside of McGregor – who famously captured the UFC Featherweight and Lightweight titles under the guidance of Kavanagh and Owen Roddy, who has since departed the gym – SBG Ireland can boast the talents of current UFC stars such as Gunnar Nelson and Makwan Amirkhani, as well as Bellator standouts such as Dillon Danis, James Gallagher and Pedro Carvalho.
While it seems unlikely the team will produce another star on the level of McGregor any time soon, Kavanagh has been able to open multiple gyms under the SBG moniker across Ireland – meaning that more talented fighters could emerge from them into the UFC and Bellator any time soon.
