List of Top Professional MMA Training Camps

This is an list of notable present professional training camps and gyms in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).^[1]

Most professional MMA fighers in the UFC, Bellator and other Mixed Martial Arts competitions join a professional fight camp or training gym to help them prepare for fights. Training at a top camp can be a big advantage to fighters, as not only to they have access to multi-disciplinary coaching, but they can also train against the other top fighters at the camp and nominate members of the camp as corner men. By training a group of elite fighters together, they will all learn from each other's skill sets and can support each other living the disciplined fighter lifestyle. Before a fight, a fighter will undergo an intensive training regime of several weeks, often culminating in a dramatic weight cut to make the required fighting weight, and the other members in the fighting camp are an important part of this process.^[2]

Currently the intense rivalries between the top fighting camps and the fighters training there is an under-reported part of professional MMA. Occasionally there will be a high-profile split or conflict between members of a camp, particularly when two closely matched fighters are in the same weight class. For example, one of the current top MMA teams the Blackzillians was formed^[3] when former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans left Jackson-Wink MMA, in an acrimonious split relating to head coach Greg Jackson's support for up and coming contender Jon Jones' title shot when Evans was injured.^[4]

	Camp[5]	Coaches	Current Fighters	Previous Fighters	Location
1	Alliance MMA[6]	Brandon Vera Eric del Fierro	Dominick Cruz Alexander Gustafsson Phil Davis Ross Pearson		San Diego[7]
	AMC Pankration[8]	Matt Hume[9]	Demetrious Johnson Matt Brown Tim Boetsch		Washington
2	American Kickboxing Academy[10]	Javier Mendez Bob Cook	Cain Velasquez Daniel Cormier Luke Rockhold Khabib Nurmagomedov	B.J. Penn Jon Fitch Josh Koscheck Mike Swick	San Jose
3	American Top Team[11]	Ricardo Liborio Dan Lambert Marcus “Conan” Silveira	Robbie Lawler Tyron Woodley Jorge Santiago Thiago Alves Gleison Tibau Will Brooks Dustin Poirier Jorge Masvidal Hector Lombard Yoel Romero Tecia Torres Amanda Nunes	Mike Thomas	Miami
4	Blackzillians[12]	Mario Sperry Henri Hooft Tyrone Spong Kenny Monday	Alistair Overeem Michael Johnson Vitor Belfort Anthony Johnson Eddie Alvarez Matt Mitrione Thiago Silva		Miami
5	Cesar Gracie Fight Team	Cesar Gracie	Nick Diaz Nate Diaz Jake Shields Gilbert Melendez Yancy Medeiros		Pleasant Hill
6	Jackson-Wink MMA[13]	Greg Jackson Mike Winkeljohn	Jon Jones Donald Cerrone Andrei Arlovski Carlos Condit John Dodson Cub Swanson Holly Holm Ali Bagautinov Kyle Noke	George St. Pierre Rashad Evans Alistair Overeem	Albuquerque
7	Kings MMA[14]	Rafael Cordeiro	Fabricio Werdum Rafael dos Anjos Wanderlei Silva Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Kelvin Gastelum		Huntington Beach
8	Nova Uniao[15]	Andre Pederneiras	Jose Aldo Renan Barao Thales Leites Junior dos Santos Rafael Palhares		Rio de Janeiro
9	SBG Ireland[16]	John Kavanagh	Conor McGregor Gunnar Nelson Patrick Holohan Artem Lobov Aisling Daly		Dublin
10	Serra-Longo Fight Team[17]	Matt Serra Ray Longo	Chris Weidman Al Iaquinta Aljamain Sterling Eddie Gordon		Long Island
11	Team Alpha Male[18]	Urijah Faber[19] Duane Ludwig Martin Kampmann	Joseph Benavidez Chad Mendes Paige VanZant	T.J. Dillashaw	Sacramento
12	Tristar Gym[20]	Firas Zahabi	Rory MacDonald Joseph Duffy Olivier Aubin-Mercier Chad Laprise Georges St. Pierre	Kenny Florian	Montreal
13	Xtreme Couture[21]	Randy Couture	Roy Nelson Evan Dunham Brad Tavares Miesha Tate Bryan Caraway Uriah Hall Gray Maynard Kevin Lee Frank Trigg Gina Carano		Las Vegas

References

1. "Sherdog’s Top 10: Training Camps". Sherdog.
2. "What It Takes to Be a UFC® Fighter".
3. "Sherdog’s Top 10: Training Camps". Sherdog.
4. "Rashad Evans reflects on 2012 split with Jon Jones and Jackson-Winkeljohn, says Jones was one of his favorite training partners".
5. "Sherdog’s Top 10: Training Camps". Sherdog.
6. "Alliance MMA". Alliance MMA.
7. Sean Smith. "Ranking the 10 Best Camps in MMA Right Now". Bleacher Report.
8. "AMC Instructors".
9. Sean Smith. "Ranking the 10 Best Camps in MMA Right Now". Bleacher Report.
10. "Fighters". American Kickboxing Academy.
11. "Pro MMA Fighters - American Top Team Main Academy".
12. "BlackZilians - Team".
13. "Jackson Wink MMA Academy". Jackson Wink MMA Academy.
14. "The Master Rafael Cordeiro - Kings MMA". The Master Rafael Cordeiro - Kings MMA.
15. "Nova União".
16. "Fighters". SBG Ireland.
17. "Serra BJJ Academy - Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai Kickboxing, Mixed Martial Arts - Long Island, New York".
18. "Team Alpha Male - Iron sharpening Iron".
19. Sean Smith. "Ranking the 10 Best Camps in MMA Right Now". Bleacher Report.
20. "Fighters". Tristar Gym.
21. "Pro MMA Fight Team - Team Couture".