The MMA Top Ten 07.16.09: Favorite Fight Camps

Posted by Brandon Longe on 07.16.2009

From Xtreme Couture and Jackson's Submission Fighting to Blackhouse/Nogueira-Silva MMA and American Top Team, 411's Brandon Longe shares his favorite MMA fight camps! See which camps made the list and why by checking out the full article!

This week I'm going to rank the top ten fight camps here in the states. I've played favorites for some of the camps that contain my favorite fighters. Mostly I've ranked them on the talent they have fighting for them and the trainers they work with. As always I'd love to hear your feedback in the comment box provided at the bottom of the page. So here we go…



10. Minnesota Martial Arts Academy

This Academy was founded in 1992 by Greg Nelson. Most of their prominent fighters have a background in wrestling.

I'm a huge Sean Sherk fan so there was no way this camp wasn't going to make the list. At 33-4-1 Sherk is a dominating lightweight fighter. If Sherk would just stick to his strong points and take people down to beat on them then I'm sure he will have a lot my wins before his career comes to an end. The other big name fighting out of this camp is a very big name indeed, Brock Lesnar. I, myself, am not a huge Brock fan but what he has already done in his short MMA career is nothing short of astonishing. He has defended his title one time and people are already wondering, who can beat Brock Lesnar.

If MMAA can just get one or two more A-level fighters to train in Minnesota, then they could move up the list a couple spots.

Other Notable Fighters:
-Nick Thompson
-Brock Larson
-Logan Clark
-Derrick Noble
-Kelly Kobold



9. Team Sityodtong

Team Sityodtong is Mark Dellagrotte's gym in Boston, Mass. Mark is known as one of the top MMA trainers in the sport today. I also think he is the best cornerman in the game. When I hear Dellagrotte talking to a fighter in-between rounds he is always saying what seems to be the best possible thing you could say. I really feel that a cornerman like that can change the course of a fight.

Kenny Florian is currently the biggest name in this camp and he has earned it. Kenny has put together an 11-3 record and has only lost to top-notch opponents. (Sherk, Fickett and Sanchez.) Kenny's next fight will be a huge test for him as he is to face current UFC lightweight champion Bj Penn. I hope Bj is training as hard as I now Kenny is or we may see a new champ come August 8th.

Team Sityodtong wouldn't have made my list without Kenny Florian. Mark Dellagrotte is a great coach but without Kenny I could not of included his camp on my list.

Other Notable Fighters:
-Jorge Rivera
-Pete Spratt
-Patrick Cote
-Marcus Davis
-Travis Lutter
-Stephen Bonnar



8. Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy

We may not have many Gracies chasing after belts in today's MMA world but we sure do have a lot of their students in the mix. Cesar Gracie founded this academy in Pleasant Hill, California and became the second Gracie to open a Jiu-Jitsu school in the states. This camp doesn't have a ton of top-notch talent but the fighters they do have are some of my favorites.

Jake Shields is a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Cesar and is a top welterweight fighter. Jake is riding a twelve fight win streak with victories over Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Dave Menne, Renato Verissimo, Nick Thompson and most recently Robbie Lawlor. Six of Jake's last seven fights have been finished in the first round.

The first fighters I think of when Cesar Gracie is mentioned is the Diaz brothers. Nick will be fighting Joe Riggs on August 15th for the Strikeforce welterweight title and his little brother Nate is making a name for himself in the UFC.

This camp is well-known for their awesome ground skills and makes number eight on my list this week, largely due to the fact that the Diaz's and Jake Shields are some of my favorite fighters in the sport.

Other Notable Fighters:
-Gilbert Melendez
-David Terrel



7. Team Quest

Team Quest was originally founded by Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and Matt Lindland after they all were on the 1997 U.S. World Greco Roman Wrestling team. Since then Randy has left to start his own gym and Dan has opened up a new location in Murrieta, California.

With the likes of Dan Henderson and Matt Lindland, Team Quest gets instant consideration for my list. Now they just need some younger up and coming talent to secure a decent spot and they have plenty.

My personal favorite is Chael Sonnen. Chael has awesome wrestling skills and is a very tough and enduring fighter. Chael recently fought Dan Miller on 22 days notice and came out victorious.

Team Quest has some pretty young talent who seem to be developing well and in time they may jump up on this list.

Other Notable Fighters:
-Jason Miller
-Krzysztof Sosynski
-Sokoudjou
-Ed Herman
-Gabe Ruediger
-Jake Ellenberger



6. Arizona Combat Sports

AZCS has grown to be a very well respected fight camp. They have some really great young talent.
Ryan Bader is one of my favorite up and coming UFC prospects. Bader has a 9-0 record in his young MMA career and will be fighting Eric Shafer next at UFC 104 on October 24th. Bader has awesome strength which really puts his impressive wrestling skills over the top.

Carlos Condit is another fighter I love to watch perform. He is 23-5 in his career and was the final WEC welterweight champion before they dissolved the division. Carlos is a great all around fighter who can win with his striking skills or by submission.

Jamie Varner also fights out of AZCS and also is a young fighter full of talent. Varner is the current WEC lightweight champion. Due to Varner's broken hand that won't heal the WEC is having an interim title bout between Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson on September 2nd.

Arizona Combat Sports makes my list easy this week because of their youth. Bader is 26, Condit 25 and Varner only 24. In a couple years AZCS may be one of the very top camps in the country. They already made number 6 on my list and these guys are still learning the sport.

Other Notable Fighter:
-CB Dolloway
-Jacob McClintock
-Gerald Haines
-Jesse Forbes
-Aaron Simpson
-Steve Steinbeiss



5. American Kickboxing Academy

The AKA is located in San Jose, California and has an awesome group of talented fighters.

The biggest reason for me to rank AKA at number 5 on this week's list is their trio of UFC welterweight contenders including Jon Fitch, Mike Swick and Josh Koscheck. The AKA also have two Strikeforce champs in Cung Le, at middleweight, and Josh Thomson at lightweight. Top UFC heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez also trains with AKA.

For AKA to move up on this list I think they need to obtain one of those elusive UFC titles. This is easier said than done seeing as how they would need to figure out a way to de-throne GSP or Brock Lesnar.

Other Notable Fighters:
-Paul Buentello
-Bobby Southworth
-Trevor Prangley



4. American Top Team

ATT is led by top trainers Ricardo Liborio and Howard Davis Jr. This camp probably has more talented fighters on their roster than any other. ATT makes number 4 on the list just by the sheer number of pro MMA fighters they train.

For me, right now, Mike Brown is the biggest name on the ATT team. The WEC featherweight champion has defeated Urijah Faber twice now and has proved that ATT knows what they are doing. Thiago Alves is another big name that fights for ATT. He recently got a title shot in the UFC's welterweight division but lost a lopsided battle to GSP.

Can't forget about Bobby Lashley either, whether or not he can make the transfer to MMA as well as Brock has yet to be seen. If he can than he could help ATT move up the list.

With all the talent ATT possesses it is really only a matter of time until they get some more belts and potentially top this list of fight camps.

Other Notable Fighters:
-Gesias Calalcante
-Denis Kang
-Jeff Monson
-Cole Miller
-Wilson Gouveia
-Gleison Tibau
-Mark Bocek
-Thiago Tavares
-Thiago Silva
-Ben Saunders
-Alessio Sakara
-Bobby Lashley
And many more!



3. Blackhouse/Nogueira-Silva MMA

Blackhouse was originally founded in 2006 in Brazil and is managed by Ed Soares. The camp doesn't have the huge list of good fighters that ATT boasts but instead have a few of the greatest fighters in the world.
This camp owns two UFC belts. Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida train here. I think that would be enough for me to put them on my list this week. Then you add in the Nogueira brothers and you can see how they reached number 3 on the list. If I was a huge Anderson Silva fan I would probably put this camp as number 1.
If Nogueira can defeat Randy Couture and some of the other members here can get a couple big wins than I can see this camp topping the list in the near future.

Other Notable Fighters:
-Paulo Filho
-Junior Dos Santos
-Ronaldo Jacare Souza
-Rafael Feijao



2. Jackson's Submission Fighting

Greg Jackson's fight camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico doesn't have the kind of numbers as ATT does either. They do, however, have one of the most well-renowned trainers in MMA today in Greg Jackson.

Georges St. Pierre is the first name that comes to mind when I think of this camp. Talk about an upper-echelon combatant. GSP has been a very dominant fighter since first coming into the UFC.

Also on the roster is top 205lb. contender Rashad Evans who will be looking to fight back to the top of the division, and get the belt he just recently lost.

Greg Jackson's camp is also where up and coming heavyweight prospect Shane Carwin trains.
This camp is already number 2 on my list but I really believe that they are still gaining momentum and I'm sure more top fighters will be flocking down to New Mexico to train. It's very possible that in the near future Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting could be the top MMA camp in the country.

Other Notable Fighters:
-Nate Marquardt
-David Loiseau
-Julie Kedzie
-Keith Jardine
-Karo Parisyan
-Joey Villasenor
-Jason Macdonald



1. Xtreme Couture

Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas tops my list with ease this week. The state of the art training facility that Randy Couture built has attracted some of the top names in MMA. Fairly recent additions to the cast at Xtreme Couture have really pushed this camp to the top for me. With the likes of Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva and Gina Carano joining the team of already talented fighters it's no wonder I choose this camp as my number 1.

Like Greg Jackson's camp, Xtreme Couture has awesome game-planning and fight preparation skills. With the kind of planning they do before a match it seems that these fighters could beat anyone on the right day. Check out this list of talent fighting out of Randy's gym in Las Vegas.

Other Notable Fighters:
-Forrest Griffin
-Mac Danzig
-John Alessio
-Tyson Griffin
-Jay Hieron
-Mike Pyle
-Gray Maynard
-Dave Terrel
-Mike Whitehead
-Martin Kampmann
-Jake Rosholt

So there you have it, my ten favorite fight camps. It's too bad Chute Boxe has lost most of their lethal guys. I used to love being a fan of the most brutal camp out there. Maybe sometime I'll do a list of the top ten camps in history. Until next week, thanks for reading and I'd really enjoy seeing some of your opinions on this week's topic.