MMA is the greatest individual sport in the world. A fight between two competitors, matching their skills in combat. The fans only see the culmination of the athletes hard work.
What we don't see is the months of grueling training. Hundreds of hours spent on their back, tons of time sparring, and countless hours getting the crap kicked out of you.
There is a thought in the MMA world that you are only as good as the guys you train with. With that in mind, I am going to break down the top five American MMA camps. I will look at the trainers, fighters, and founding members of these camps.
1. Miletich Fighting System
Location: Bettendorf, Iowa.
Founder: Pat Miletich.
Breakdown: The Miletich camp was founded in 1997. Miltich is a former UFC lightweight champion. He defeated Mikey Burnett to win the title. Miletich is a good fighter, but a great coach. A guy that always gets the best out of his guys. The camp has taken some criticism for being too tough. At the Miletich camp a sparring session is much more intense than at some other camps and full contact is expected. Miletich is a believer in getting hit at practice gets you used to getting hit in the cage. Miletich has also done some work with law enforcement and has taught a system of his techniques to SWAT officers.
Notable Fighters: Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver, Tim Sylvia, Jeremy Horn, Spencer Fisher, Robbie Lawler, Josh Neer, Ben Rothwell.
2. American Top Team
Location: Coconut Creek, Florida.
Founders: Ricardo Liborio, Marcus Silveira, Marcelo Silveira.
Breakdown: American Top Team and it's founders do have ties to the Brazilian Top Team, which is also one of the top teams in the world. However there is no official connection between the two camps. ATT has over fifty guys that compete in MMA for several different organizations. American Top Team has one of the best crops of up and coming young fighters. Within the next two years don't be surprised if a belt or two calls Coconut Creek home. Olympic gold medalist Howard Davis Jr. and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Ricardo Liborio are head trainers.
Notable Fighters: Thiago Alves, Thiago Silva, Alessio Sakara, Jeff Monson, Denis Kang, Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti, Wilson Gouveia, Antonio Silva, Yves Edawards.
3. Jackson Submission Fighting
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Founder: Greg Jackson.
Breakdown: Jackson is a mastermind of the game-plan. He is great at breaking down an opponent and planning for him. One of the best examples would be the Jardine vs. Liddell fight. Most people would say that Chuck has the better skills but Jardine came in and executed his plan better. Jackson integrated Judo with wrestling to form a martial art known as Gaidojutsu. Jackson also trained under Kickboxing champ Michael Winkeljohn. Jacksons camp also has a crop of young, hungry fighters.
Notable Fighters:Georges St. Pierre, Keith Jardine, Rashard Evans, David Loiseau, Jason Macdonald, Nate Marquardt, Joey Villasenor, Julie Kedzie, Leonard Garcia.
4. American Kickboxing Academy
Location: San Jose, California.
Founder: Bob Cook
Breakdown: AKA has two of the best minds in MMA with "Crazy" Bob Cook and Dave Camarillo. Camarillo study Judo early in his life and later began training with the Gracies in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His combination of the two has helped countless MMA hopefuls. AKA has a great mix of older fighters and younger guys.
Notable Fighters: Paul Buentello, Mike Swick, Josh Thomson, Javier Mendez, Josh Koshcheck, Cung Le, Bobby Southworth, Jon Fitch, Cain Valesquez.
5. Xtreme Couture
Founder: Randy Couture.
Location: (main gym) Las Vegas, Nevada
Breakdown: Randy Couture is one of the most recognized names in all of MMA. Couture has had his hands in some of the greatest camps and gyms in MMA. He co-founded Team Quest with Dan Henderson and Matt Lindland. He also has ties with Bas Rutten and the Legends Gym in Hollywood California. That gym is where Eddie Bravo has his Tenth Planet Jiu-Jitsu School. Couture has always been known for his work ethic and crazy training regime. Most of the fighters that train with Couture share the same passion for the sport.
Notable Fighters: Forrest Griffin, Tyson Griffin, Gray Maynard, Martin Kampmann, Karo Parisyan, Jay Hieron, Kendall Grove, Wand Silva, Gina Carano.
There is my list of the top five American camps in MMA. I'm sure there will be some differing opinions and I can't wait to see the discussions that follow.
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4 months ago
Fantastic article.
The order you have here is definitely debatable. I don't know if I changed it though. Hard to say. I'll say that I notice Xtreme Couture seems to have some of my favorite fighters in order out of those fighters): Forrest Griffin, Martin Kampmann, Wanderlei Silva, Gray Maynard, and Tyson Griffin. Plus Gina's hot. And Karo and Jay are generally very underrated welterweights that I like also.
And another thing, isn't Diego Sanchez in Greg Jackson's camp too?
4 months ago
Diego Sanchez was in Jackson's camp but left about the same time that GSP started training there.
from 4 months ago
Makes sense.
4 months ago
I agree, Miletich camp was the best but not any more.
4 months ago
We all can see... Its all about who you train with and how well that team puts together a game plan. Not like the early UFCs where it was just skill vs skill. Each camp has there own pro's and con's....but Gina is still HOT.
4 months ago
Excellent article! When I lived in the Quad Cities I almost joined Champions Gym when it opened for the low cost of $20 a month. Not as a fighter, just because I needed a gym and it was close to work. As a fan though I wish I would have now.
More on the decline of the Miletich camp is that Hughes and Lawler left to open their own gym.
from 4 months ago
Thanks Lee. I really like Miletich as a coach and don't think it's a fluke that all those guys flourished while working with him. I have a feeling there will be a couple of younger guys coming out of his Gym and making a splash in the future. I would say in six months ATT and the Miletich camp could switch places.
4 months ago
I definitely think you picked the top 5 in america. There are a few others like Team Quest, Ohio MMA, or Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy but their overall talent is probably a notch below your 5.
I think the order of the top 5 is debatable though. Miletich is probably not #1 anymore. For the last decade that's been the spot, however, Matt Hughes opened up his own gym (H.I.T. Squad) in Granite City, IL and brought Robbie Lawler along with him a few months back. Take those guys out and they're probably at the bottom of your list currently.
Also, Stephan Bonnar has been at Xtreme Couture for the past few months. Can you imagine him and forrest beating each other senseless on a regular basis?
4 months ago
I was actually starting to work on an article very similar to this one ... you beat me to it though .... you should do a top 5 outside the US too. Just a thought.
from 4 months ago
Sorry Derek. If you want to do the article worldwide that'd be cool. Would you make ATT number one or someone else? I wanted to but MMAA in the top five but that would just be me being a Homer. I knew that Lawler and Hughes left but most of their success was happened while they were at Miletich.
from 4 months ago
Honestly, right now I would probably have the following:
1) ATT
2) Xtreme Couture
3) Jackson
4) AKA
5) MMAA
Looks like a bunch of frats ...
honorable mention - team quest (hendo/lindland/sokoudjou)
honorable mention - ohio mma (franklin/marcus davis/gurgel/hazelett) - don't ever hear much about this camp but it deserves to be mentioned
from 4 months ago
Wow, no love for Miletich at all. Even without those two mentioned above they have Pulver who just fought for a title, Sylvia who is going to fight Fedor, Spencer Fisher who is a solid 155, Rothwell who's a top ten heavy.I thought Lawler and Hughes still work out with the Miletich boys sometimes. I didn't think I screwed up things that bad, maybe I did.
from 4 months ago
you didn't screw it up .... okay miletich gets an honorable mention too haha .... they still have some great fighters. I'm anxious to see if they have any new guys on the horizon though. There are just so many other talented camps out there now that are leapfrogging them with their young talent.
As far as hughes and lawler go I think they are stricly focused on their new facility in IL now (basically a suburb of St Louis) because they are both co-owners there.
Forgot about another camp - Nogueira and Silva Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Miami, FL. Throw in Lil Nog and that's a pretty good start. I know they have a Dallas, TX location and a location in Brazil so i'm not sure where they are predominantly training at now.
4 months ago
Wait, so who exactly can we list off as MMAA's notable fighters, I only know a couple of the obvious ones. :curious:
Btw, go ohio mma -- Franklin and Davis are two of my favs, and Hazelett really impressed me against Kos, who we both agree is a top 3 welterweight in the world. Jorge Rivera's in that camp too, right?
from 4 months ago
Sherk, Lesnar, Nick Thompson, Brock Larson, Travis Wiuff has trained there, logan Clark, Kaitly Young, Derrick Noble, Dave Menne used to work out there as well.
from 4 months ago
MMAA is sean sherk, nick thompson, kaitlin young, brock lesnar, brock larsen
Thanks for mentioning jorge rivera. That just reminded me of Mark DellaGrotte's Sityodtong USA camp in Somerville, MA. Kenny Florian, Travis Lutter, Patrick Cote, Marcus Davis (splits time between OH and MA) and Jorge Rivera are regulars there.
Forgot about Roger Huerta too .... he's been training at Greg Jackson's camp
4 months ago
You forgot the greatest training camp of all time: legendary, indestructible, immortal, and the original.
The Lion's Den.
from 4 months ago
We're trying to stick with camps that are good in recent and current times. :P
4 months ago
Definitely the top 5 camps in the States right now, but I'd be hard pressed to actually give solid rankings like that.
As was mentioned previously, the success of these camps show that it's not only important to have good coaching, but equally important to have skilled teammates to help push you.
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