Ranking The Top 15 Training Camps In MMA

A fighter is only as good as the camp that trains him. The popularity of mixed martial arts has exploded in recent years, and with it more coverage for MMA camps to showcase their fighters. Having a good MMA camp is essential to be successful in modern MMA.                                                                                                

Without further ado, here are the top 15 MMA camps in MMA today!

15. The Pit

Founded By: John Hackleman

Notable Fighters: Chuck Liddell, Court McGhee, Tim Kennedy, Jason Van Flue

Established in 1986, The Pit is mainly known as the camp of the Iceman, Chuck Liddell. Hackleman is a former golden gloves boxer and originally developed a no nonsense approach to teaching MMA. Mainly focusing on striking, the camp also teaches a blend of disciplines like judo, Kenpo, and wrestling.

14. Chute Box Academy

Founded By: Rudimar Fedrigo

Notable Fighters: Fabrico Werdum, Cyborg Santos, Evangelista Santos

The Chute Box Academy has taking a hit as of late, but in the 90s and early 2000s it was the main camp in Pride.  It is most famous for nurturing talent like Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua and Anderson Silva.

Strongly based on Muay Thai, its brutal sparring sessions are legendary and an aggressive forward style was always the game plan of Chute Box fighters.

13. Team Rough House

Founded By:: Matt Howell; Paul Daley

Notable Fighters: Paul Daley, Dan Hardy, Ross Pearson, Jim Wallhead, Nick Osipczak

This is the first British MMA camp with a host of talent to choose from. It has two locations, Nottingham and Leicester. Although it is not really a camp in the sense that each fighter follows their own regime, the fighters still make time to meet for weekly sparring sessions.

12. Team Quest

Founded By:  Matt Lindland; Dan Henderson

Notable Fighters: Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland, Chael Sonnen, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

As you can see by the talent at its disposal, Team Quest has a lot of fighters focused on grappling. While not successful lately, Team Quest fighters continue to remain a relevant camp in MMA.

11. Golden Glory

Founded By: Bas Boon, Ron Nyqvist, Frederico Lapenda

Notable Fighters: Siyar Bahadurzada, Marloes Coenen, Sergei Kharitonov

A prominent MMA camp in Europe, Golden Glory has trained many champions including current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem and current Welterweight Woman's Champion Marloes Coenen.

With a lot of K1 kickboxers on its roster, Golden Glory focuses on lethal striking.

10. Brazilian Top Team

Founded By: Murilo Bustamante

Notable Fighters: Ricardo Arona, Rousimar Palhares, Murilo Bustamante, David Bielkheden, Patrick Côté (Canadian BBT Gym)

This is a Brazilian camp that focuses on Jiu Jitsu and boxing. It's most famous for a feud with Chute Box Academy during the Pride years. Since Zuffa's buyout of Pride, BTT has fallen on tough times but lately has had a resurgence with up and coming stars like Rousimar Palhares.

9. Minnesota Martial Arts Academy

Founded By: Greg Nelson

Notable Fighters: Brock Lesnar, Sean Shrek, Brock Larson, Chris Tushcherer, Jacob Volkmann, Nick Thompson, Cole Konrad

Training a hulking assembly of fighters, Greg Nelson, a former NCAA Division 1 fighter, incorporates his wrestling background with submission fighting to form the basis of this camp.

The camp developed its roster with star athletes like former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and former UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk.

8. Wolfslair MMA Academy

Founded by: Anthony McGann; Lee Gwynn

Notable Fighters: Rampage Jackson, Michael Bisping, Cheick Kongo

It became the most famous MMA camp in England when it announced the signing of Quentin "Rampage" Jackson and Cheick Kongo. Wolfslair has had mixed success in the UFC but continues to expand and improve the British MMA scene.

7. Red Devil Sport

Founded By: Vadim Finkelstein

Notable Fighters: Fedor Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Amar Suloev, Kirill Sidelnikov, Alexey Oleinik

Most famous for pound for pound great Fedor Emelianenko, the Red Devil Sport club has a good scouting system by signing athletes from the Russian Sambo championships and training them in various MMA disciplines.

6. Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

Founded by: Cesar Gracie

Notable Fighters: Jake Shields, Diaz Brothers, Gilbert Melendez, David Terrell

With a host of grappling talent on its roster, Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy gained world wide notoriety for attacking Jason "Mayhem" Miller at a recent Strikeforce event in Nashville when Mayhem asked for a rematch against Jake Shields. 

5. American Top Team

Founded By: Marcus "Conan" Silveira

Notable Fighters: Denis Kang, Thiago Silva, Jeff Monson, Thiago Alves, Cole Miller, Jorge Santiago, Hector Lombard, Mike Thomas Brown

Just one look at their roster and you will see why American Top Team is so high on the ranking. Many of its fighters are currently fighting for all the top MMA promotions. Thiago Alves, Cole Miller and Mike Thomas Brown are all top ranked fighters in their respective divisions.

4. American Kickboxing Academy

Founded By: Javier Mendez

Notable Fighters: Cain Velasquez, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Phil Davis, Cung Lee, Takanori Gomi

This camp has a host of top talent including welterweight contenders Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. But the most prominent name to stick out is Cain Velasquez, who dismantled Brock Lesnar in their recent clash at UFC 121.

An all round gym that teaches in nearly every aspect of MMA, its fighters focus on wrestling, judo and Jiu Jitsu. 

3. Xtreme Couture

Founded By: Randy Couture

Notable Fighters: Randy Couture, Tyson Griffin, Evan Dunham, Forest Griffin, Gray Maynard, Jay Hieron, Martin Kampman, Gina Carano, Todd Duffee

Founded by UFC hall of famer Randy Couture, Xtreme Couture has gradually added a host of up and coming talent including heavyweight slugger Todd Duffee and rising star Evan Dunham. Just like the founder Randy Couture, a lot of the camp's fighters are grappling orientated but are also proficient in striking.

2. Black House

Founded By: Ed Soares

Notable Fighters: Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Nogueira Brothers, Jose Aldo, Junior Dos Santos, Ronaldo Souza, Rafael Cavalcante

Only a quick glance at the talent at this camp would have any MMA fan drooling. It includes pound for pound great Anderson Silva, former UFC champions Lyoto Machida and the Nogueira brothers, and current Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. 

The camp incorporates many disciplines, primarily Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai.

1. Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts Camp

Founded By: Greg Jackson

Notable Fighters: George St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, Shane Carwin, Diego Sanchez, Nate Marquadt, Carlos Condit, Jon Jones

At the moment, Greg Jackson can do no wrong, as his reputation soars in the MMA world. Jackson’s camp has won many awards including Best Gym at the 2009 MMA World Awards. 

Jackson's camp focuses on wrestling, but fighters are trained in various disciplines and styles to prepare them for every aspect of MMA. In 1992, he founded his own martial art, Gaidojutsu, which combines wrestling with basic judo locks.

Preferring his fighters to control the fight rather than taking unnecessary risks to get a stoppage, Jackson's fighters at times have been unjustly labelled as “blankets”.

Jackson's camp is reported as having an amazing 80 percent winning average!