Best of the Decade: 10 best MMA teams/camps

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12-01-2009 08:40 AM:
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You may be alone in the cage or ring but much of a fighter's success falls on the head of his or head team. These are the most successful teams in and out of the arena of competition from the last 10 years.

10. BLACK HOUSE - RIO de JANIERO, BRAZIL
There aren&rsquo;t years of success but the end of the decade run of titles and the future make Black House look like a dominant force for years to come. Ed Soares, the Scott Boras of MMA, has The Nogueira Brothers, Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogerio, along with Anderson Silva to lead to the way. He just added future superstar Jose Aldo Jr. and don&rsquo;t forget about that guy Lyoto Machida. Junior Dos Santos, Paulo Filho, Rafael Feijao and Andre Galvao are all part of the crew as well. It appears the team maybe setting up shop next in Los Angeles.

9. XTREME COUTURE - LAS VEGAS
Randy Couture set up shop in Las Vegas and the fighters have followed. There are now dozens of gyms across Sin City. Many "Ultimate Fighter" contestants have helped the team including Forrest Griffin and Gray Maynard. Accomplished fighters like Mike Pyle, Tyson Griffin, Gina Carano, Martin Kampmann, Jay Hieron, Frank Trigg, Amir Sadollah, Mac Danzig and John Alessio all work out of Couture.

8. THE GRACIE FAMILY - WORLDWIDE
Much of the groundwork and fighting success in the U.S. and Japan took place in the 90&rsquo;s but the effect is still felt at a ton of different Gracie Academies around the world. Royce, Renzo and Rickson all fought in this decade. The Gracie name has produced fighters like Stephan Bonnar, Ricardo Almeida, Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez, The Diaz Brothers, Nick and Nate and even the Ultimate Fighter 10's Marcus Jones.

7. JACKSON&rsquo;S SUBMISSION FIGHTING - ALBUQUERQUE
Greg Jackson doesn't look or carry himself like a bruiser but his teachings have helped dole out some beatings. Jackson's lured Georges St. Pierre from Canada late in the decade. Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine and Nate Marquardt are the backbone of the team. Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson, Shane Carwin, Joey Villasenor, Julie Kedzie, Carlos Condit, Leonard Garcia, Donald Cerrone and Jon Jones have all worked or currently work with Jackson.

6. AMERICAN KICKBOXING ACADEMY -- SAN JOSE
The California based gym headed by &ldquo;Crazy&rdquo; Bob Cook, Javier Mendez and Dave Camarillo has cemented its spot in MMA by building around "Ultimate Fighter" alums Mike Swick and Josh Koscheck. Former Purdue wrestler Jon Fitch makes it a formidable trio at 170 pounds. Phil Baroni has worked at the gym along with good prospects like Cain Velasquez, Luke Rockhold and Daniel Cormier. Paul Buentello, Cung Le and Josh Thomson have also all worked or work with AKA. The gym had a well-publicized beef with the UFC over its fighter ancillary rights. Several of the fighters were actually released from the promotion for a few days in 2008.


5. AMERICAN TOP TEAM - COCONUT CREEK, FLORIDA
ATT may be the top gym in the U.S. but it&rsquo;s had trouble securing a UFC title. Ricardo Liborio runs things and has former Olympic boxer Howard Davis Jr. on the staff. Prominent fighters include Mike Brown, Thiago Alves, Gesias Cavalcante, Jeff Monson, Jorge Santiago, Marcus Aurelio, Din Thomas, Thiago Silva, Wilson Gouveia, Ben Saunders, Cole Miller, Micah Miller, Hector Lombard, Tyron Woodley, Thiago Tavares and Gleison Tibau. Newer fighters like Bobby Lashley and Todd Duffee got their start at ATT. Even Kimbo Slice and Chuck Liddell have at trained at ATT.

4. MILETICH FIGHTING SYSTEMS - IOWA
Based out of little Bettendorf, Iowa, MFS dominated the American Midwest fighting scene turning many collegiate wrestlers into dominant forces. Pat Miletich, the first under 200-pound UFC champion, pumped out fighters like Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver, Tim Sylvia, Robbie Lawler, Spencer Fisher, and Jeremy Horn. Ben Rothwell, Rory Markham, Drew McFedries, and countless other fighters came from or are fighting out of Miletich. In all MFS, trained 11 UFC champions.

3. TEAM QUEST - OREGON
Of all the American teams this camp had the most impact worldwide behind the success of Matt Lindland, Randy Couture and Dan Henderson. There are now several Team Quests up and down the west coast. The camp has produced or worked with Chris Leben, Chael Sonnen, Ryan Schultz, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Nate Quarry, Ed Herman, Krzysztof Soszynski and the late Evan Tanner.

2. BRAZILIAN TOP TEAM - RIO de JANIERO
This was one of the most successful offshoots of the Gracie family. Lib&oacute;rio, M&aacute;rio Sperry and Murilo Bustamante set up shop in April of 2000. The Nogueira brothers, carried the banner along with Sperry and Bustamante and Allan Goes while they were active fighters. They also produced young studs like Ricardo Arona, Filho and Vitor Belfort. They had an intense rivalry with Chute Boxe which came to a head in PRIDE in 2005 when Arona upset Wanderlei Silva to face Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the finals of the middleweight tournament. Chute Boxe took the honors with a Rua win. There are now offshoot gyms in Canada, California, Texas, Massachusetts, England, Hong Kong, Australia and Belgium.


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1. CHUTE BOXE - CURITIBA, BRAZIL
Opened in 1978 under the tutelege of Rafael Cordeiro and Rudimar Fedrigo, it
was the gym in the late 90&rsquo;s and early 2000&rsquo;s mainly because of Wanderlei Silva&rsquo;s amazing PRIDE run from 2000-2004. Silva ripped off 16 wins in 18 fights (one draw, one no contest). The fighters were known for their vicious striking, knees and kicks. Other prominent fighters who got their start with Chute Boxe include Shogun Rua, Murilo &ldquo;Ninja&rdquo; Rua, Anderson Silva, Jean Silva, Cristiane &ldquo;Cyborg&rdquo; Santos, Evangelista &ldquo;Cyborg&rdquo; Santos, Alves, Gabriel Gonzaga, Asseurio Silva, Elvis Schembri and Fabricio Werdum. They had intense rivalries with Brazilian Top Team and Hammer House led by Mark Coleman. The team has lost much of its might since the departure of the Rua Brothers and Silva.

Honorable Mention: The Pit, Lion's Den, Team Punishment, Hammer House, Wolfslair, Team Sityodtong and Red Devil Sports Club



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