Sherdog’s Top 10: Current Corners

Javier Mendez and Bob Cook have trained a number of champions. | Photo: D. Mandel/Sherdog.com

3. Javier Mendez/Bob Cook | American Kickboxing Academy

Mendez and Cook have quietly built one of the best and longest-lasting teams in MMA. They first roared onto the scene with a trio of outstanding welterweights -- Mike Swick, Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch -- and have kept on rolling with UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, top light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier, top-5 middleweight Luke Rockhold, former Strikeforce titleholder Josh Thomson and lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, among many others.

American Kickboxing Academy does everything well. It has a proven track record of developing young talent almost from the beginning of careers; it teaches technique well; it does a solid job of game planning; and its work in the corner is concise and helpful. The training staff is beyond reproach, and the fact that the team has been able to weather the ups and downs of its top fighters and the departure of key coaches, namely Dave Camarillo, while continuing to churn out high-level talent is incredible. Now effectively retired, longtime pupil Mike Swick is currently expanding the AKA brand with a new venture in Thailand, and that effort will likely bring substantial returns, as well.

Mendez and Cook have built an outstanding team with a well-deserved record of success, and there is every indication that AKA will remain one of the very best gyms in the world.

Number 2 » They are, at heart, outstanding game planners with fantastic ability to take apart the games of both opposing fighters and their own students and then apply those strengths and weaknesses in a coherent approach to a given fight.