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FIGHT ODDS

Sherdog’s Top 10: Training Camps

Patrick WymanApr 22, 2015
Robbie Lawler became American Top Team’s first UFC champion. | Photo: D. Mandel/Sherdog.com


3. American Top Team


The upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” will feature the blossoming rivalry between the Blackzilians and American Top Team, one of the most venerable and accomplished teams in MMA. Despite the overall success of ATT and the long list of outstanding fighters that had passed through its doors over the years, the gym had never won a UFC title. That changed in December with Robbie Lawler’s razor-thin victory over Johny Hendricks in their highly anticipated rematch; and ATT finally got the recognition it deserved.

Brought into being in 2001 by Brazilian Top Team cofounder Ricardo Liborio and financier Dan Lambert, along with Marcus “Conan” Silveira, American Top Team grew quickly into one of the sport’s premier camps. Fighters such as Jorge Santiago, Thiago Alves, Gleison Tibau and World Extreme Cagefighting champion Mike Thomas Brown all called ATT home for many years, and the gym expanded into a full-service facility offering classes to both professionals and hobbyists. The lack of a UFC title hurt the gym despite its successes, however, and the departure of several key fighters for the upstart Blackzilians further damaged the team.

Things have picked back up in the last several years. A whole wave of fighters, including Lawler, Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks and contenders such as Dustin Poirier, Nik Lentz, Cole Miller, Jorge Masvidal, Hector Lombard and Yoel Romero have drastically raised the gym’s profile. A number of promising young fighters have come up entirely under ATT’s auspices, as well, including Mirsad Bektic and Charles Rosa, to name only two. Without fail, athletes who fight out of ATT praise the family atmosphere and the deep sense of devotion to team above self that Liborio and other respected figures in the gym preach, further making it an attractive place to train and grow.

Between Lawler’s huge win and the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” American Top Team is an imposing name with a big profile -- and for good reason.

Number 2 » Nova Uniao