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The World's Top MMA Camps

Updated May 2026

A handful of gyms have produced a disproportionate share of UFC champions and contenders over the last 20 years. Here are the five most important.

American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) — San Jose, California

Founded in 1985 by Javier Mendez, AKA has produced more UFC champions per square foot than almost any other gym. Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Luke Rockhold — all trained there. The team is famous for one thing above all: pressure wrestling and wall-walking that wears opponents into the late rounds. AKA is also unusual for keeping its training relatively closed — teammates don't fight teammates, and the gym has historically tolerated only a small roster of high-level pros.

If you're in the Bay Area: AKA runs civilian classes alongside the pro team. The gym is the rare elite camp that admits hobbyist students. Find more MMA gyms in California.

American Top Team (ATT) — Coconut Creek, Florida

ATT, founded by Dan Lambert and Conan Silveira in 2001, runs the largest MMA team in the world. The main gym in Coconut Creek hosts dozens of UFC and Bellator fighters, with affiliate gyms across the US. Fighters who've represented ATT include Dustin Poirier, Robbie Lawler, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Amanda Nunes, and many more. The team's identity is harder to pin down than AKA's — ATT produces wrestlers, strikers, and grapplers — but the depth of talent under one roof is unmatched.

If you're in South Florida: ATT runs amateur and beginner programs at the main gym and affiliates. Florida MMA gyms.

Jackson Wink MMA Academy — Albuquerque, New Mexico

Run by Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, Jackson Wink built its reputation on cerebral fight planning — Jackson is famously the architect of game-plans for fights, breaking down opponent tendencies and building counters specific to each matchup. Jon Jones, Holly Holm, Carlos Condit, Donald Cerrone, and many others trained there. The gym's altitude (5,300 ft) is also part of its conditioning advantage.

If you're in New Mexico: Jackson Wink takes regular students and runs amateur programs. New Mexico MMA gyms.

Kings MMA — Huntington Beach, California

Founded by Brazilian Muay Thai legend Rafael Cordeiro, Kings MMA is the striking gym of the modern MMA world. Cordeiro coaches Lyoto Machida, Wanderlei Silva, Fabricio Werdum, and many others — the gym produces fighters with elite Muay Thai foundations and brutal stand-up power. Kings is smaller and more specialized than AKA or ATT but its influence on modern MMA striking is huge.

If you're in Southern California: Kings runs both pro and civilian classes. Find Muay Thai gyms in California.

City Kickboxing — Auckland, New Zealand

Built by Eugene Bareman and his coaching team, City Kickboxing came from nowhere in the early 2010s to become one of the most successful MMA gyms on Earth. Israel Adesanya, Alex Volkanovski, Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France — all CKB fighters. The gym is known for its kickboxing-first identity and an unusually tight-knit team culture. CKB doesn't take many outside fighters and rarely loses an in-house talent.

Not in New Zealand? The CKB methodology has been studied and copied. Many serious striking gyms in the US now teach a Bareman-influenced kickboxing system.

What these camps have in common

One identity. AKA is wrestling. CKB is kickboxing. Kings is Muay Thai. Each camp does one thing better than anyone.
Long head-coach tenures. The lead coach has been at the gym for 15+ years in each case. Continuity matters.
Tight teams. Limited roster, real loyalty, no inter-camp poaching.
Sparring discipline. Pros at these gyms spar smart, not hard, day to day.

What this means for you

You don't need to train at an elite camp to get great instruction. Most US cities now have at least one gym connected to one of these camps through affiliation or shared coaching lineage. When evaluating a gym, ask about the head coach's lineage — who promoted them, who they've trained under. That tells you more than any banner on the wall.