Tag: Henri Hooft

Coach Henri Hooft: Anthony “Rumble” Johnson is Not a Quitter

Daniel Cormier and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson will fight for the UFC light heavyweight title, as they previously did at UFC 187 in May 2015. While “DC” took the win by way of rear-naked choke in the third round. Johnson’s coach, Henri Hooft will be remembered for repeatedly shouting “don’t give up” to “Rumble”. Cormier is someone who […]

Daniel Cormier and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson will fight for the UFC light heavyweight title, as they previously did at UFC 187 in May 2015. While “DC” took the win by way of rear-naked choke in the third round. Johnson’s coach, Henri Hooft will be remembered for repeatedly shouting “don’t give up” to “Rumble”. Cormier is someone who […]

Video: Robbie Lawler Trains With New Team

Henri Hooft’s Florida-based Combat Club MMA has certainly seen its fair share of drama following a highly-publicized split that saw them absorb many of the former Blackzilians, and now it looks like the growing team has potentially added a high-profile name to their roster. Following his own split from Blackzilians rival American Top Team (ATT), former

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Henri Hooft’s Florida-based Combat Club MMA has certainly seen its fair share of drama following a highly-publicized split that saw them absorb many of the former Blackzilians, and now it looks like the growing team has potentially added a high-profile name to their roster.

Following his own split from Blackzilians rival American Top Team (ATT), former UFC welterweight champion was recently spotted sparring at Combat Club. The brutalizing fan favorite has been teasing a return from a hiatus he took after Tyron Woodley knocked him out in the first round of their headliner at last July’s UFC 201.

Lawler is from Iowa but has lived in Florida for some time now, making the choice a logical one coupled with Hooft’s extensive kickboxing background and “Ruthless’” all-out style. If it is indeed true that the former champion has joined Combat Club on more than a temporary basis, he’ll train with current light heavyweight title challenger Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, and top-ranked lightweight Michael Johnson.

Watch the video of Lawler training from Discover the Fights right here:

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Henri Hooft on Leaving Blackzilians: ‘Sometimes Things Come to an End’

Professional kickboxing instructor Henri Hooft was part of the Blackzilians in Boca Raton, Florida. That is no longer the case as Hooft has had some differences with management. He isn’t the only one out the door as former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title holder Rashad Evans revealed the team is “fragmented.” Hooft recently appeared on […]

Professional kickboxing instructor Henri Hooft was part of the Blackzilians in Boca Raton, Florida. That is no longer the case as Hooft has had some differences with management. He isn’t the only one out the door as former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title holder Rashad Evans revealed the team is “fragmented.” Hooft recently appeared on […]

Coach Denies That He Left Blackzillians To Start His Own Gym

Longtime striking coach Henri Hooft announced last week his departure from the Blackzillians after six years of working with the team on his Instagram account. Then, Rashad Evans went on “The MMA Hour” and noted that the team is “fragmented.” However, Blackzillians chief Glenn Robinson stated that he is not going anywhere. Robinson added that

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Longtime striking coach Henri Hooft announced last week his departure from the Blackzillians after six years of working with the team on his Instagram account. Then, Rashad Evans went on “The MMA Hour” and noted that the team is “fragmented.” However, Blackzillians chief Glenn Robinson stated that he is not going anywhere. Robinson added that Hooft’s departure came after months of unfruitful conversations about a new employment deal, which took place when there was a transition between training facilities that led to some of the coaches to go elsewhere.

“This business is run on emotion,” Robinson said at the time. “So if you start making certain changes, it’s a domino effect. So when we realized we weren’t going to come to terms with (Hooft), we said, ‘Let’s let the dust settle.’ I have no ill will toward anybody.”

Hooft shot down any rumors that he would be opening his own gym when he spoke with MMA Junkie for a recent interview. He noted that he went to his friend’s gym that is called Combat Club MMA following his departure from the Blackzillians.

“I don’t have my own gym, that’s not the way it happened,” Hooft told MMAjunkie Radio. “I didn’t leave the Blackzillians to start my own team or to have my own gym. I left the Blackzillians and also we didn’t have a gym to train with, so I went to another place where friends of mine opened a gym. It’s called Combat Club MMA, and we went training there. And I’m a part shareholder of the gym, so that’s how it really went over.We didn’t have a gym to train, so we all ended up training together and doing our stuff. I think that if we end up having a team, I think it will form by itself, but right now we just got all the guys on the one group and training. As you guys see, sometimes I end up training people outside of my group, like Luke Rockhold, Dennis Bermudez, Ryan LaFlare. I like to do that, so it’s not really my team.”

He did admit that he is training some fighters that he has for years at the new gym but made it clear that as of this moment he doesn’t have his own team.

“Of course, I have my fighters that I’ve already trained from scratch, Anthony (Johnson), Rashad (Evans), Kamaru (Usman) and Michael Johnson, so many people that I train. We all train in groups and we do our thing, but at this moment I don’t have a team.”

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Rashad Evans: The Blackzilians Aren’t What They Used To Be

The Blackzilians, a mixed martial arts team that was based out of Boca-Raton, Florida, was once one of the top teams in the sport, but according to former UFC light heavyweight champion “Suga” Rashad Evans, who was one of the camp’s original members, the team has since folded. Appearing on today’s (Jan. 16, 2016) edition

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The Blackzilians, a mixed martial arts team that was based out of Boca-Raton, Florida, was once one of the top teams in the sport, but according to former UFC light heavyweight champion “Suga” Rashad Evans, who was one of the camp’s original members, the team has since folded.

Appearing on today’s (Jan. 16, 2016) edition of The MMA Hour, Evans said that part of the issue was that owner Glenn Robinson and trainer Henri Hooft had different ideas that simply didn’t match up, but he also said that issues with the team’s gym played a factor as well:

“The truth of the matter is, the team is splintered, the team is fragmented,” he said. “It just became a very hard thing for Glenn to kind of keep his grasp as far as keeping everyone together. Henri [Hooft] wanted to throw his brand into his own thing and it just wasn’t matching up with where Glenn wanted to go. That’s part of the fragment, but another part of it was that we didn’t have a gym anymore.

“Our gym was sold, and Glenn was supposed to build another gym and I guess they moved into a temporary gym. There was some kind of falling out with the temporary gym, so then part of the team stayed at the temporary gym and more than half of the team went with Henri. I was one of those guys that went with Henri.”

While Evans said that he still trains with most of his teammates, he said that the ‘drama’ surrounding the Blackzilians got ‘exhausting’:

“I mean, at the end of the day, I got so sick and tired of going into the gym and having to put out these fires, and there was so much drama, and everybody jockeying and pushing for position,” he said. “I was just like, yo, I just want to train, man. And there’s a lot of other guys that just want to train, and that’s what the team was made for. So we could have a great training environment. But you start bringing everything else into it and all the drama, it just got exhausting.

“Now, the state of the Blackzilians…I guess there really is no Blackzilians. It’s all in the namesake, but for the most part everybody — or most of the people who was training with the Blackzilians — we’re still training together.”

The ex-champion then backtracked on that statement a bit, but he did confirm that that team is certainly not what it was:

“I don’t want to say it’s not a thing anymore,” he said. “I don’t want to put the stamp on it to say it’s not a thing anymore. But, I mean, it’s definitely not what it used to be. That’s for sure. And some of the other guys, they started their own team.”?

After Evans’ comments were heard, Hooft also took to his official Instagram account to announce that he had left the Blackzilians:

“After 6 years working with a great team the blackzilians I am going my own way I had a great time met some cool people and learned a lot,” he wrote. “Now it’s time for #hkickboxing and new challenges that come my way………NOTHING IS FOREVER BUT DREAMS AND GOALS.”

What do you make of this news?

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Report: “TUF 21: American Top Team vs. The Blackzilians” to Begin Filming Soon in South Florida


(I have a feeling that the shirtless guy with the belt is a ringer. Photo via Mike Roach/Getty)

Back in October, Sherdog’s Greg Savage passed along a rumor that the UFC was planning a season of The Ultimate Fighter that would feature competing squads from American Top Team and The Blackzilians — two camps that have made South Florida a training destination for some of MMA’s greatest talent. According to Savage, the season would air on Fight Pass.

Early this morning, MMA Fight Radio co-host Jay Pagliaro confirmed the news, citing “multiple sources from both camps.” Pagliaro indicated that the show will be filmed in South Florida, with ATT co-founder/head coach Ricardo Liborio & Blackzilians head striking coach Henri Hooft as the show’s coaches. (For the record, FrontRowBrian knew about this too.)

We’re still waiting for an official announcement from the UFC about broadcast plans for TUF 21, but a smaller-scale version of TUF airing on Fight Pass seems like a good move — especially because it won’t take any of the UFC’s biggest stars out of action for a considerable chunk of the year. We’ll update you when we know more about the cast; Junior Killer should get a spot based on his name alone.


(I have a feeling that the shirtless guy with the belt is a ringer. Photo via Mike Roach/Getty)

Back in October, Sherdog’s Greg Savage passed along a rumor that the UFC was planning a season of The Ultimate Fighter that would feature competing squads from American Top Team and The Blackzilians — two camps that have made South Florida a training destination for some of MMA’s greatest talent. According to Savage, the season would air on Fight Pass.

Early this morning, MMA Fight Radio co-host Jay Pagliaro confirmed the news, citing “multiple sources from both camps.” Pagliaro indicated that the show will be filmed in South Florida, with ATT co-founder/head coach Ricardo Liborio & Blackzilians head striking coach Henri Hooft as the show’s coaches. (For the record, FrontRowBrian knew about this too.)

We’re still waiting for an official announcement from the UFC about broadcast plans for TUF 21, but a smaller-scale version of TUF airing on Fight Pass seems like a good move — especially because it won’t take any of the UFC’s biggest stars out of action for a considerable chunk of the year. We’ll update you when we know more about the cast; Junior Killer should get a spot based on his name alone.