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Eric Nicksick – MMA Coach

DOB: N/AGym: Xtreme CoutureLocation: Las Vegas, NevadaMartial Arts Background: MMANotable Fighters: Francis Ngannou, Aljimain Sterling, Dan Ige, Paul Felder Eric Nicksick’s beginning in MMA Eric Nicksick is one of the most unexpected journeys to becoming a premiere MMA coach. He began MMA as a student, signing up for classes at Xrtreme Couture in 2007. His […]

DOB: N/A
Gym: Xtreme Couture
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Martial Arts Background: MMA
Notable Fighters: Francis Ngannou, Aljimain Sterling, Dan Ige, Paul Felder

Eric Nicksick’s beginning in MMA

Eric Nicksick is one of the most unexpected journeys to becoming a premiere MMA coach. He began MMA as a student, signing up for classes at Xrtreme Couture in 2007.

His first and only gym that he would ever be a part of. Nicksick has been a student of MMA and worked his way up from student to general manager and head coach of Xtreme Couture.

After 7 years of training at the gym, Nicksick was a purple belt and ran the kids program at the gym. Nick’s positive attitude and approach to teaching made him very popular among the kids at Xtreme Couture.

Eric Nicksick become GM and head coach

Through hard work, Nicksick worked his way up through the ranks at Xtreme Couture. After a decade of grinding and determination, he became the GM and head coach of Xtreme Couture.

It was unexpected that a person like Nicksick would get this role, but he more than proved himself worthy. For a while Xtreme Couture had a bit of a decline as an elite MMA gym.

But thanks to Nicksick’s leadership, he has helped make Xtreme Couture a powerhouse in MMA once again. Eric has a way of developing a bond with his fighters and they trust him 100%.

His style has attracted some of the top fighters in the world to come train with him in Las Vegas. The biggest name by far is UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Notable fighters

After becoming the head coach at Xtreme Couture just a few years ago, Nicksick has begun building his fighter stable. He is the head coach of fighters like Francis Ngannou, Dan Ige, and Aljamain Sterling.

Francis Ngannou

Current UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou is the most feared fighter on the planet. The Cameroon native has quite the story of working a diamond mine as a child to becoming UFC champion.

At 26, Francis left his country and walked to France. He met his first trainer Fernand Lopez, who let Francis to train and sleep at his MMA gym.

He would quickly go pro and go 5-1 before earning a shot in the UFC. Francis began his first reign of terror in the UFC, knocking out 5 of his first 6 opponents to earn his first title shot.

Ngannou would lose his next two fights and look like a shell of what he once was. Francis was able to get his head right and improve his skills with the help of Eric Nicksick at Xtreme Couture.

The old KO artist Francis would come back better than ever and knock out his next 4 opponents. Putting him in line for a rematch with Stipe Miocic.

Francis would stuff Stipe’s takedown attempts and finish him with strikes in the second round. Earning him his first UFC title.

His partnership with Nicksick has proved to be a fruitful one. The current champ looks better than ever and will look to add to his impressive resume.

Dan Ige

The Hawaiian native Dan Ige is currently one of the top 10 best featherweight fighters in the world. Ige has been a professional fighter since 2014 and has fought in every promotion from LFA, Titan, and Pancrase.

After going on a six fight win streak, Ige would earn a shot at a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. A submission win over Luis Gomez would earn a contract with the UFC and realize his dream.

Dan would have a strong start to his UFC career going 6-1 in his first 7 bouts. He would come up short, but have a strong performance against a top 5 featherweight in Calvin Kattar.

Not discouraged, Ige would bounce back with a KO win over Gavin Tucker. Although he would lose a tough decision to the Korean Zombie in his last fight.

At just 29 and with a 15-4 record, the Xtreme Couture fighter has a lot of career left. He will look to bounce back and continue his chase towards the featherweight title.

Paul Felder

The recently retired Paul Felder was one of the toughest lightweight fighters in the UFC. He never turned down a fight and frequently earned fight on the night honors whenever he competed.

Felder went 17-6 in his career beating a number of big name opponents. Including a TKO win over current lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. Paul also was never finished in his career.

The Philadelphia native never actually trained with Eric Nicksick, but Nicksick did corner him. Felder took a last minute fight against Rafael Dos Anjos in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately due to Covid restrictions, Felder’s team could not corner him. Nicksick stepped up and offered to corner Felder for this bout.

Even though Felder lost a decision, Nicksick’s willingness to help him earned Nick much respect in the MMA community.

Eric Nicksick’s legacy as a coach

Eric Nicksick proves that hard work can pay off. His journey to becoming a well known MMA coach is an unsuspecting one.

Going from just a student in 2007 to becoming a big time MMA coach is almost unheard of, but he did it. Nicksick’s hard work was recognized in 2020 as he earned MMAJunkie’s coach of the year award.

This was not only for coaching, but opening Xtreme Couture’s doors to a number of fighters during the Covid-19 lockdown. He showed his willingness to help fighters when they needed it.

Nicksick’s coaching career is still young, but we can expect big things from the Xtreme Couture GM and head coach.

Eric Nicksick – MMA Coach

DOB: N/A
Gym: Xtreme Couture
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Martial Arts Background: MMA
Notable Fighters: Francis Ngannou, Aljimain Sterling, Dan Ige, Paul Felder

Eric Nicksick’s beginning in MMA

Eric Nicksick is one of the most unexpected journeys to becoming a premiere MMA coach. He began MMA as a student, signing up for classes at Xrtreme Couture in 2007.

His first and only gym that he would ever be a part of. Nicksick has been a student of MMA and worked his way up from student to general manager and head coach of Xtreme Couture.

Eric Nicksick become GM and head coach

Through hard work, Nicksick worked his way up through the ranks at Xtreme Couture. After a decade of grinding and determination, he became the GM and head coach of Xtreme Couture.

It was unexpected that a person like Nicksick would get this role, but he more than proved himself worthy. For a while Xtreme Couture had a bit of a decline as an elite MMA gym.

But thanks to Nicksick’s leadership, he has helped make Xtreme Couture a powerhouse in MMA once again. Eric has a way of developing a bond with his fighters and they trust him 100%.

His style has attracted some of the top fighters in the world to come train with him in Las Vegas. The biggest name by far is UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Notable fighters

Francis Ngannou

Current UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou is the most feared fighter on the planet. The Cameroon native has quite the story of working a diamond mine as a child to becoming UFC champion.

At 26, Francis left his country and walked to France. He met his first trainer Fernand Lopez, who let Francis to train and sleep at his MMA gym.

He would quickly go pro and go 5-1 before earning a shot in the UFC. Francis began his first reign of terror in the UFC, knocking out 5 of his first 6 opponents to earn his first title shot.

Ngannou would lose his next two fights and look like a shell of what he once was. Francis was able to get his head right and improve his skills with the help of Eric Nicksick at Xtreme Couture.

The old KO artist Francis would come back better than ever and knock out his next 4 opponents. Putting him in line for a rematch with Stipe Miocic.

Francis would stuff Stipe’s takedown attempts and finish him with strikes in the second round. Earning him his first UFC title.

His partnership with Nicksick has proved to be a fruitful one. The current champ looks better than ever and will look to add to his impressive resume.

Dan Ige

Dan would have a strong start to his UFC career going 6-1 in his first 7 bouts. He would come up short, but have a strong performance against a top 5 featherweight in Calvin Kattar.

Not discouraged, Ige would bounce back with a KO win over Gavin Tucker. Although he would lose a tough decision to the Korean Zombie in his last fight.

At just 29 and with a 15-4 record, the Xtreme Couture fighter has a lot of career left. He will look to bounce back and continue his chase towards the featherweight title.

Paul Felder

The recently retired Paul Felder was one of the toughest lightweight fighters in the UFC. He never turned down a fight and frequently earned fight on the night honors whenever he competed.

Felder went 17-6 in his career beating a number of big name opponents. Including a TKO win over current lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. Paul also was never finished in his career.

The Philadelphia native never actually trained with Eric Nicksick, but Nicksick did corner him. Felder took a last minute fight against Rafael Dos Anjos in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately due to Covid restrictions, Felder’s team could not corner him. Nicksick stepped up and offered to corner Felder for this bout.

Even though Felder lost a decision, Nicksick’s willingness to help him earned Nick much respect in the MMA community.

Eric Nicksick’s legacy as a coach

Eric Nicksick proves that hard work can pay off. His journey to becoming a well known MMA coach is an unsuspecting one.

This was not only for coaching, but opening Xtreme Couture’s doors to a number of fighters during the Covid-19 lockdown. He showed his willingness to help fighters when they needed it.

Nicksick’s coaching career is still young, but we can expect big things from the Xtreme Couture GM and head coach.

Henri Hooft – MMA Coach

DOB: May 21st, 1969Gym: Sanford MMALocation: Miami, FloridaMartial Arts Background: KickboxingMMA/Kickboxing Records: N/ANotable Fighters: Anthony Johnson, Tyrone Spong, Michael Chandler, Gilbert Burns Henri Hooft’s beginnings in martial arts Henri Hooft grew up in The Hague, Netherlands and started training karate with his brother when he was 15. His stint in karate was short and quickly […]

DOB: May 21st, 1969
Gym: Sanford MMA
Location: Miami, Florida
Martial Arts Background: Kickboxing
MMA/Kickboxing Records: N/A
Notable Fighters: Anthony Johnson, Tyrone Spong, Michael Chandler, Gilbert Burns

Henri Hooft’s beginnings in martial arts

Henri Hooft grew up in The Hague, Netherlands and started training karate with his brother when he was 15. His stint in karate was short and quickly switched to kickboxing.

As a teen, Hooft showed to have potential as a fighter and would compete in numerous amateur tournaments. His talents caught the eye of legendary Dutch kickboxer Rob Kaman, who invited Hooft to train with him in Thailand.

Henri Hooft’s time as a fighter

Hooft would have a two decade career as a fighter that would include bouts mainly in kickboxing and also boxing. Competing in over 100 fights between the two sports.

During his time as a fighter, Hooft would win multiple championships in kickboxing and also compete in multiple K-1 fights. His most notable fight was a war with Stefan Leko at the 1999 K-1 GP that he lost by KO.

Hooft would train alongside numerous kickboxing legends including the lumberjack Peter Aerts out of Kops Gym in Amsterdam. He would train at this gym until he retired from fighting in 2007.

Henri Hooft becomes a full time coach

With his time as a fighter over, Hooft decided to become a full time coach. Henri would stay in his country coaching fighters for the next 4 years.

During that time, he would be the head trainer of world champion Tyrone Spong. One of the top K-1 fighters during this time before K-1 shutdown its operations.

4 years later in 2011, Hooft got his biggest opportunity as a coach. Being offered to be the head striking coach at the newly formed Blackzillians gym in Miami, Florida. Hooft quickly jumped at the offer and took his fighter Tyrone Sponge with him to train.

At the Blackzillians, Hooft would teach numerous top fighters like Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Anthony Johnson, and Alistair Overeem. His time as head striking coach at the Blackzillians proved that Henri was one of the best MMA coaches in the world.

Hard Knocks 365/Sanford MMA

After 6 years of coaching at the Blackzillians, the gym dissolved and Hooft went out on his own. In 2017, he would co-found his own academy Hard Knocks 365 and continued coaching some of his Blackzillian students.

The name Hard Knocks 365 wouldn’t stick as Hooft and partner Greg Jones received a sponsorship from Sanford Health. A health company located in Miami that has multiple medical centers throughout the country.

Sanford MMA was born out of this sponsorship, which was the first MMA gym partnered with a medical center. Sanford Health would build a state of the art training facility complete with access to top medical professionals for the fighters.

Sanford MMA becomes a standout MMA gym

Henri Hooft is considered one of the best combat sport coaches in the world today. Having trained numerous champions within MMA and kickboxing.

Now that he has his own academy, he has created one of the best MMA academies in the world. He and his partner Jones will continue training some of the best fighter in the world at Sanford MMA.

Notable fighters

For over a decade, Hooft has helped some of the world’s best fighters become world champions. Currently training numerous of the world’s best fighters.

Some of the fighters Hooft has trained include: Michael Chandler, Tyrone Spong, Anthony Johnson, and Gilbert Burns.

Michael Chandler

Michael Chandler is a 2x Bellator Lightweight Champion that is currently signed with the UFC. Before he got into MMA, Chandler was a walk on at Missouri University and had a wrestling record of 100-40.

After his amateur wrestling career was done, Chandler quickly transitioned to MMA. His athleticism and wrestling ability led him to becoming undefeated during the first 4 years of his career.

He would spend 10 years in Bellator MMA and the only fighter to win their title 3 times. Chandler is now signed with the UFC and will look to add the UFC title to his resume.

Gilbert Burns

The UFC welterweight contender first started training with Hooft at the Blackzillians in 2014. This is the same amount of time that Burns has fought in the UFC.

In the UFC, Burns has fought in both the lightweight and welterweight divisions. He has been on the most successful run of his career since moving to welterweight. Fighting for the welterweight title against former teammate Kamaru Usman.

On top of being one of the best MMA fighters in the world, Burns is also a former BJJ world champion. He will look to add an MMA championship to his resume in the future.

Anthony Johnson

For the last decade, Anthony Johnson has been one of the most feared fighters in the sport. A knockout artist with high caliber wrestling ability that has fought for multiple UFC titles.

Since 2011, Henri Hooft has been Johnson’s main striking coach. After his 2nd retirement, Johnson is back fighting in Bellator MMA.

He is currently in the Bellator Heavyweight GP tournament looking to win his first major MMA title.

Henri Hooft’s legacy a coach

Henri Hooft had an illustrious career as a fighter and has had an even better career as a coach. Since he first started coaching at the Blackzillians, Hooft is recognized as one of the best MMA coaches in the world.

Since going out on his own with Greg Jones in 2017, Hooft has created a top fight gym at Sanford MMA. Hooft’s gym is currently home to numerous fighters within the top 10 of their divisions.

Sanford MMA and Hooft are currently on a mission to prove their gym is the best in the world. Henri will continue sharing his knowledge and train the next crop of top MMA fighters and maybe win world titles.

Duane Ludwig

DOB: August 4th, 1978Gym: Ludwig Martial ArtsLocation: Denver, ColoradoMartial Arts Background: Muay ThaiFight Records: 21-14(MMA) 14-7(Kickboxing)Notable Fighters: TJ Dilashaw Ludwig’s Muay Thai career Duane Ludwig started training Muay Thai at 15 and quickly picked up the martial art. He would start his amateur career after training a while and was immediately successful at the sport. […]

DOB: August 4th, 1978
Gym: Ludwig Martial Arts
Location: Denver, Colorado
Martial Arts Background: Muay Thai
Fight Records: 21-14(MMA) 14-7(Kickboxing)
Notable Fighters: TJ Dilashaw

Ludwig’s Muay Thai career

Duane Ludwig started training Muay Thai at 15 and quickly picked up the martial art. He would start his amateur career after training a while and was immediately successful at the sport.

Ludwig one 12 of 14 amateur Muay Thai fights and would win numerous amateur titles. Including 3 national and regional titles during his amateur career.

In 2000, Ludwig would make his pro Muay Thai and win by decision, then winning his first title in his second. He would go on to win his next 3 fights before losing a split decision in his first K-1 bout.

His pro kickboxing career would continue until 2006. In that time, Ludwig would go 14-7 and win 2 more titles. The K-1 Max Champion and the ISKA Muay Thai Middleweight Championship.

Duane Ludwig’s MMA career

At the same time, Duane was fighting professionally in kickboxing/Muay Thai, he was fighting pro MMA. Ironically enough also making his pro MMA debut the same year he made his pro kickboxing career.

In MMA, Ludwig was coached by legend Bas Rutten, who had moved more towards coaching fighters. Duane was one of Bas’ prize students and was with him for the early part of his career.

In his first 11 fights before getting to the UFC, Ludwig would go 9-2. With wins over future UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver and veteran Charles “Krazyhorse” Bennet.

Ludwig would win his UFC debut by split decision against Genki Sudo before losing 2 fights in other promotions.

Duane would then go against Jonathan Goulet and knocked him out in the first 6 seconds. The official time was 11 seconds, but the unofficial time was 6 seconds. Making it the fastest knockout in UFC history that stood until the Masvidal/Askren KO at 5 seconds.

During the later stage of his career, Duane began training with Trevor Wittman in his home city of Denver. He would train there until he retired from MMA in 2012. Ending his career with a 21-14 record.

Ludwig and Team Alpha Male

After officially retiring from fighting, Ludwig would turn to coaching fighters. He was inspired by former coaches Bas Rutten and Trevor Wittman to help train fighters be the best they can be.

He was approached by Urijah Faber to become a striking coach at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. The two seemed to be made for each other. Ludwig being one of the best lightweight strikers of all time and the best lightweight MMA gym in the world.

The gym was already full of great fighters, but Ludwig’s coaching seemed to take them to another level.

In his first 4 months with Alpha Male, he cornered 3 Alpha Male Fighters on a UFC card in Sacramento. All three of the fighters he coached won their fights by KO/TKO. Putting the lower weight classes on notice that Alpha Male were going to be hard to beat.

During the year and a half he was with Alpha Male, they won 7 fights in impressive fashion. 2 wins by Faber, 1 win for Benavidez, 1 win for Mendes, 2 wins for Dillashaw, and 1 for Castillo.

Ludwig claimed that it was all the fighters abilities that got them with wins. He just filled the gaps.

Alpha Male departure and gym opening

The relationship that was meant to be ended in just over a year and a half since it started. Duane decided to step down as the striking coach at Alpha Male and go start his own academy in Denver.

It was an abrupt move that was widely reported as a rough breakup. Faber was upset with his striking coach’s departure and felt blindsided by the decision.

From Ludwig’s view it was a financial decision for his family to go build his own academy in Denver.

Ludwig Martial Arts

Upon moving to Denver, he would open Ludwig Martial Arts and develop his own fighting system. Bang Muay Thai Martial Arts System.

It’s a fighting system that Ludwig had been developing for years. The system was inspired by his former coaches Bas Rutten and Trevor Wittman mixed with Ludwig’s style.

This system is taught within Ludwig’s gym as well as 40 other gyms in the country.

TJ Dillashaw

Ludwig has trained numerous high caliber fighters, but there is one that stands out above all of them. The former UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw.

Upon Ludwig becoming the striking coach at Alpha Male, he and Dillashaw created a tight bond. Before being coached by Ludwig, Dillashaw was a good fighter, but with Duane, he became a champion.

In just their second fight together, Dillashaw would win the UFC Bantamweight Championship by TKO against Renan Barao. TJ would defend the belt twice and win both by TKO before losing a split decision.

Even though he lost his title, he would quickly bounce back and win 4 fights. Including regaining the title in a grudge match with former teammate Cody Garbrandt twice.

Dillashaw would lose his title to flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and then get suspended for violating USADA’s guidelines.

Duane Ludwig’s Legacy

Duane has only been coaching full time for less than a decade, but he has made a giant wave in MMA. In this short period of time, Ludwig has proven to be one of the best striking coaches in the world.

He won coach of the year two years in a row in 2013 and 2014. Also helping Alpha Male win MMA gym of the year in 2013 at the World MMA Awards.

Today, Ludwig is still growing his academy, Ludwig Martial Arts, where he continues coaching the world’s best fighters. Along with his academy, Ludwig sells his fighting system to numerous MMA academies across the US.

He also shares his techniques on the website Dynamic Striking and sells his instructionals on the website.

Duane Ludwig

Ludwig’s Muay Thai career

Duane Ludwig started training Muay Thai at 15 and quickly picked up the martial art. He would start his amateur career after training a while and was immediately successful at the sport.

Ludwig one 12 of 14 amateur Muay Thai fights and would win numerous amateur titles. Including 3 national and regional titles during his amateur career.

His pro kickboxing career would continue until 2006. In that time, Ludwig would go 14-7 and win 2 more titles. The K-1 Max Champion and the ISKA Muay Thai Middleweight Championship.

Duane Ludwig’s MMA career

At the same time, Duane was fighting professionally in kickboxing/Muay Thai, he was fighting pro MMA. Ironically enough also making his pro MMA debut the same year he made his pro kickboxing career.

In MMA, Ludwig was coached by legend Bas Rutten, who had moved more towards coaching fighters. Duane was one of Bas’ prize students and was with him for the early part of his career.

In his first 11 fights before getting to the UFC, Ludwig would go 9-2. With wins over future UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver and veteran Charles “Krazyhorse” Bennet.

Ludwig would win his UFC debut by split decision against Genki Sudo before losing 2 fights in other promotions.

Ludwig and Team Alpha Male

After officially retiring from fighting, Ludwig would turn to coaching fighters. He was inspired by former coaches Bas Rutten and Trevor Wittman to help train fighters be the best they can be.

The gym was already full of great fighters, but Ludwig’s coaching seemed to take them to another level.

During the year and a half he was with Alpha Male, they won 7 fights in impressive fashion. 2 wins by Faber, 1 win for Benavidez, 1 win for Mendes, 2 wins for Dillashaw, and 1 for Castillo.

Ludwig claimed that it was all the fighters abilities that got them with wins. He just filled the gaps.

Alpha Male departure and gym opening

The relationship that was meant to be ended in just over a year and a half since it started. Duane decided to step down as the striking coach at Alpha Male and go start his own academy in Denver.

It was an abrupt move that was widely reported as a rough breakup. Faber was upset with his striking coach’s departure and felt blindsided by the decision.

From Ludwig’s view it was a financial decision for his family to go build his own academy in Denver.

Ludwig Martial Arts

Upon moving to Denver, he would open Ludwig Martial Arts and develop his own fighting system. Bang Muay Thai Martial Arts System.

It’s a fighting system that Ludwig had been developing for years. The system was inspired by his former coaches Bas Rutten and Trevor Wittman mixed with Ludwig’s style.

This system is taught within Ludwig’s gym as well as 40 other gyms in the country.

TJ Dillashaw

Ludwig has trained numerous high caliber fighters, but there is one that stands out above all of them. The former UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw.

Upon Ludwig becoming the striking coach at Alpha Male, he and Dillashaw created a tight bond. Before being coached by Ludwig, Dillashaw was a good fighter, but with Duane, he became a champion.

Even though he lost his title, he would quickly bounce back and win 4 fights. Including regaining the title in a grudge match with former teammate Cody Garbrandt twice.

Dillashaw would lose his title to flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and then get suspended for violating USADA’s guidelines.

Duane Ludwig’s Legacy

He won coach of the year two years in a row in 2013 and 2014. Also helping Alpha Male win MMA gym of the year in 2013 at the World MMA Awards.

He also shares his techniques on the website Dynamic Striking and sells his instructionals on the website.

Ricardo Liborio

DOB: July 13th, 1967Gym: American Top TeamLocation: Orlando, FloridaMartial Arts Background: Jiu JitsuNotable Fighters: Vitor Belfort, Minotauro Nogueira, Murilo Bustamante Ricardo Liborio’s early years Ricardo Liborio is a lifelong martial that has been training nearly his whole life. Starting in Judo, when he was 4, then training in Taekwondo, and finally training Jiu Jitsu when […]

DOB: July 13th, 1967
Gym: American Top Team
Location: Orlando, Florida
Martial Arts Background: Jiu Jitsu
Notable Fighters: Vitor Belfort, Minotauro Nogueira, Murilo Bustamante

Ricardo Liborio’s early years

Ricardo Liborio is a lifelong martial that has been training nearly his whole life. Starting in Judo, when he was 4, then training in Taekwondo, and finally training Jiu Jitsu when he was 15.

He began training Jiu Jitsu at the Carlson Gracie Academy in Copacabana directly under Master Carlson Sr. Under Master Carlson’s tutelage, Ricardo was immediately successful within Jiu Jitsu.

Winning several tournaments within his first year of training. His Judo background helped him pick up Jiu Jitsu fast and especially in competition, where he excelled.

Liborio would often compete in the heavyweight and absolute categories, because he liked fighting bigger opponents. His walking around weight was only 80kg(178lbs), but he would use his Judo and speed to beat the heavyweights.

Before he was 30, Liborio would win multiple Brazilian championships and also a world title in 1996.

The formation of Brazilian Top Team

Ricardo had a special relationship with Master Carlson, but their relationship would fray during the late 90s. Carlson Sr began spending more time at his Chicago school away from his Rio de Janeiro school.

Leaving many of his top students to run the school while he was out of the country. This caused friction within the school as his students were left to train for competitions without their leader.

Gracie’s top students forced him to sign a contract that he would train them for competitions, but he didn’t follow it. Liborio would go to ADCC in 2000 with his teammate Ricardo Arona, then immediately to Japan to corner Murilo Bustamante.

Once Ricardo returned to Brazil, he found out that Master Carlson had expelled him and many of his top students. Ricardo flew to Chicago to talk to Gracie, but Carlson would not overturn his decision.

Upon returning to Brazil, Liborio met up with expelled students Mario Sperry, Murilo Bustamante, and Bebeo Duarte. They would form one of the best Jiu Jitsu camps in the world, Brazilian Top Team.

Ricardo Liborio forms American Top Team

Liborio would only spend a year with BTT after helping form the team. After cornering Minotauro Nogueira in Japan, Ricardo was offered to coach in Japan for 6 months.

Before accepting the offer, Ricardo went to the US to help his friend Murilo Bustamante train for Chuck Liddell. When he was in Florida, he met an American businessman and Jiu Jitsu practitioner Dan Lambert.

Liborio began telling Lambert about his proposal in Japan and Dan made Ricardo another offer. He wanted Ricardo to help him create one of the biggest training centers in the world.

Ricardo loved living in the US, so he immediately jumped at Lambert’s offer. He would cut contractual ties with BTT, while still staying on good terms with them.

Lambert and Liborio would recruit the Silveiro brothers Marcelo and Conan to create American Top Team. Liborio bought the ATT name and they would open American Top Team in 2001.

ATT dominates MMA

Within the first decade of the gym’s existence, the gym immediately became a powerhouse in MMA and Jiu Jitsu. Florida became a huge hot spot for MMA and hundreds of fighters began flocking to ATT.

A lot of their success is due to being created close to the UFC’s explosion in popularity. Any time you watch a major MMA event, there is usually at least one fighter from ATT on the card.

Ricardo was already a very respected grappler and coach, but respect for him went into the stratosphere after ATT was formed. He took Lambert’s idea and constructed the world’s best training center.

Notable students

Liborio has had literally thousands of students that have trained under him including numerous high caliber fighters. Here are two of his most notable fighters.

Murilo Bustamante

Murilo was Ricardo’s training partner for years at Carlson Sr’s school before Ricardo started to help train him. Ricardo would help organize training camps for Murilo and prepare for various MMA and BJJ competitions.

While training with Liborio, Bustamante would win the ADCC championship in 2000 and BJJ World Championship in 1999. Also helping Bustamante in the prime of his career when he was in the UFC and Pride.

Ricardo Arona

Another one of Liborio’s young teammates that he ended up training was Ricardo Arona. Ricardo was a huge up and coming athlete from Carlson’s with a lot of buzz around him.

During the prime of his BJJ and MMA career, he was primarily trained by Mario Sperry. Liborio has had a hand in helping Arona prepare for fights before going off to create ATT.

In the late 90s, Arona would win the World BJJ Championship twice and the ADCC in 2000. Then going on to earn a 14-5 record in MMA before retiring.

Liborio creates helps create an MMA empire

With the help of Liborio, ATT became a powerhouse in the MMA world. They have produced numerous MMA champions and have grown to multiple training centers in Florida.

In 2009, Liborio was recognized for his work as a coach and won Fighter’s Only Coach of the Year award. An achievement that Liborio received in only 9 years of the gym’s existence.

Not only has helped train top MMA fighters, many of whom became great coaches after their fight careers. Two of those fighters that now coaches at ATT are Mike Thomas Brown and Thiago Alves.

Liborio’s work within MMA and BJJ also got him recognized in Fight! Magazine. He is currently ranked 13th in most significant power players, movers, shakers, ambassadors, and game-changers in MMA.

Martial Arts Nation

Fourteen years after helping form ATT, Liborio left ATT to form Martial Arts Nation. A martial arts firm that specializes in consulting and helping martial arts businesses get licensed.

On top of his firm, Liborio created a Jiu Jitsu program at the University of Central Florida. Also creating the first afterschool martial arts program within in Orange County, Florida.