American Kickboxing Academy
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2015) |
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| Est. | 1985 |
|---|---|
| Founded by | Javier Mendez[1] |
| Primary owners | Javier Mendez |
| Primary trainers | Javier Mendez Bob Cook Rosendo Sanchez Leandro Vieira Daniel Cormier |
| Prominent fighters | Daniel Cormier Khabib Nurmagomedov Islam Makhachev Usman Nurmagomedov B.J. Penn Cain Velasquez Luke Rockhold Josh Thomson Jon Fitch Mike Swick |
| Training facilities | San Jose, California, U.S. Phuket, Thailand |
| Website | www.akakickbox.com |
The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) is a
Dispute with the Ultimate Fighting Championship
In 2008, the AKA was involved in a brief dispute with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White over the exclusive license rights for a UFC video game.[2] Members of the AKA who were signed with the UFC, including Jon Fitch, Christian Wellisch, Josh Koscheck, and former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, refused to sign an exclusive lifetime contract for their video game licenses over to the UFC, causing them to be cut from the UFC's roster. Within 24 hours, the dispute was resolved and all fighters signed back into the organization.[3]
AKA has also been criticized by MMA fans and journalists, as well as by Dana White, for what is perceived as an excessively high rate of training injuries leading to fight cancellations among its stable of fighters.[4]
Notable fighters
Mixed martial artists
Current
- Islam Makhachev (UFC Lightweight Champion)
- Usman Nurmagomedov (Bellator Lightweight Champion)
- UFC)
- Bellator)
- WSOF)
- Former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion)
- Cung Le (strikeforce)
- Ed Ruth (Bellator)
- Germaine de Randamie (Former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion, Strikeforce)
- Bellator, Strikeforce)
- Zubaira Tukhugov (UFC)
- Ruslan Magomedov (UFC)
- Brianna Fortino (UFC)
- UFC)
- UFC, Bellator)
- Bellator, Strikeforce)
- Arjan Bhullar (ONE FC Heavyweight Champion)
- Bellator, One FC)
- UFC)
- WSOF)
- UFC)
- UFC)
- Kyle Crutchmer (Bellator)
Notable alumni
- Luke Rockhold (Former UFC Middleweight Champion, former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion)
- Daniel Cormier (former UFC Heavyweight Champion, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (former UFC Lightweight Champion)
- Cain Velasquez (former 2-time UFC Heavyweight champion)
- UFC Welterweight Champion)
- New Japan Pro Wrestling)
- UFC Welterweight Champion)
- WSOF, UFC)
- Josh Thomson (UFC, Strikeforce)
- Josh Koscheck (UFC)
- Frank Shamrock (UFC, Strikeforce)
- Cung Le (UFC, Strikeforce)
- Bellator, Strikeforce)
- Sean Sherk (UFC)
- Daniel Puder (Strikeforce)
- Billy Evangelista (WEC, Strikeforce)
- Bellator, Strikeforce)
- Miesha Tate (UFC, Strikeforce)
- Bethe Correia (UFC)
- Mike Swick (UFC)
- Bellator, Strikeforce)
- Kyle Kingsbury (UFC)
- Andre Fialho (UFC)
- WSOF, UFC, Strikeforce)
- Todd Duffee (UFC)
- Bellator)
- Gray Maynard (UFC)
- )
- Bellator, Strikeforce)
- )
- WSOF, Strikeforce, UFC)
- Herschel Walker (Strikeforce)
- Bellator)
- Nate Moore (Strikeforce)
- Rich Crunkilton (WEC)
- Christian Wellisch (UFC, WEC)
Kickboxers
- Travis Johnson
Boxers
- Ricardo Cortes
- Matt Jannazzo
Wrestlers
Awards
- MMAJunkie.com
- 2015 Gym of the Year[5]
- CombatPress.com
- 2018 Gym of the Year[6]
See also
References
- ^ "About". American Kickboxing Academy. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
- ^ "Jon Fitch, Christian Wellisch and possibly others cut by UFC". MMAMania.com. November 19, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2009.
- ^ Martin, Damon (November 20, 2008). "24 Hours Later; Jon Fitch Back with UFC". MMAWeekly.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2009.
- ^ "A Gym Culture of Injury? American Kickboxing Academy (AKA)". mmalatestnews.com. May 1, 2015. Archived from the original on November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
- ^ "2015 Gym of the Year". Mmajunkie. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
- ^ Matthew Petela. "AKA founder and head trainer Javier Mendez put together a run in 2018 that clearly established the American Kickboxing Academy as the premier MMA gym in 2018". CombatPress.com. Retrieved January 18, 2019.