7 of the best MMA gyms right now

Several MMA gyms across the world have attracted fighters due to the success they have. In the beginning, almost all the best MMA gyms were in the USA. However, things have changed. We can see successful MMA gyms in South America, Oceania, Asia, and Europe.

Many high-profile gyms narrowly missed out on the list as it could only contain seven of them. Team Alpha missed out due to their current rebuilding face. They have fighters like Maycee Barber and Song Yadong who could successfully drive the team forward.

Team Elevation which has Cory Sandhagen, Curtis Blaydes, and Neil Magny missed out but they certainly can get into the list with a title triumph. King's MMA missed out due to the loss of form of many of the top fighters like Beneil Dariush, Marvin Vettori, and Kelvin Gastelum.

Fight Ready and Team CIT didn't make the list. Team Serra-Longo, Extreme Couture, and Syndicate MMA agonizingly came close to making the list. Nonetheless, Let's see which are the top 7 MMA gyms in the world right now.

7. Team Renegade MMA & BJJ - Birmingham, England

Leon Edwards is the most high-profile fighter to come from Team Renegade. The welterweight champion has defended his title twice and has shown all-around skills under the tutelage of Dave Lovell. Chiu Kwong Man is the other primary trainer in the gym.

Founded by Ash Beggs and Tom Breese in 2013, the gym has attracted top-level talent from the UK. Fabian Edwards, the brother of the UFC welterweight champion is also at Team Renegade. Other notable fighters in the gym are Arnold Allen, Veronica Hardy, and Jai Herbert

Ian Machado Garry was also part of the team but his character and nomadic style caused the gym owners to remove the Irishman from the team. The team has strict values and beliefs as evidenced by the ousting of Garry.

Edwards is number three in the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings. In his recent three fights, two against Kamaru Usman, and one against Colby Covington, Edwards has shown exceptional striking and anti-wrestling.

Fabian Edwards lost the middleweight title fight to Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen but has rebounded with a victory over Aaron Jeffrey, setting up another title shot against Eblen. The younger Edwards brother also holds a notable win over former champion Gerard Mousasi.

Arnold Allen is on a two-fight losing streak but his latest loss to the undefeated Movsar Evloev was controversial. Before Evloev, Allen had an entertaining five-round fight against Max Holloway. Allen has also shown an all-round skillset. Nonetheless, Allen does not train full-time at Renegade. Other notable fighters are Matthew Byfield, Michael Younis, Muhammad Ali Shazlee, and Mush Aslani.

With a UFC champion and contenders across promotions, Team Renegade MMA & BJJ bags the seventh spot on the list

6. Chute Box Diego Lima - Sao Paulo, Brazil

The original Chute Boxe Academy was known for its extreme sparring sessions. However, that has changed in the post-Pride era. Charles Oliveira is the biggest name on the team right now. Ian Garry, who recently joined the team after his problems with Team Renegade MMA and BJJ, is another big name.

Charles Oliveira is the former lightweight champion in the UFC. Oliveira's dream run at lightweight was under the tutelage of Diego Lima. Even though he lost his recent matchup to Arman Tsarukyan, he is still a big name in the division.

Ian Garry is undefeated in professional MMA. The welterweight fighters have aspirations to become a champion in the promotion. After getting ousted from Team Renegade, Chute Boxe welcomed him with open arms. His first fight with Chute Boxe saw him outpoint a tough Geoff Neal at UFC 298.

Team Chute Boxe is more like a family than a professional team. The team members help one another, even going to the extent of cutting weight with their comrades. Garry only has nice things to say about the team and the sentiment is mutual.

The team is now the best MMA team in Brazil. They enforce an aggressive Muay Thai fight style coupled with world-class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Charles Oliveira's style is the perfect example of the Chute Boxe fight style. Other notable fighters are Allan Nascimento, Bruno Santos, Daniel Santos, Elves Brenner, and Felipe Dos Santos.

Even though Chute Boxe do not have a current champion, they have superstars and several budding superstars. Therefore, they edge Team Renegade MMA and BJJ for the sixth spot.

5. MMA Lab - Arizona, USA

Benson Henderson was the first fighter from the MMA Lab to become a UFC champion. Henderson was also a multiple-time title challenger. He has retired but the talent from The Lab has not shrunk since his retirement.

UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley is the biggest name from the MMA Lab right now. O'Malley has shown exceptional striking prowess throughout his career. Moreover, he has an underrated Jiu-Jitsu. After all, he has submitted Takenori Gomi in a grappling contest.

Former middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier is another big name from The Lab. In his latest fight, against Marvin Vettori, Cannonier took his striking to another level. He has also showcased terrific takedown defense ever since he moved down to middleweight.

Alex Caceres, who has been with the UFC for over a decade, calls The Lab home. The veteran featherweight is one of the most exciting fighters on the UFC roster. Caceres has also showcased improvements in striking every time he stepped inside the Octagon, despite the losses.

MMA Lab fighters have shown exceptional striking defense. Moreover, fighters from The Lab have been very good at counterstriking, evidenced by the performance of O'Malley and the other bantamweights in the team. Other notable fighters are Mario Bautista, Kyler Phillips, and Marcus McGhee.

The MMA Lab has the UFC's bantamweight champion and three contenders in the same division. Every fighter from The Lab has shown a new wrinkle to their gam every time they fought. Therefore, the gym from Glendale, Arizona bags the fifth spot in the division.

4. Kill Cliff FC - Florida, USA

Formerly Sanford MMA, Kill Cliff FC is the home of Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson. Founded by Henri Hooft and Greg Jones in 2017, the gym greatly focuses on wrestling and striking. The gym has attracted fighters from all across the globe.

Shavkat Rakhmonov, Rafael Fizeiv, Gilbert Burns, and Lee Jingliang all trains out of Kill Cliff FC. The gym has exceptional talent from the lightweight to the middleweight divisions. Former pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman was also a member of the team before he shifted allegiance.

Three-time Bellator lightweight champion and current UFC contender Michael Chandler has been with the team for almost eight years. Since he arrived in the UFC, he has only been in entertaining fights.

PFL stalwarts Marina Mokhnatkina and Impa Kasanganay also train at Kill Cliff FC. ONE FC's Martin Nguyen and Aung La Nsang have also grown a lot in the striking department under the tutelage of Jason Strout and Henri Hooft. Other notable fighters are Derek Brunson, Vicente Luque, Randy Costa, Volkan Oezdemir, Li Jingliang, and Michael Johnson. Kill Cliff FC could very well have been number one on the list if not for the exceptional performances of the fighters from the top three gyms.

3. City Kickboxing - Auckland, New Zealand

Israel Adesanya is the biggest name in MMA from the Oceanic region. The former long-reigning middleweight champion has transitioned exceptionally well from kickboxing to MMA under the tutelage of Eugene Bareman.

Founded by Doug Viney and Bareman in 2007, the gym does not have the quantity of fighters like the other gyms on the list. However, what they miss in quantity, they negate with quality with several top contenders in the UFC.

Israel Adesanya was untouchable in the middleweight division with his exceptional counterstriking and wrestling defense. Even though he is not a champion, Adesanya is still the biggest name in the division. Former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is also a member of the team.

Dan Hooker was on the cusp of a title shot but lost to Dustin Poirier in a blood-and-guts war. Hooker has found his footing recently and looks to make a run at the title. Kai Kara-France once challenged the interim flyweight title.

Fighters at City Kickboxing stay true to the name of the team. They are exceptional counterstrikers. Moreover, they are known to bounce back stronger from losses. The case of Carlos Ulberg is an example of that.

Other notable fighters are Kevin Jousset, Shane Young, Genah Fabian, and Mike Mathetha. The recent slump of Adesanya, Kara-France was the reason why City Kickboxing is in the number three spot. They certainly have the quality to be the best MMA gym but lack in quantity,

2. American Top Team - Florida, USA

American Top Team is arguably the biggest MMA gym in the world. It certainly is the biggest one in the US. Founded by Dan Lamber way back in 2001, ATT has been home to several champions across weight divisions and promotions.

At present, Johnny Eblen and Alexandre Pantoja are two champions from the gym. Eblen, the Bellator middleweight champion, is undefeated in professional MMA. On the other hand, Pantoja has looked unbeatable in the UFC's flyweight division.

ATT has several top-notch fighters across all weight divisions, especially at lightweight. Arman Tsarukyan, Dustin Poirier, and Mateusz Gamrot have the potential to be a champion in the premier MMA promotion in the world.

In the past seven years, ATT won the Gym of the Year at the World MMA Awards six times. City Kickboxing won the other time. The location, facility, and the coaches make it a heaven for any MMA fighter.

The only drawback of the gym is that the fighters in the gym often have to face each other. Nonetheless, they espouse the philosophy of iron sharpens iron. It has resulted in nasty splits in the past, as in the case of Robbie Lawler and Colby Covington.

Other Notable fighters from the gym -Jorge Masvidal, Yoel Romero, Adriano Moraes, Magomed Magomedkerimov, Grant Dawson, Renato Moicano, Thiago Santos, Kayla Harrison, Movsar Evloev, Kyoji Horiguchi, and Yaroslav Amosov.

If not for the exceptional success and dominance of the number one holder, ATT would've definitely been first. Nonetheless, being second on the list, closely behind number one is not a bad thing either.

1. Eagles MMA - Dagestan, Russia

Eagles MMA rose to prominence with the dominance of Khabib Nurmagomedov. Under the tutelage of his father Abdulmanap, Eagles MMA became a force to be reckoned with. After the untimely death of his father, Nurmagomedov took the reigns of Eagles MMA.

Even though American Kickboxing Academy's Javier Mendez is the head coach in theory, Nurmagomedov is the actual head coach of Islam Makhachev, Usman Nurmagomedov, and others. With their Sambo background, they have easily transitioned to MMA.

Even though grappling is their base. Eagles MMA fighters have showcased their unique skillset in their fights. Islam Makhachev has shown all-round skills and is the pound-for-pound king in the UFC. Usman Nurmagomedov is the undefeated Bellator lightweight champion.

Umar Nurmagomedov has the potential to become a champion in the UFC's bantamweight division. Moreover, several fighters from Russia, especially Dagestan trains at Eagles MMA.

Eagles MMA has abundance of quality fighters, many of them itching to make their mark on the world-stage. After the success of Khabib, the MMA scene has flourished in Dagestan and everybody wants to be UFC champion.

Dagestan is home to several Olympic medal winners for Russian and now they seem to do the same in the UFC. With Khabib there to lead the team, the vision of Abdulmanap is in safe hands. Other notable fighters are Abubakar Nurmagomedov, Islam Mamedov, Amru Magomedov, Tagir Ulanbekov, and Zubaira Tukhugov.

There is no denying the talent pool Dagestan has for MMA. With Eagles MMA at the center of it all, they easily grabbed the first spot.