Best MMA Coaches and Their Stories(Top 10)
Fight fans tend to think that the fighters are the ones who are bringing new techniques and tricks to the sport. But in reality, coaches are the ones who help them unleash their full potentials, and add new skills to their game.
Every great fighter, no matter how talented they are, needs a great coach behind them. Coaches and their wise minds are the ones that will get the most out of your talent and allow you to grow as a fighter. And we are talking about both personal growth and being a skilled fighter.
In this article, we are bringing you the best MMA coaches who are behind the best UFC fighters.
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Trevor Wittman
Like most MMA coaches, Wittman was a pro fighter prior to taking a role as a coach. His boxing career was cut short due to a hyperinflated lung which forced him to retire young. Still, Wittman has found a new passion in passing the knowledge and skills he gained in boxing to younger fighters.
In 1998, he founded “T’s K.O. Fight Club” in Colorado to teach boxing. But with MMA rising fast, Wittman would rebrand and relocate his gym and open the “Grudge Training Center” in 2009. Over the years, he gained a reputation for being one of the best striking coaches in the business. He has trained some of the best UFC fighters like Justin Gaethje, Rose Namajunas and Kamaru Usman.
Wittman doesn’t work with many fighters at the same time. He prefers to put his entire focus, energy, and time on a couple of fighters and that’s one of the secrets behind his success. Or in other words, quality over quantity is a way to go for Wittman.
In 2017, he received a “Coach of the Year Award” at World MMA Awards. During the UFC matches, he is often joining the broadcast team between the rounds to give his opinion on what’s happening in a fight.
Jason Parillo
Jason Parillo is a former pro boxer who trained some of the best strikers MMA world has ever seen. He set out on his boxing journey at the age of 16 and after eight years of fighting in amateur matches, he entered the pro ranks in 1998. Parrilo was a very talented fighter which his undefeated record of 8–0 was clearly showing at the time. Yet, a detached retina would put his career on hold and forced him to find a new passion.
At the time, Parillo was already teaching boxing classes and the injury opened the doors for him to fully commit to this role. In 2007, he started working with, at the time, one of the biggest UFC stars, BJ Penn. Since then, Parrilo has been working with many great UFC fighters. Over the years, he became a true wizard in turning elite grapplers into very skilled strikers.
Parrilo emerged from being a boxing coach to receiving a head coach role at the “RVCA Sports Training Center”. Here is a list of some of the fighters he has trained/trains:
- Cris Cyborg
- Luke Rockhold
- Michael Bisping
- Mackenzie Dern
Rafael Cordeiro
Speaking of MMA coaches, the first name that usually comes to our minds is Rafael Cordeiro. A lauded Brazilian coach who is often seen as the best in the business when it comes to striking. He emerged from the famous Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil where he trained while fighting in Muay Thai and Vale Tudo. At the time, Chute Boxe was the most famous gym and home of the finest fighters.
After retiring from fighting in 1999, Cordeiro stayed with the Chute Boxe to work as a full-time coach. Anderson Silva and Fabricio Werdum are just two of many names Cordeiro worked with. After 10 years of learning and growing, he moved to the US in 2008 to open his own gym, “Kings MMA”.
In the following years, many fighters from Chute Boxe would move to Kings MMA to train with Cordeiro. His gym really started to grow with the successes of his fighters Fabricio Werdum and Rafael Dos Anjos.
In modern days, Kings MMA is one of the best gyms in the world stacked with talented fighters. As for Cordeiro, he won the Fighters Only magazine’s “Coach of the Year” award two times in 2012 and 2015.
Javier Mendez
Not many people know that Javier Mendez has been in the coaching business for over three decades now. He started his kickboxing career in the early 80s and he became the ISKA light cruiserweight champ in 1995. While working his way up, he founded an “American Kickboxing Academy” to teach a small group of students. Who would guess that once a small kickboxing gym would produce some of the best MMA champions?
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It all started in 1996 when a couple of MMA fighters came into his gym to improve their striking skills. In the following years, Mendez would turn AKA into an MMA gym stacked with great fighters. The gym started to rise when Cain Valasquez became the UFC heavyweight champ. And many other great fighters like Daniel Cormier and Khabib Nurmagomedov would follow.
AKA has become known for turning great wrestlers into very good strikers. Every wrestler who joined MMA has come out with elite striking skills. In the past, the gym embraced a hard method of training and sparring which resulted in many injuries and fighters pulling out of fights. But Mendez would fix this issue by putting his focus on a safer way of training.
Firas Zahabi
A black belt in BJJ, Firas Zahabi is, perhaps, the wisest coach in MMA. His analytical approach and the way he sees fighting is really what sets him above the others. People tend to forget that he has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and you can feel that from the way he sees fighting too.
And it’s not just him, many fighters who moved into “Tristar gym” from other gyms also say working with Zahabi is something different. He focuses a lot on the mental aspect of fighting as a key element to get the most out of someone’s talent. During his interviews, you can even get a feeling that he is leaning more towards the mental aspects when speaking about what’s more important in fighting.
Even though his approach may still remain a mystery to many, the results are there. Firas Zahabi has worked with the finest fighters like UFC champions Robert Whittaker and Rory MacDonald. But, he is best known for being a head coach of the great George St. Pierre.
Greg Jackson/Mike Winkeljohn
Jackson and Winkeljohn are owners of the famous “Jackson Wink MMA Academy” in New Mexico. They are both legendary head coaches and putting one above the other would simply be wrong. Since they share a brand together, train their fighters together, then they should also share a spot on this list together.
For many years now, Jackson Wink MMA has been the home of the best fighters in the world. It is best known for the UFC champions that came out of this gym like Holly Holm and, of course, Jon Jones. Apart from the technical aspect, these two trainers are famous for being great tacticians.
Their understanding of the game is second to none and they always come up with a perfect strategy for their fighters. In fact, this is one of the main reasons behind their success. Jackson has even created his own martial art which is a mix of wrestling, judo, BJJ, and kickboxing called “Gaidojutsu”.
On the others, his partner Winkeljohn is a 5th-degree black belt in Karate and Muay Thai expert. Together they are an ideal coaching combo and a pure nightmare for other training camps.
Conan Silveira
We are not sure why, but it seems like Conan Silveira is not getting enough attention when speaking about the best MMA coaches. Conan Silveira is one of if not the best coach in the American Top Team Academy. Before ATT, he trained for his bouts and coached other fighters at the famous Brazilian Top Team.
But when Dan Lambert founded ATT in 2001, Silveira was one of the first coaches he brought from the Brazilian Top Team. Former MMA fighter himself, Silveira has worked with every UFC champ that came out of this gym. And we are speaking about the greatest ones like Amanda Nunes or Dustin Poirier.
Not many people know that Silveira is one of the pioneers of modern MMA. He fought against the true legends like Kazushi Sakuraba, Dan Severn and even has a win over Maurice Smith. He was able to win the “Extreme Fighting” heavyweight title and was the first Carlos Gracie black belt to open a school in the U.S.
Conan Silveira is not that famous simply because he doesn’t do interviews that often. You won’t hear him breaking down fights for you, giving his opinion of various hottest topics and other stuff modern coaches are doing. Nope, he likes to stay low, keep it old-school, and putting in hard work.
Eugene Bareman
You might be surprised to see Eugene Bareman taking a spot on this list. Some of the fans are maybe still not familiar with his work (if there are any). But both Bareman and his gym “City Kickboxing” are rising really fast. What he was able to achieve in a very short time span is truly amazing.
Eugene started off as an MMA fighter but in spite of the initial success, he would have a hard time working his way up. In the meantime, he opened “City Kickboxing” in 2010 with the goal to focus more on his own training. But, he retired three years later in 2013 with a record of 4–3 and decided to pursue a coaching career instead.
At first, his gym was a home of fitness and boxercise classes. But in the following years, they would start training more and more pro MMA fighters. And the gym started to grow when their biggest star, Israel Adesanya, began having success fighting in the UFC.
Many other great fighters would follow like Dan Hooker and Alexander Volkanovski. In just a couple of years, Eugene Bareman grew into the most respected MMA coach in the business.
Mike Brown
Mike Brown is the former WEC lightweight champion and one of the top coaches at the American Top Team. As a fighter, he defended his WEC throne two times before signing with the UFC in 2011. Even though he never became a UFC champ, Brown was a tough matchup for anyone. But it seems like he enjoys even more success as a coach.
The number of top fighters Brown has worked with over the last couple of years is insane. He is best known for working with UFC champions Dustin Poirier, Amanda Nunes, Colby Covington, and many others. Not to mention plenty of other upcoming fighters, we are about to see reaching the top.
Even though he set off on a coaching career in 2013, he has already won many awards. He won the CombatPress.com “Coach of the Year” award four years in a row and the same at the “MMA Awards” in 2018.
Mark Henry
Would you believe it if I told you that one of the best MMA coaches is the owner and chef at the Pizza restaurant? Mark Henry is a hell of a striking coach and a mystery in some way. He owns a Puno’s Pizzeria & Restaurant in New Jersey, where apart from pizza’s he also makes really good pies.
Henry started off as a boxer who fought in “Golden Gloves” and while serving in the US army. He got into coaching shortly after meeting his son’s wrestling coach, who happened to be Frankie Edgar. This was way back before Edgar had even made his pro-MMA debut. Just like that, Henry became his striking coach and a few years later, Edgar would capture the UFC title.
In his gym, Henry embraces a hard method of training and building a strong relationship with the fighters. That’s why he doesn’t like working with many athletes at once. Over the years, he coached many great fighters like:
- Eddie Alvarez
- Chris Weidman
- Marlon Moraes
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