American Kickboxing Academy
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Est. | 1985 |
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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 BJ 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 martial arts gym based in San Jose, California. It is one of the pioneering schools of mixed martial arts (MMA). In 2014 AKA opened AKA Thailand Gym in Phuket Thailand. Prominent trainers include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Leandro Vieira, Bob Cook, Derek Yuen, Javier Mendez, and Andy Fong. Within the facility, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling and Boxing classes are taught. Additional programs include conditioning and circuit training with TRX Suspension and Combat Circuit. American Kickboxing Academy is one of the top professional MMA training camps.
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[]
- Luke Rockhold (Former UFC Middleweight Champion, former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion)
- Shawn Bunch (Bellator)
- Billy Evangelista (WEC, Strikeforce)
- Tyson Griffin (WSOF, UFC, Strikeforce)
- Islam Mamedov (Bellator, WSOF)
- Lavar Johnson (Bellator, UFC, WEC, Strikeforce)
- Mike Kyle (WSOF, Strikeforce, UFC, WEC)
- Liam McGeary (Former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion)
- Nate Moore (Strikeforce)
- Islam Makhachev (UFC)
- Trevor Prangley (KOTC, WSOF, Strikeforce, UFC)
- Ed Ruth (Bellator)
- Kyle Crutchmer (Bellator)
- Germaine de Randamie (Former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion, Strikeforce)
- Justin Wilcox (Bellator, Strikeforce)
- Marius Žaromskis (Bellator, Strikeforce)
- Zubaira Tukhugov (UFC)
- Ruslan Magomedov (UFC)
- Bethe Correia (UFC)
- Dan Ige (UFC)
- Deron Winn (UFC, Bellator)
- Ousmane Thomas Diagne
- Arjan Bhullar(ONE Championship)
- Tai Tuivasa (UFC)
Notable alumni[]
- Brian Johnston (1st UFC Fighter from AKA, Strikeforce, New Japan Pro Wrestling)
- 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-times UFC Heavyweight champion)
- BJ Penn (Former UFC Lightweight Champion, former UFC Welterweight Champion)
- Jon Fitch (WSOF, UFC)
- Josh Thomson (UFC, Strikeforce)
- Josh Koscheck (UFC)
- Frank Shamrock (UFC, Strikeforce)
- Bobby Lashley (Bellator, Strikeforce)
- Sean Sherk (UFC)
- Daniel Puder (Strikeforce retired)
- Muhammed Lawal (Bellator, Strikeforce)
- Anthony Johnson (UFC, WSOF)
- Miesha Tate (UFC, Strikeforce)
- Mike Swick (UFC, retired)
- Kyle Kingsbury (UFC, retired)
- Todd Duffee (UFC)
- Phil Baroni (UFC, Bellator)
- Gray Maynard (UFC)
- Cung Le (UFC, retired)
- Paul Buentello (WSOF, Strikeforce, UFC, Bellator)
- Rich Crunkilton (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[]
- List of Top Professional MMA Training Camps
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 2009-02-10.
- ^ Martin, Damon (November 20, 2008). "24 Hours Later; Jon Fitch Back with UFC". MMAWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
- ^ "A Gym Culture of Injury? American Kickboxing Academy (AKA)". mmalatestnews.com. May 1, 2015. Archived from the original on November 26, 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
- ^ "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.
External links[]
- Kickboxing training facilities
- Mixed martial arts training facilities
- Kickboxing in the United States
- Sports in San Jose, California