The Blackzilians was a professional team of fighters in mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, amateur wrestling, and catch wrestling located in South Florida. The team had included former UFC champions Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Eddie Alvarez, and Kamaru Usman.
History Owned by Glenn Robinson, Blackzilians, started when MMA fighters Jorge Santiago, Danillo Villefort, Yuri Villefort, and Gesias Cavalcante left American Top Team. The name 'Blackzilians' was coined when Strikeforce Middleweight Danillo Villefort was looking through their management's website and pointed out to Robinson that every fighter (at the time) was Black or Brazilian.
It was reported on September 20, 2018, that Glenn Robinson, Blackzilians founder, had died of a suspected heart attack.
As of 2017, the Blackzilians as a gym is considered defunct. Many of its members have left to join Combat Club, now Kill Cliff Fight Club (founded by Blackzilians trainers Henri Hooft and Greg Jones) which is considered a successor to the Blackzilians.
Instructors Henri Hooft, head and striking coach Greg Jones, Wrestling coach Neil Melanson, head grappling coach. His style is heavily influenced by the Hayastan school which mixes Catch as catch can wrestling with Judo and Sambo. Jorge Santiago, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach
Notable fighters
Boxing Guillermo Rigondeaux (WBA, WBO, Summer Olympics) Idel Torriente (Summer Olympics)Idel Torriente's profile blackzilians.com Kickboxing Cosmo Alexandre (ONE FC, Bellator, K-1, It's Showtime) Randy Blake (Glory, K-1)GLORY 15: Randy 'Boom Boom' Blake talks Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, training with Tyrone Spong, and more! Daniel Ghiță (Glory, It's Showtime, SUPERKOMBAT, K-1)Daniel Ghita moving to Florida to train with Overeem and "Blackzilian" team by Dave Walsh (liverkick.com) 24 February 2012 Murthel Groenhart (Glory, It's Showtime, K-1) Robin van Roosmalen (Glory, It's Showtime, K-1) Gökhan Saki (Glory, It's Showtime, K-1)(UFC] Paul Slowinski (SUPERKOMBAT, K-1)Paul Slowinski to debut in MMA September 21 on MMA Downunder 4 Andrei Stoica (Glory, SUPERKOMBAT, K-1)Andrei Stoica training at The Blackzilians Tyrone Spong (WSOF, Glory, It's Showtime, K-1) Rico Verhoeven (Glory, It's Showtime, SUPERKOMBAT, K-1) Mixed martial arts Rashad Evans (UFC) Anthony Johnson (UFC, WSOF) Thiago Silva (UFC, WSOF) Vitor Belfort (UFC, Affliction, Pride FC) Cezar Ferreira (UFC) Eddie Alvarez (ONE FC, UFC, Bellator) Matt Mitrione (Bellator, UFC) Michael Johnson (UFC)
Ryan Jimmo (UFC, MFC)Meet the Blackzilians: A Family of World Class Coaches and Fighters By Joshua Carey (bleacherreport.com) on December 23, 2011 Fabio Mello (Bellator FC, Pride FC) Marcus Aurélio (UFC, Pride FC) Jorge Santiago (UFC, Strikeforce, Sengoku) Siyar Bahadurzada (UFC, Sengoku, Shooto) Gesias Cavalcante (Strikeforce, Shooto, K-1) Guto Inocente (Strikeforce, UFC) Braulio Estima (ADCC) Miguel Torres (UFC, WEC) Danillo Villefort (UFC, WEC, Strikeforce) Yuri Villefort (UFC, Strikeforce) Abel Trujillo (UFC) Luiz Firmino (Pride FC, Shooto, DREAM)Luiz Firmino's profile blackzilians.com Claude Patrick (UFC, KOTC)Claude Patrick's profile blackzilians.com Ryan LaFlare (UFC)Ryan LaFlare's profile blackzilians.com Gilbert Burns (UFC, BJJ World Champion) Tom Niinimäki (UFC)Tom Niinimäki's profile blackzilians.com Volkan Oezdemir (UFC, SUPERKOMBAT, Bellator)Volkan Oezdemir's profile blackzilians.com Alistair Overeem (Strikeforce, Pride FC, DREAM, UFC) Stefan Struve (UFC) Hans Stringer (UFC, WSOF) Kamaru Usman (UFC) / Beslan Isaev (M-1 Global and ACB) Beslan Isaev's profile blackzilians.com / Musa Khamanaev (M-1 Global Lightweight Champion and Combat Sambo World Champion) Musa Khamanaev's profile blackzilians.com
See also List of Top Professional MMA Training Camps
References
External links