One gym, a staggering run of champions: grinding wrestlers, knockout artists, and pound-for-pound legends all sharpened their craft under the same roof. Who tops the tree?
1Khabib NurmagomedovUndefeated UFC lightweight champion and one of the most dominant fighters in MMA history.1000pts
2Phil BaroniCharismatic 'New York Bad Ass' and early AKA middleweight brawler.753pts
3Frank ShamrockPioneering former UFC middleweight champion and early AKA standout.565pts
4Cain VelasquezFormer two-time UFC heavyweight champion known for his relentless pace and wrestling.565pts
5Luke RockholdFormer UFC middleweight champion and Strikeforce titleholder out of AKA.462pts
6Jon FitchUFC welterweight contender renowned for his grinding, dominant grappling.462pts
7B.J. PennUFC Hall of Famer and former two-division champion who trained with AKA.339pts
8Daniel CormierOlympic wrestler who built his MMA career at AKA, winning the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles and holding both belts at the same time.
9Islam MakhachevKhabib's training partner at AKA who won the UFC lightweight title in 2022, defended it four times, then claimed the welterweight belt in 2025.
10Josh KoscheckOriginal Ultimate Fighter cast member who joined AKA in 2006 and became a top UFC welterweight, challenging Georges St-Pierre for the title in 2010.
11Josh ThomsonLongtime AKA lightweight who won the Strikeforce title by beating Gilbert Melendez in 2008, the first chapter of their three-fight rivalry.
12Usman NurmagomedovKhabib's cousin and AKA product who won the Bellator lightweight championship in 2023 and defended it in a run of high-profile title fights.
13Umar NurmagomedovAKA-trained cousin of Khabib who won his first 18 professional fights before challenging Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight title in 2025.
14Muhammed LawalDecorated freestyle wrestler known as King Mo who took the Strikeforce light heavyweight title from Gegard Mousasi in 2010 while training at AKA.
Photo credits
- Phil Baroni — grenwail, CC BY 2.0
- Jon Fitch — The Doppelganger (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
- Islam Makhachev — Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY 3.0
- Josh Koscheck — Original uploader was East718 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5
- Usman Nurmagomedov — Новости Дагестан, CC BY 3.0
- Umar Nurmagomedov — Новости ННТ, CC BY 3.0
- Muhammed Lawal — Aukerits, CC BY-SA 3.0
