Est. 2011Disbanded 2016 | ||
Primary trainers Henri HooftNeil MelansonJake BonacciJorge SantiagoGreg JonesCorey Peacock Past titleholders Rashad EvansMiguel TorresRyan JimmoVitor BelfortEddie Alvarez Website | ||
The Blackzilians is a professional team of fighters in mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu located in Boca Raton, Florida. They are most well known for being the team that includes former UFC light heavyweight champions 'Suga' Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort and former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.
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Founding of the Blackzilians
Owned by Glenn Robinson, the supercamp, commonly referred to as the Blackzilians, started when MMA fighters Jorge Santiago, Danillo Villefort, Yuri Villefort, and Gesias Cavalcante decided to leave American Top Team. Glenn Robinson, CEO of Authentic Sports Management, which manages these fighters, found a small gym in Boca Raton, Florida that only had 6 guys training out of it. Robinson struck a deal with Imperial Athletics to take over rent payments on the gym. Robinson then relocated the team to the world class training facility JACO Hybrid Training Center in Boca Raton. Rashad Evans met Robinson through one of his partners, John Rubenstein, and Rashad's manager at the time Jervis Cole. Robinson and Evans hit it off and Evans asked Robinson to take over as his manager. Michael Johnson was brought in as a temporary training partner for a few weeks, and he liked the atmosphere so much he never left. As they brought in training partners for up and coming fights, the trend continued. Many of the guys brought in for a training camp decided not to leave, and the Blackzilians have become a supercamp full of a number of notable MMA fighters. 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, and the name stuck.
Instructors
Henri Hooft is the head striking coach for the Blackzilians. He trained kickboxers to championship status such as Peter Aerts and Tyrone Spong.