Kill Cliff Fight Club
Est.2017 (2017)
Founded byHenri Hooft
Greg Jones
Primary trainersHenri Hooft
Greg Jones
Jason Strout
Kami Barzini
Corey Peacock
Current titleholdersJason Jackson (Bellator Welterweight World Championship)
Past titleholdersVitor Belfort
Michael Chandler
Rashad Evans
Robbie Lawler
Luke Rockhold
Logan Storley
Kamaru Usman
Aung La Nsang
Training facilitiesDeerfield Beach, Florida, U.S.
WebsiteOfficial Website

Kill Cliff FC, officially known as Kill Cliff Fight Club (formerly known as Sanford MMA, Hard Knocks 365, and Combat Club)[1] is a mixed martial arts gym based in Deerfield Beach, Florida. It was originally founded in 2017 by Henri Hooft and Greg Jones as Combat Club and later Hard Knocks 365[1][2][3] before being rebranded to Sanford MMA in 2019 after obtaining a sponsorship deal with Sanford Health.[3] In July 2022, the gym rebranded to Kill Cliff FC.[4]

Overview

In 2017, Henri Hooft left the Blackzilians and alongside Greg Jones, founded the gym, Combat Club in Boynton Beach, Florida.[1] This was later rebranded as Hard Knocks 365 after moving the gym to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to accommodate a bigger facility.[1][2][3] Some of the fighters who were originally training at the Blackzilians would join the new gym.

In 2019, Hard Knocks 365 rebranded to Sanford MMA after obtaining a sponsorship deal with Sanford Health.[3] A new training facility was opened in Deerfield Beach, Florida as part of the deal and Sanford Health also opened a supporting clinic adjacent to the team training facility.[5]

In July 2022, the gym rebranded to Kill Cliff FC after Kill Cliff, an energy drink and CBD company acquired naming the rights to the gym.[4]

The team includes roughly 40 fighters, 25 of whom fight within the largest three MMA promotions (UFC, Bellator and ONE), as well as former and current world champions.[6]

Kill Cliff FC is notable for producing former UFC Welterweight Champion, Kamaru Usman.[3] However, after being scheduled to fight Kill Cliff FC teammate Gilbert Burns at UFC 258, Usman left the gym in June 2020 to join Trevor Wittman at ONX Sports in Denver, Colorado.[7][8] In 2022, Usman returned to Kill Cliff FC to prepare for his title defense against Leon Edwards at UFC 278. Usman subsequently lost his championship.[9]

Notable fighters

Mixed martial artists

UFC

Bellator MMA

ONE

PFL

KSW

Kickboxers

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 VARSALLONE, JIM (April 21, 2021). "Henri Hooft and Greg Jones took it one step at a time to reach Sanford MMA, a game changer". Miami Herald.
  2. 1 2 Knocks 365, Hard. "Hard Knocks 365 Opens All-New Training Facility At Xtreme Action Park". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Carlson, Ollie (December 13, 2019). "Hard Knocks 365 rebrands to Sanford MMA with sponsorship from Sanford Health". thebodylockmma.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "'More financial power': Top gym Sanford MMA, rebranded to Kill Cliff FC". ESPN.com. July 1, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Sanford MMA facility opens in Florida with fights on the way". Sanford Health News. August 27, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Mixed Martial Arts". Sanford Sports Complex. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  7. ↑ Mckeever, Lewis (June 24, 2020). "Kamaru Usman changes training camp ahead of title defense vs. teammate Gilbert Burns". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Inside the split that led Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns to their tense main event". ESPN.com. February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Gilbert Burns Opens Up On Sanford MMA Reunion With Kamaru Usman". MMA News. May 29, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 "Vicente Luque Breaks Down Potential Fight Between Teammates Kamaru Usman & Gilbert Burns". MMA News. July 31, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  11. 1 2 September 24, 2019 - 11am, Jeremy Fugleberg | (September 24, 2019). "Sanford Health buys into mixed martial arts, sponsors team of fighters". The Mitchell Republic. Retrieved January 25, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ "Ex-champ Luke Rockhold decides against retirement, angles for 2020 return". MMA Junkie. August 10, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Gilbert Burns answers back at criticism from Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal for getting UFC 251 title fight". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  14. ↑ Sherdog.com. "Volkan". Sherdog. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  15. ↑ Sherdog.com. "Michael". Sherdog. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Steven Mowry is focused on 'Smashing people'". MyMMANews.com. March 28, 2020.
  17. ↑ Nissi Icasiano (June 28, 2020). "Takashi Sato scores quickfire KO win at UFC on ESPN 12". asianmma.com.
  18. ↑ Farah Hannoun (December 5, 2020). "UFC 259's Randy Costa hopes to continue gaining promotional push with fan-friendly style". MMAjunkie.com.
  19. ↑ Sherdog.com. "5 Things You Might Not Know About Shavkat Rakhmonov". Sherdog. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Jingliang Li calls out Geoff Neal!". Asian MMA. April 18, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Шавкат Рахмонов "подтянул" другого казахского бойца в UFC - Бокс/ММА". Sports.kz (in Russian).
  22. ↑ "UFC's Ian Garry explains why he left Ireland to train at Sanford MMA: 'I want to be pushed'". MMA Junkie. April 5, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Rafael Fiziev says he believes in his power". Asian MMA. July 6, 2022.
  24. ↑ Buzz McClain (July 22, 2022). "A HUGE WEEKEND FOR KILL CLIFF FC FIGHTERS!". killcliff.com. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  25. 1 2 "Sanford Health to sponsor, support mixed martial arts team". Sanford Health News. September 23, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  26. ↑ "Tyrone Spong calls out ONE Championship heavyweight champion Brandon Vera | Asian MMA". AsianMMA. October 9, 2020.
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