Minnesota Martial Arts Academy

Minnesota Martial Arts Academy

Est.	1992
Founded by	Greg Nelson
Primary Owners	Greg Nelson
Primary trainers	Greg Nelson Tom Schmitz Andy Grahn
Current titleholders	Cole Konrad heavyweight Champion (Bellator 2010) 265 lb (120 kg)
Past titleholders	Brock Lesnar heavyweight Champion (UFC 2008) 265 lb (120 kg) Sean Sherk lightweight Champion (UFC 2007) 155 lb (70 kg) Dave Menne Middleweight Champion (UFC 2001) 185 lb (84 kg) Nick Thompson welterweight Champion (BodogFight) 170 lb (77 kg) Kaitlin Young Hook -N- Shoot Women's Tournament Champion 135 lb (61 kg)
Prominent Fighters	Sean Sherk (UFC) Brock Lesnar (UFC) Brock Larson (UFC) Nick Thompson (Strikeforce and Seng oku)
Training Facility Locations	Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
Official Website	mmaacombatzone.com

Minnesota Martial Arts Academy (MMAA) is a martial arts training center in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota that was founded in 1992 by Greg Nelson, a former NCAA Division 1 wrestler at the University of Minnesota.^[1]

History

MMAA provides training in combative martial arts that include Muay Thai, Shooto, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed martial arts.^[2] The academy's fight team, Team X-Factor, has a winning percentage of 80%^[3]

Greg Nelson combined his background in wrestling, from college, with the Thai-boxing training he began in 1983 to form the basis of MMA. Starting the company in 1992 his school also incorporated shoot wrestling and submission fighting to form the basis of its Mixed martial arts training. As MMA grew it attracted athletes such as Brock Lesnar and Sean Sherk.^[1]

Notable fighters

• Sean Sherk^[4] - Former UFC Lightweight World Champion
• Brock Larson - UFC, WEC Title Contender
• Chris Tuchscherer - UFC, Dakota Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion, Division II NCAA National Wrestling Champion
• Nik Lentz - UFC
• Jacob Volkmann - UFC, Former VFC Welterweight Champion, FILA- Grappling World Champion 80 kg, Three Time NCAA Division 1 All American Wrestler
• Nick Thompson - Former BodogFIGHT Welterweight World Champion, UFC Veteran, Strikeforce, Sengoku
• Jon Madsen - UFC TUF 10 cast member
• Derrick Noble - BodogFIGHT, UFC Veteran
• Paul Bradley - The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 - Strikeforce, Two Time NCAA Division 1 All American Wrestler
• Logan Clark - UFC & WEC Veteran, Sengoku
• Kelly Kobold - Elite XC Fighter & bodogFight Veteran
• James Cook - USTMA Muay Thai Champion, Lumpinee fighter
• Nat McIntyre - International Kickboxing Federation & World Kickboxing Association US Lightweight Muay Thai Champion
• Saul Mitchell - World Kickboxing Association US Welterweight Muay Thai Champion
• Kaitlin Young - Hook -N- Shoot Women's Tournament Champion, T.B.A.-SA 135 lb Tournament Champion
• Dylan Spicer - Dakota Fighting Championship, MAX Fight, IFC
• Cole Konrad - Bellator Fighting Championships Heavyweight Tournament Champion
• Michael Sa Jin Kwok - Spirit MC Veteran, ICON (formerly known as Superbrawl) Veteran, Pancrase Veteran, PXC Veteran, Cage Combat Veteran, (IEF, MFC, and EC Veteran), boxer and catch wrestler
• Cade Buzzell
• Aaron Hickey
• Nate Homme
• John Kalenze
• Anderw Kapel
• Sajin Kwok
• Caio Malta
• Nat McIntyre
• Nick Mildon
• Ryan Murray
• Derrick Noble
• Sean Paulson
• Dylan Spicer
• Albert Southavilay
• Dennis Potabenko

Former fighters

• Dave Menne - Former UFC Middleweight World Champion
• Brad Kohler -Former UFC fighter
• Brock Lesnar - Former UFC Heavyweight World Champion ^[5] - UFC Fighter, two-time NJCAA All-American, 1998 NJCAA Heavyweight Champion, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Conference Champion, 2000 NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion

External links

• Official website

References

1. ^ ^{a b} John Morgan. "Minnesota MAA's Greg Nelson happy in background as Brock Lesnar moves to forefront". http://mmajunkie.com/news/15397/minnesota-maas-greg-nelson-happy-in-background-as-brock-lesnar-moves-to-ufcs-forefront.mma. 
2. ^ http://mmaacombatzone.com/mmaa_content.php?cid=1&pg=about%20us
3. ^ "BEST TEAM RECORDS. Sherdog. January 21, 2008"]. http://www.sherdog.com/stats/fightstats.asp?stats_page=teamwinrecords_ratio.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
4. ^ Demko, Paul (May 16, 2007). "The Ballad of the Muscle Shark". City Pages. http://www.citypages.com/databank/28/1380/article15431.asp. Retrieved 2007-05-16. 
5. ^ Meltzer, Dave (January 21, 2008). "UFC gambles on untested Lesnar". Yahoo! Sports. http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dm-lesnar012108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns. Retrieved 2008-01-21.