> Kings MMA

Kings MMA is a mixed martial arts and striking academy founded in 2010 by Brazilian striking coach Rafael Cordeiro in Huntington Beach, California. Cordeiro, who rose to prominence as the head striking coach at the legendary Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil — training fighters such as Wanderlei Silva and Maurício Rua — brought his Muay Thai-intensive coaching philosophy to Southern California when he relocated to the United States. The gym at 7391 Warner Avenue offers programs in Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and mixed martial arts to recreational students and professional competitors alike. Under Cordeiro’s direction, Kings MMA has produced an extraordinary concentration of UFC champions and title challengers: Lyoto Machida (Light Heavyweight Champion), Fabrício Werdum (Heavyweight Champion), Maurício “Shogun” Rua (Light Heavyweight Champion), Rafael dos Anjos (Lightweight Champion), Cris Cyborg (multiple-organization Women’s Featherweight Champion), Yair Rodríguez (Interim Featherweight Champion), and Sean Strickland (Middleweight Champion). The gym’s striking-first identity — rooted in Cordeiro’s Brazilian Muay Thai lineage — has made it one of the defining fight camps of the UFC era on the West Coast.