Brazilian Top Team
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Est. | 2000 |
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Founded by | Murilo Bustamante Ricardo Libório Mário Sperry Luis Roberto Duarte |
Past titleholders | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira heavyweight Champion (PrideFC 2001-2003) 205 lb (93 kg/14.6 st)+ Murilo Bustamante middleweight Champion (UFC 2002) 185 lb (84 kg/13.2 st) Vitor Belfort light-heavyweight Champion (UFC 2004) 205 lb (93 kg/14.6 st) |
Prominent Fighters | Ricardo Arona (PrideFC) Murilo Bustamante (PrideFC) |
Training Facility Locations | Rio de Janiero, Brazil (headquarters) |
Official Website | www.braziliantopteam.com |
The Brazilian Top Team (BTT) is a mixed martial arts academy specializing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and boxing. The academy was established in April 2000 by Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Libório, Mário Sperry and Luis Roberto Duarte, former-members of the Carlson Gracie Academy, to develop and create new training techniques for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, submission wrestling and mixed martial arts.[1]
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[edit] Rivalry with Chute Boxe
BTT maintains an intense rivalry with Brazilian mixed martial arts stable Chute Boxe, which is descended from a Muay Thai lineage. BTT traces its lineage to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu of Carlson Gracie.
The height of this rivalry was reached at the height of each teams success in PRIDE FC. Chute Boxe which was comprised, at the time, of such fighters as Wanderlei Silva, Murilo and Shogun Rua, and current UFC middleweight titleholder and Yahoo Sports number one pound-for-pound fighter Anderson Silva. Competition between the two teams was hardly limited to the Pride scene however. Matches between fighters of the two organizations had taken place in Brazil, Portugal and other parts of the world before, but perhaps the most interesting chapter of the rivalry took place on August 28, 2005 at the 2005 PRIDE FC middle weight Grand Prix.
The 2005 PRIDE FC middleweight Grand Prix would be the first such competition for newcomers Mauricio Rua and BTT’s Ricardo Arona. Both scored impressive victories over highly regarded veterans Alistair Overeem and middleweight champ Wanderlei Silva respectively. It was Arona’s victory over the latter that would stoke the flames of the rivalry because until then Silva had been the torch-bearer for Chute Boxe. Later that night, however, “Shogun” would compensate for that loss with a thoroughly dominating first round KO of Arona, ultimately finishing him on the ground which was considered Arona’s strength.
Another noticeable aspect of this period is that it shortly followed the departure of promising prospect Anderson Silva. Silva had noted several disputes with Chute Boxe's management as reasons for leaving the team and shortly began training with some of Brazilian Top Team's best in the Noguiera brothers. He was quoted in an ESPN article as stating that friendships formed with his former rivals helped to save his career upon his departure from Chute Boxe.[2]
[edit] Locations
In April 2002 BTT inaugurated a new center in Brazil for training professional fighters in mixed martial arts. In the new center, the athletes are able to count on teachers of: Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling and the already recognized skills of its teachers of mixed martial arts and jiu-jitsu.
Other locations are:
- Montreal, Canada - Fabio Holanda opened Brazilian Top Team Canada upon his arrival in Montreal, which has since become the training ground for prominent UFC Fighters Patrick Cote (fighter) and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre.[3]
- Long Beach, California - Marcelo Perdomo (a black belt in BJJ under BTT co-founder Murilo Bustamante and the legendary Carlson Gracie) opened Brazilian Top Team Long Beach in mid-2006 with the help of Murilo Bustamante, and is the only BTT affliiate on the West Coast and the second officially recongized BTT dojo in the United States.
- Boston, Massachusetts- In 2003 João C. Amaral and Daniel Gazoni opened Brazilian Top Team Boston, the first recognized BTT dojo in the United States.[4]
- London, England
[edit] Future
Like Chute Boxe, BTT has fallen on hard times recently. Beginning with the departure of the Noguiera brothers, the team has lost much of their roster including co-founder Mario Sperry. Most of this is considered to be due to the fact that with the fall of PRIDE FC and the lower pay scale in the UFC, who purchased PRIDE in 2007, fighters cannot afford to pay the high dues charged by the team. It is considered a possibility that Ricardo Arona will also leave in the future to start his own team.[5][6]
[edit] Fighters
[edit] Current BTT Brazil Members
- Ricardo Arona Competitor for PRIDE FC
- Murilo Bustamante Former UFC middleweight champion, and PRIDE welterweight grand prix finalist. Competitor for UFC and PRIDE FC
- Fabiano Capoani
- Luiz "Buscape" Firmino Competitor for DREAM
- Rousimar Palhares
- Milton Vieira
- Fabio Holanda
- David Bielkheden
- Angelo Araujo
- Marcello Salazar
- Adriano "Nasal" Pereira
- Hudson Rocha
[edit] Current BTT Canada Members
- Georges St. Pierre UFC
- Patrick Cote (MMA)
- Eric Beaulieu
- Fabio Holanda
- Nabil Khatib
- Sean Locke
- Nino Bezerra
- Stephane Dube
- Samuel Guillet
- Stephan Potvin
- Nelson Akawui Riquelme
- Ulisses Rocha
- Wade Shanley
- Tim Wadsworth
[edit] Former Brazilian Top Team fighters/trained with
- Vitor Belfort UFC/PRIDE FC/EliteXC
- Paulo Filho PRIDE FC/WEC
- Allan Goes RINGS
- Ikuhisa Minowa
- Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira PRIDE FC/UFC
- Antônio Rogério Nogueira PRIDE FC
- Antonio Silva
- Mario Sperry
[edit] References
- ^ BTT Official Site
- ^ Silva not fazed by fighting in Franklin's home town. ESPN/Sherdog (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
- ^ Fabio Holanda/BTT Canada Official Site
- ^ Combined Martial Arts Academy - CMAA - Mixed Martial Arts School - New England
- ^ The downfall of BTT and Chute Boxe. ESPN.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
- ^ Brazilian MMA expanding, exciting fights are on the way, July 25, 2007. ESPN.com (2006). Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
[edit] External links
- Brazilian Top Team official site
- Fabio Holanda / BTT Canada official site
- Bustamante speaks about BTT's new horizons
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