American Top Team – MMA Gym
| Location: | Coconut Creek, Florida |
| Year Established: | 2001 |
| Founder: | Dan Lambert/Ricardo Liborio |
| Head Coach: | Conan Silveiro |
| Notable Title Wins: | UFC Heavyweight title, UFC Welterweight Title, UFC Lightweight Title, UFC Strawweight Title, UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title, UFC Women’s Featherweight Title |
How was ATT established?
American Top Team was the brainchild of founder and owner Dan Lambert. Lambert is an entrepreneur and a BJJ practitioner that came up with an idea to open an ultimate training center.
He wanted a place where MMA fighters can train every facet of the sport in one gym. Much like famed MMA gym Brazilian Top Team had done in Brazil, but in the United States.
Dan would meet co-creator of BTT Ricardo Liborio at an event that was taking place in Florida. At the time, Liborio was pining an offer to teach for 6 months in Japan, when Lambert gave a counter offer.
His offer was that Liborio stay in Florida and help him create the ultimate training center for fighters. Liborio would be in charge of the programs and bring in aches to help run classes. At the same time, Lambert would oversee the business side of the gym.
Since Liborio loved life in the states, he jumped at the offer and agreed to help Lambert build the gym. He would cut ties with BTT and begin to help Lambert create one of the best MMA gyms in the world.
They would build their gym in Coconut Creek, Florida and would name it American Top Team. Ricardo would also recruit his friends the Silveira brothers to run the Jiu Jitsu program for the gym.
In the 20 years since the gym has been established, it is considered the benchmark for MMA gyms. Countless world champions and top tier coaches have come out of American Top Team. Dan Lambert had clearly achieved his goal of building the premiere MMA gym in the world.
Conan Silveira(Head Coach)
After Ricardo Liborio stepped down as head coach, Conan Silveira took over as head coach of ATT. Silveira is a Carlson Gracie blackbelt with over 40 years of martial arts experience.
He’s a MMA pioneer, BJJ national champion, and the first Carlson student to open a school in the US. Under Conan’s leadership, American Top Team has continued to grow and produce numerous elite MMA fighters.
Mike Brown(MMA Coach)
Since retiring from competition, the UFC veteran and former WEC champion now coaches the pros at ATT. Brown has found his calling and has become one of the best MMA coaches in the world. You can regularly see him at UFC events cornering numerous fighters from Dustin Poirier to Amanda Nunes.
Steve Mocco(Wrestling Coach)
The person in charge of the wrestling program at American Top Team is former Olympian and national champion, Steve Mocco. He is a multiple time national champion that wrestled at Iowa University and accumulated a 5-1 MMA record.
Mocco is one of the most accomplished heavyweight amateur wrestlers in history. Since taking over the wrestling program at ATT, he has really elevated the fighter’s games.
Thiago “Pitbull” Alves(Striking Coach)
Since retiring from MMA, the UFC veteran is starting the next phase of his journey as a coach. When he isn’t training to compete in bare knuckle boxing, Pitbull coaches numerous fighters at American Top Team.
The gym has been his home since he was a young fighter in the UFC. Alves is now helping the next generation of ATT fighters reach the top of the sport.
Marcus DaMatta(BJJ Coach)
The head BJJ coach at American Top Team is multiple time world champion Marcus DaMatta. Marcus got his black belt from Carlson Gracie in 1997 and went on to win multiple titles in BJJ.
Now that he is retired from competition, DaMatta now oversees the BJJ program at ATT. Including the pro fighter Jiu Jitsu classes.
Notable ATT Fighters
If we were to list all of the top fighters to come out of American Top Team, we would need multiple articles. Here are some of the most notable fighters that fight out of American Top Team.
Amanda Nunes
Amanda Nunes is the best female fighter of all time and has made her home at American Top Team since 2014. Since moving to ATT, Nunes has evolved into one of the best fighters on the planet.
She hasn’t lost in over 7 years and now holds both the UFC Women’s Bantamweight and Featherweight titles. Nunes has looked nearly unstoppable during her streak and shows no signs of slowing down.
Dustin Poirier
The pride of Lafayette, Louisiana, Dustin “the diamond” Poirier has made his home at American Top Team for almost 10 years. In that time, Poirier has had an evolution as a fighter. Going from a top 10 level fighter to an elite level fighter.
Poirier has beaten numerous former world champions, won an interim title, and fought for a world title. Also having the performance of his career knocking out former 2 division champ, Conor McGregor.
At just 32 years old, Poirier is in the prime of his career. We’ll see him in the title picture for years to come.
Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal
Masvidal has been fighting since his teens, grinding his way to become a fan favorite. A veteran of 20 UFC fights was on the verge of being released before going on the run of his career.
Running off 3 impressive knockouts including the record 8 second knockout of Ben Askren. Since then, Masvidal has fought for the title twice and has cemented his place within the UFC roster.
The legacy of American Top Team
Dan Lambert’s dream of making the best MMA gym in the world came truer than he could’ve imagined. American Top Team is considered one of the best gyms in the world filled with top level fighters. The gym has won gym of the year at the World MMA Awards 4 years in a row(2016-2019).
But what makes ATT special isn’t just the fighters they trained, but also the coaches they produced. Producing both top fighters and coaches will insure the gym’s success will continue for years to come.
