Kings MMA

The Cordeiro foundation

Kings MMA was founded in 2010 in Huntington Beach, California by Rafael Cordeiro, the long-time former Chute Boxe Academy head coach. The gym brought the Chute Boxe Brazilian Muay Thai tradition to the California training scene — a more accessible variant of the brutal training culture that had defined PRIDE-era Brazilian MMA.

Cordeiro's coaching pedigree from Chute Boxe (Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua, Anderson Silva early-career, Murilo Ninja, Murilo Bustamante) gave Kings MMA immediate credibility when it opened.

The roster

• Fabricio Werdum — UFC heavyweight champion 2015
• Lyoto Machida (training affiliations) — UFC LHW champion 2009
• Wanderlei Silva (post-PRIDE training stretches)
• Shogun Rua (training stretches)
• Various regional UFC contracted fighters

The roster includes both full-time Kings-based athletes and visiting fighters who use the gym for Cordeiro's striking-coaching expertise.

The Brazilian Muay Thai program

Cordeiro's coaching emphasizes:

• Forward-pressure striking: aggressive combinations driving forward.
• Clinch knee strikes: Thai plum entries and knee finishes.
• Heavy hooks: looping power punches.
• Cardio depth: training-volume-heavy preparation for championship-rounds capacity.

The style is gentler than Chute Boxe's original training culture (no full-contact daily sparring with minimal protection) but retains the technical content of the Brazilian Muay Thai tradition.

The Werdum heavyweight title

Kings MMA's championship moment was Fabricio Werdum's UFC heavyweight title win at UFC 188 (June 2015) — submission of Cain Velasquez via guillotine choke in round 3. The bout was held in Mexico City at altitude, which contributed to Velasquez's cardio struggles, but Werdum's strategic preparation under Cordeiro was the technical basis for the result.

Werdum lost the title to Stipe Miocic at UFC 198 (May 2016) and his championship era ended, but the Kings MMA credential as a championship-level training base was established.

The post-Werdum era

The 2017-2020 Kings MMA roster declined in championship-level activity. Cordeiro's coaching reputation has remained strong, and the gym continues to attract Brazilian and Latin-American fighters preparing major UFC bouts.

The legacy

Kings MMA is the bridge between the PRIDE-era Chute Boxe tradition and the modern US MMA scene. The Cordeiro coaching credentials and the Werdum heavyweight title remain the gym's significant championship-level credentials.