Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort – Training For Jorge Santiago

Here are a few images we took today of Vitor training here at Xtreme Couture with our team coach Shawn Thompkins.

Jay Glazer and Randy Couture Join Forces – MMAthletics

Three years ago, NFL defensive end Jared Allen was coming off of a disappointing 6 ½ sack season. He had shown too much potential to languish in underachievement. After the season, his friend Jay Glazer, an NFL reporter and host at FOX, urged him to join him at Arizona Combat Sports, a mixed martial arts school where Glazer trained in Arizona.

If Allen wanted to turn on the jets of his NFL career, Glazer promised that stepping into this other world would bring his NFL game to levels he only dreamed about. After little urging, Allen joined and embarked on an off-season that changed his life. Glazer and the crew at AZ Combat helped drop a stunning 25 pounds off of Allen’s frame, improved his punch, his step off the line and most of all, loosened and strengthened his hips and core beyond his imagination.

Perhaps more important than all of the physical advantages and gains combined, after training two-a-days in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing and submission fighting, Allen brought an entirely new attitude into his NFL world. Jared Allen became one of the most feared forces in the NFL and stepped onto that field feeling like he was the baddest SOB in the stadium.

“Obviously it strengthened my core, my flexibility, my hips and eye-hand coordination and my cardio went through the roof. But more than that, it taught me how to push myself past barriers your mind puts up to stop you,” said Allen. “Fight training teaches you how to push past those blocks.”

Oh, by the way, Allen just so happened to lead the NFL in quarterback sacks that year, made his first Pro Bowl and was rewarded with the largest contract given to a defensive player in the history of the National Football League.

“I think it’s going to be the most important thing I did to help my career,” he said. “It totally changed my entire workout regiment. It’s so much easier on the body than running and all that stuff that puts impact  on your joints. Plus, it’s fun. You won’t get burnt out doing the same old running and hills. You’ll push yourself further than you ever anticipated.”

Since then several NFL stars and a handful of Major League Baseball players and prospects have inquired of Glazer about MMA training conducive to their sports.

This off-season, Glazer began training former Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart. Leinart originally turned to Glazer to help transform his body. More importantly he realized that it was his attitude, will and fortitude that were seeing the most drastic changes. Leinart needed to take drastic measure to start seeing some of the potential he brought into this league but has yet to reach and MMA was just the tool.

“I love it, love it,” said Leinart. “I wanted to stay under the radar this season but this stuff is ridiculous. It’s incredible how much people have noticed a change in me, how I look, how I carry myself. I’m addicted.”

But to truly take this to the next level, Glazer recently turned to his friend and the most legendary name in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and mixed martial arts, Randy “The Natural” Couture. The former heavyweight and light heavyweight king is renowned as one of the faces that launched the UFC to its current stardom.

Couture, who Time magazine called “Ultimate Fighting’s Babe Ruth,” has pushed his body past extremes usually reserved for folk lore. The man voted the greatest fighter of all time has a career that saw him first take the UFC heavyweight title, then drop down to win the light heavyweight title with wins over legends like Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

Then, if that wasn’t impressive enough, he came out of retirement and gave up 7 inches and 50 pounds in thoroughly dominating Tim Sylvia to once again with the UFC heavyweight title. Plain and simple, even at 45 Couture probably knows how to make the human body excel and push past limits better than any man on Earth.

But putting aside his fight career, Couture also started Xtreme Couture gym and fight team in Las Vegas, a team that has housed some of the greatest fighters in the game today. Forrest Griffin, Vanderlei Silva, Gina Carano, Frank Trigg, Gray Maynard, Jay Hieron, Tyson Griffin and Mike Pyle have all turned to Couture and his coaches to run their training.

Even the legendary Vitor Belfort who had three wars with Couture decided the only way to take his game back to where it needed to b was to leave Brazil, move to Vegas and train under his former opponent. Under Couture’s tutelage, “The Phenom” Belfort has seen a tremendous resurgence in his career.

Now, for the first time, Couture is opening his doors and his team to the world of professional sports. Together, Couture and Glazer have developed MMAthletics, a full-time training camp designed solely for professional athletes of other sports looking to propel their careers to heights they never knew possible. If you’re looking for greatness, look no further.

At MMAthletics, we won’t be looking to simply get our athletes into shape. Couture, Glazer and our team of coaches and trainers will design an intensive program integrating MMA training to strengthen specific areas conducive to an athlete’s sport and position.

Obviously, the needs of a quarterback are different from that of an offensive lineman, whose needs are different from an NHL defenseman and a shortstop in MLB. Our athletes will train with each other and not those outside the world of pro sports.

MMAthletics will be run out of Xtreme Couture Training Center in Las Vegas, a massive 12,000 square foot training facility that includes, full octagon cage, boxing  ring, two wrestling and jui-jitsu areas, heavy bags, Muay Thai bag racks as well as strength training area, cardio area, pro shop, showers, sauna and physical therapy center.

To learn more about MMAthletics please visit the website – www.MMAathletics.tv

Randy Couture – How to be an MMA Champion

We ran across this video a while back and thought it was worthy to post. While the track music has much to be desired the video highlights not only the Xtreme Couture Gym but our General Of  The Army. . . Randy Couture.

From MMA and Muay Thai to Making Movie Magic

Xtreme Couture head kickboxing coach Joey Varner teamed up with Role7 productions to participate in the 48 Hour Film Project (48FHP). The 48FHP is an international film festival in which the competing teams draw a film genre from a hat and are given characters, props, and lines of dialogue that they must use in their movie. After all the teams have drawn their genres they are given 48 hours to write a script, shoot and edit a 5-7 minute long film.  Joey’s teams genre was surprise ending. Their movie is titled “Reset”. Check it out below.

Xtreme Couture Athletic Pharmaceuticals (XCAP)

Randy Couture and company have done it yet again by announcing the launch of a new top of the line, pharmaceutical grade supplement company called  – Xtreme Couture Athletic Pharmaceuticals (XCAP).

XCAP  offers 15 core supplements that are key to the success of Randy and many other professional MMA fighters like Ray Sefo, Martin Kampmann, Jay Hieron and Gray Maynard to name a few.

XCAP products have been tested and are free of any banned substances which eases the minds of professionals athletes of any sport. That’s  our commitment to you.

XCAP is manufactured in partnership with one of the most respected names in the dietary supplement industry Biotics Research.  For more than 35 years Biotics have been the primary leader in dietary supplements. XCAP products are manufactured in our fully licensed, FDA approved pharmaceutical and CDC licensed genetics and toxicology testing laboratory.

XCAP is proud to have a product line that not only competes but surpasses many of the top companies in the supplement business today. We don’t  just talk the talk, our website goes in to great detail and shows Independant studies and research to validate the quality of our products.

XCAP not only gives you the details on the products we give you the complete daily supplement schedules of top professional athletes.

Please visit our website to change how you train  – http://www.xcap.tv

XCAP is Breaking the Rules – The Natural’s Way

Randleman … Baroni … StrikeForce

The photo below sum up the excitement and anticipation for this weekends StrikeForce card. Not only are we at Xtreme Couture eagerly awaiting the fights of the guys who train here, we have to give a shoutout to  StrikeForce who has put together a very solid card for all MMA fans to enjoy. SO DON”T MISS IT!!!!!

Vintage Randy Couture – US ARMY Championships 1986

This is vintage Randy Couture wrestling David Ridpath in Baumholder, West Germany on the Baumholder Army Base in 1986 for the US Army Europe Wrestling Championships.

This match was in the 90 kilo (198 pound weight class) in Greco and freestyle. Randy went on to win the tournament and was invited to try out for the All Army team and compete in the interservice championships.

We asked Mr. Ridpath for a few comments on the video and what he remembered and here is what he had to say.

“While I considered myself a pretty good wrestler, it was humbling to face someone the caliber of Randy because it simply was no contest, however I always seemed to be good enough to meet him in championship matches of tournaments (I am not sure if that says good things about me or the rest of the competition was substandard—but overall the competition was good and of a high international caliber). My problem—especially in this video, because I think it was the final time we competed against each other, is that I had wrestled him probably 12-15 times over the course of 3 years before this match and as much as I hate to admit it, I was probably defeated before we shook hands. I only went the distance with Randy once—in a freestyle match, but the score was still 10-3 or something like that. Still at the end of every match, he was gracious, would always give me advice, and has always been a friend.

What most I remember about this particular tournament was that I took third place in both classifications and that I decided to retire after that, but I knew Randy was poised for bigger and better things. Only the top 2 were invited to try out for the All Army team and compete in the interservice championships. So it was a little disappointing to end that way for me but I moved on to coaching and officiating for a few years.

While it is somewhat shocking to see what Randy has become internationally because he is freaking famous—I really should not be surprised because I have met few people who are as driven and who have as much heart. While he is talented, he simply was always able to beat more talented wrestlers because of his heart and motivation. He and I attended several wrestling camps together, and he was the one always up first, running before practice, etc. I am sure this is no surprise to you. Although I still have some physical pain from wrestling Randy—my matches with him will always be a fond memory.”

For any Couture fan this is a true piece of history and we want to thanks Mr. Ridpath for giving us the video.

Posted By: Scott Haney

The Return of Kevin “The Monster” Randleman

The first bout of the televised portion of this highly anticipated Strikeforce card that is scheduled in St. Louis on June 6th, Saturday. This marks  Kevin “The Monster” Randleman’s return to MMA after a one year hiatus.Kevin has been training hard in preparation for Mike Whitehead who at one point was part of the Couture Team and has since moved on to another camp.

Shawn Thompkins was holding mits today for Randleman’s morning workout.

posted by Scott Haney

Affliction III – Jay Hieron vs. Paul Daley

On their official website, Affliction announced that their August 1st event, “Trilogy,” will in fact feature WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko defending his crown against Josh Barnett inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Xtreme Couture’s Jay Hieron coming off a 5 fight win streak is looking to continue his domination in the ring against Paul Daley.

Fights at Xtreme Couture MMA – July 18th

Muay Thai and Boxing Amateur Exhibition Fights

Where: Xtreme Couture MMA – Las Vegas, NV

When: July 18th

Bouts: 10

Cost: $20 General Public / $15  XCMMA Members – Buy your tickets the day of the event.

If you are wanting to fight on the card please contact Ryan Couture -  702.616.1022