Kill Cliff FC, officially known as Kill Cliff Fight Club (formerly known as Sanford MMA, Hard Knocks 365, and Combat Club)[1] is a mixed martial arts gym based in Deerfield Beach, Florida. It was originally founded in 2017 by Henri Hooft and Greg Jones as Combat Club and later Hard Knocks 365[1][2][3] before being rebranded to Sanford MMA in 2019 after obtaining a sponsorship deal with Sanford Health.[3] In July 2022, the gym rebranded to Kill Cliff FC.[4]

Overview

In 2017, Henri Hooft left the Blackzilians and alongside Greg Jones, founded the gym, Combat Club in Boynton Beach, Florida.[1] This was later rebranded as Hard Knocks 365 after moving the gym to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to accommodate a bigger facility.[1][2][3] Some of the fighters who were originally training at the Blackzilians would join the new gym.

In 2019, Hard Knocks 365 rebranded to Sanford MMA after obtaining a sponsorship deal with Sanford Health.[3] A new training facility was opened in Deerfield Beach, Florida as part of the deal and Sanford Health also opened a supporting clinic adjacent to the team training facility.[5]

In July 2022, the gym rebranded to Kill Cliff FC after Kill Cliff, an energy drink and CBD company acquired naming the rights to the gym.[4]

The team includes roughly 40 fighters, 25 of whom fight within the largest three MMA promotions (UFC, PFL and ONE), as well as former and current world champions.[6]

Kill Cliff FC is notable for producing former UFC Welterweight Champion, Kamaru Usman.[3]

Notable fighters

Mixed martial artists

UFC

Bellator MMA

ONE

PFL

KSW

Kickboxers

See also

References

  1. ^ VARSALLONE, JIM (April 21, 2021). "Henri Hooft and Greg Jones took it one step at a time to reach Sanford MMA, a game changer". Miami Herald
  2. ^ Knocks 365, Hard. "Hard Knocks 365 Opens All-New Training Facility At Xtreme Action Park". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. ^ Carlson, Ollie (December 13, 2019). "Hard Knocks 365 rebrands to Sanford MMA with sponsorship from Sanford Health". thebodylockmma.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "'More financial power': Top gym Sanford MMA, rebranded to Kill Cliff FC". ESPN.com. July 1, 2022.
  5. ^ "Sanford MMA facility opens in Florida with fights on the way". Sanford Health News. August 27, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  6. ^ "Mixed Martial Arts". Sanford Sports Complex. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  7. ^ "Vicente Luque Breaks Down Potential Fight Between Teammates Kamaru Usman & Gilbert Burns". MMA News. July 31, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  8. ^ September 24, 2019 - 11am, Jeremy Fugleberg | (September 24, 2019). "Sanford Health buys into mixed martial arts, sponsors team of fighters". The Mitchell Republic. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  9. ^ "Ex-champ Luke Rockhold decides against retirement, angles for 2020 return". MMA Junkie. August 10, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "Gilbert Burns answers back at criticism from Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal for getting UFC 251 title fight". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  11. ^ Sherdog.com. "Volkan". Sherdog. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  12. ^ Sherdog.com. "Michael". Sherdog. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  13. ^ "Steven Mowry is focused on 'Smashing people'". MyMMANews.com. March 28, 2020.
  14. ^ Nissi Icasiano (June 28, 2020). "Takashi Sato scores quickfire KO win at UFC on ESPN 12". asianmma.com
  15. ^ Farah Hannoun (December 5, 2020). "UFC 259's Randy Costa hopes to continue gaining promotional push with fan-friendly style". MMAjunkie.com
  16. ^ Sherdog.com. "5 Things You Might Not Know About Shavkat Rakhmonov". Sherdog. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  17. ^ "Jingliang Li calls out Geoff Neal!". Asian MMA. April 18, 2022.
  18. ^ "Шавкат Рахмонов "подтянул" другого казахского бойца в UFC - Бокс/ММА" (in Russian). Sports.kz
  19. ^ "UFC's Ian Garry explains why he left Ireland to train at Sanford MMA: 'I want to be pushed'". MMA Junkie. April 5, 2022.
  20. ^ "Rafael Fiziev says he believes in his power". Asian MMA. July 6, 2022.
  21. ^ Buzz McClain (July 22, 2022). "A HUGE WEEKEND FOR KILL CLIFF FC FIGHTERS!". killcliff.com. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  22. ^ "Sanford Health to sponsor, support mixed martial arts team". Sanford Health News. September 23, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  23. ^ "Tyrone Spong calls out ONE Championship heavyweight champion Brandon Vera | Asian MMA". AsianMMA. October 9, 2020.