Prior to 1993, the weight-room catchphrase “How much do you bench?” was loaded with subtext. It was actually a measure of how tough someone was. If a guy had a big bench, you did not mess with him.
Then along came Royce Gracie in the early iterations of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a soaking-wet 170-pounder who tore through a line of monstrous athletes who probably could have preacher-curled more than Gracie squatted. Being strong, it seemed, didn’t always equate to being a great fighter.
That was 20 years ago, and UFC fighters have now evolved into professional athletes who know that the ability to explosively manhandle someone is an occupational necessity, like a fast sprawl and a good cross. The very best incorporate dedicated strength and power sessions into their fight preparations.
Our first annual UFC All-Strength Team salutes those fighters who attack the weights the way they go after an opponent in the cage. We relate to those athletes who continually look to improve and who enjoy the quantifiable metric of progress that the weight room provides. And ultimately, we love to watch the fight-ending strikes, slams and submissions that are the calling cards of the fighters on our list. Is it a coincidence that our UFC All-Strength Team owns a disproportionate number of highlight-reel finishes? No chance.
TIM KENNEDY
Nickname: n/a
Class: Middleweight
MMA record: 17-4
Best Known for: Hyper-conditioning; fearlessness
Kennedy could be the poster boy for, “Don’t mistake kindness for weakness.” The quick-to-smile middleweight is a special ops sniper, Green Beret, seasoned UFC fighter, and is probably in the top .01 percent of the world in deadly skills. After the zombie apocalypse, Kennedy will most likely be our new leader.
The 34-year-old fights at 185 pounds, but has been known to walk around in the neighborhood of 225 pounds early in his training camps. In person, the 5’11” Kennedy is a massive block of muscle. “My entire life,” he says, “has been about functional fitness. Whether I was an MMA fighter or a sniper, Airborne or a badass Ranger or Green Beret — it’s always been about functional power, strength, explosiveness to kill you with my hands.”
In the gym, Kennedy stays in the three-to-five-rep range but rarely performs one-rep maximums in order to reduce the risk of injury. Even his “safe” training loads are impressive. He squats in the mid-400s for three to five reps, has bench-pressed in the high 300s for three to five reps and deadlifts 400 for five reps. His PB is close to 500 pounds.
“I do a lot more narrow-grip bench pressing, which would simulate, functionally, a move like shrimping [escaping from the bottom] during a fight,” Kennedy says, noting he seldom incorporates conventional bench pressing into his sessions. “I like to keep my elbows tight, and it’s a lot better on my shoulders and elbows.”
Travis Browne
Nickname: Hapa Class: Heavyweight MMA record: 16-1 Best Known for: Versatile striking; finishing percentage.
While the UFC All-Strength Team is predominantly comprised of shorter and stockier fighters, 6’7” Travis Browne is proof that lanky dudes can pack serious power, too. The affable Hawaiian has compiled a pro record of 16-1-1 and is most likely one victory away from challenging for the UFC heavyweight title. He credits powerlifting for significantly raising his game.
“I only started lifting three years ago and I’ve never felt as strong as I do now,” the 31-year-old says. “I feel a lot of improvement in my hips and my core. I’m not ‘lifting weights strong,’ but I’m ‘old man strong.’ You know how you feel when you’re 16 and you challenge your old man to a wrestling match and he picks you up and drags you around the block? I feel like that. If I get ahold of you, you’re not getting away.”
Browne, who weighs 242 pounds, currently deadlifts 450 for five to eight reps, bench-presses 315 for three to five reps, and says he can squat 350 for eight to 10 reps. Oftentimes his training demands that he goes a bit lighter because his MMA-specific workouts require him to jump from one exercise to the next without rest.
JIM MILLER
Nickname: n/a Class: Lightweight MMA record: 23-4 Best Known for: Extremely powerful submissions; grittiness.
New Jersey–based lightweight Jim Miller is about as strong as it gets in the 155-pound lightweight class. His awesomeness in the weight room is owed to his extensive wrestling background and an obsessive DIY mindset that has inspired Miller to build his own furniture, remodel his house and even brew beer and make bread from scratch. Taking the easy route in anything is not his style.
“I’ve been told that being able to lift your bodyweight overhead, without any jerk to it, is pretty good,” the 30-year-old says. “And I’m able to do a couple of reps with 170 pounds, which is close to my off-season bodyweight.”
Miller is a product of renowned strength coach Martin Rooney. The lightweight fighter boasts a 23-4 record and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The grappling technician marries clean technique with brute strength into one dangerous package.
“Obviously, the ability to manipulate your opponent in a combat-style sport is a good thing to have,” Miller says. “Knowing I have an explosive 500-pound deadlift makes me pretty confident that I can kneebar anybody. Sometimes it does come down to strength and power. You’ve got to find the balance. When I’m in the weight room, I like to go heavy. You can still get stronger and improve without really bulking up.”
MANNY GAMBURYAN
Nickname: The Anvil
Class: Featherweight
MMA record: 13-8
Best Known for: World-class judo
Anyone who spends much of their childhood judo-throwing other kids is bound to have an insanely strong base of functional fitness. And so it is for UFC featherweight Manny Gamburyan, born in Armenia and raised in North Hollywood, Calif. Gamburyan won the Junior National Championships in judo eight times as a youth and then topped it off winning gold at the Junior Olympics before turning his attention to MMA.
A longtime training partner and coach of Ronda Rousey, the 5’5” Gamburyan has been in the weightroom for years, though he has adopted more of a high-rep philosophy since dropping two weight classes to the 145-pound division. But in his prime, while weighing 168 pounds, he could squat 405 pounds, bench-press 320 pounds and barbell curl 135 pounds for a single rep.
Though mindful not to pack on too much muscle in order to stay in his weight class, Gamburyan still pushes the limit when hitting the weights. “To be honest, when I do legs, I can’t even drive a car after working out,” he says. “I just hit it as hard as I can.”
CHAD MENDES
Nickname: Money Class: Featherweight MMA record: 16-1 Best Known for: High-level wrestling; knockout power
Watching Chad Mendes shadowbox or hit mitts, it’s tempting to think that the 145-pound fighter is somehow related to Mike Tyson. The former NCAA national runner-up wrestler is a mesmerizing fast-twitch phenomenon who looks like a leopard when he’s taking guys down and packs devastating one-punch knockout power to boot.
Presently ranked number two in the world in his weight class, Mendes is in line for another crack at the only man to beat him in 17 fights: UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo. Mendes trains in Sacramento on the team Urijah Faber created, Team Alpha Male. When someone as strong as Urijah Faber calls you an animal and raves about how explosive you are, the rest of us should take it as gospel.
“Mendes is definitely the signature power guy for Team Alpha Male,” says Alpha Male trainer, Russell Dunning, pointing to the fighter’s 450-pound deadlift. “Pound for pound, he’s probably one of the strongest guys I’ve ever seen, Dunning says. “When someone’s lifting two and a half times their body weight, you’re talking about an extremely powerful person.”
Then along came Royce Gracie in the early iterations of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a soaking-wet 170-pounder who tore through a line of monstrous athletes who probably could have preacher-curled more than Gracie squatted. Being strong, it seemed, didn’t always equate to being a great fighter.
That was 20 years ago, and UFC fighters have now evolved into professional athletes who know that the ability to explosively manhandle someone is an occupational necessity, like a fast sprawl and a good cross. The very best incorporate dedicated strength and power sessions into their fight preparations.
Our first annual UFC All-Strength Team salutes those fighters who attack the weights the way they go after an opponent in the cage. We relate to those athletes who continually look to improve and who enjoy the quantifiable metric of progress that the weight room provides. And ultimately, we love to watch the fight-ending strikes, slams and submissions that are the calling cards of the fighters on our list. Is it a coincidence that our UFC All-Strength Team owns a disproportionate number of highlight-reel finishes? No chance.
TIM KENNEDY
Nickname: n/a
Class: Middleweight
MMA record: 17-4
Best Known for: Hyper-conditioning; fearlessness
Kennedy could be the poster boy for, “Don’t mistake kindness for weakness.” The quick-to-smile middleweight is a special ops sniper, Green Beret, seasoned UFC fighter, and is probably in the top .01 percent of the world in deadly skills. After the zombie apocalypse, Kennedy will most likely be our new leader.
The 34-year-old fights at 185 pounds, but has been known to walk around in the neighborhood of 225 pounds early in his training camps. In person, the 5’11” Kennedy is a massive block of muscle. “My entire life,” he says, “has been about functional fitness. Whether I was an MMA fighter or a sniper, Airborne or a badass Ranger or Green Beret — it’s always been about functional power, strength, explosiveness to kill you with my hands.”
In the gym, Kennedy stays in the three-to-five-rep range but rarely performs one-rep maximums in order to reduce the risk of injury. Even his “safe” training loads are impressive. He squats in the mid-400s for three to five reps, has bench-pressed in the high 300s for three to five reps and deadlifts 400 for five reps. His PB is close to 500 pounds.
“I do a lot more narrow-grip bench pressing, which would simulate, functionally, a move like shrimping [escaping from the bottom] during a fight,” Kennedy says, noting he seldom incorporates conventional bench pressing into his sessions. “I like to keep my elbows tight, and it’s a lot better on my shoulders and elbows.”
Travis Browne
Nickname: Hapa Class: Heavyweight MMA record: 16-1 Best Known for: Versatile striking; finishing percentage.
While the UFC All-Strength Team is predominantly comprised of shorter and stockier fighters, 6’7” Travis Browne is proof that lanky dudes can pack serious power, too. The affable Hawaiian has compiled a pro record of 16-1-1 and is most likely one victory away from challenging for the UFC heavyweight title. He credits powerlifting for significantly raising his game.
“I only started lifting three years ago and I’ve never felt as strong as I do now,” the 31-year-old says. “I feel a lot of improvement in my hips and my core. I’m not ‘lifting weights strong,’ but I’m ‘old man strong.’ You know how you feel when you’re 16 and you challenge your old man to a wrestling match and he picks you up and drags you around the block? I feel like that. If I get ahold of you, you’re not getting away.”
Browne, who weighs 242 pounds, currently deadlifts 450 for five to eight reps, bench-presses 315 for three to five reps, and says he can squat 350 for eight to 10 reps. Oftentimes his training demands that he goes a bit lighter because his MMA-specific workouts require him to jump from one exercise to the next without rest.
JIM MILLER
Nickname: n/a Class: Lightweight MMA record: 23-4 Best Known for: Extremely powerful submissions; grittiness.
New Jersey–based lightweight Jim Miller is about as strong as it gets in the 155-pound lightweight class. His awesomeness in the weight room is owed to his extensive wrestling background and an obsessive DIY mindset that has inspired Miller to build his own furniture, remodel his house and even brew beer and make bread from scratch. Taking the easy route in anything is not his style.
“I’ve been told that being able to lift your bodyweight overhead, without any jerk to it, is pretty good,” the 30-year-old says. “And I’m able to do a couple of reps with 170 pounds, which is close to my off-season bodyweight.”
Miller is a product of renowned strength coach Martin Rooney. The lightweight fighter boasts a 23-4 record and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The grappling technician marries clean technique with brute strength into one dangerous package.
“Obviously, the ability to manipulate your opponent in a combat-style sport is a good thing to have,” Miller says. “Knowing I have an explosive 500-pound deadlift makes me pretty confident that I can kneebar anybody. Sometimes it does come down to strength and power. You’ve got to find the balance. When I’m in the weight room, I like to go heavy. You can still get stronger and improve without really bulking up.”
MANNY GAMBURYAN
Nickname: The Anvil
Class: Featherweight
MMA record: 13-8
Best Known for: World-class judo
Anyone who spends much of their childhood judo-throwing other kids is bound to have an insanely strong base of functional fitness. And so it is for UFC featherweight Manny Gamburyan, born in Armenia and raised in North Hollywood, Calif. Gamburyan won the Junior National Championships in judo eight times as a youth and then topped it off winning gold at the Junior Olympics before turning his attention to MMA.
A longtime training partner and coach of Ronda Rousey, the 5’5” Gamburyan has been in the weightroom for years, though he has adopted more of a high-rep philosophy since dropping two weight classes to the 145-pound division. But in his prime, while weighing 168 pounds, he could squat 405 pounds, bench-press 320 pounds and barbell curl 135 pounds for a single rep.
Though mindful not to pack on too much muscle in order to stay in his weight class, Gamburyan still pushes the limit when hitting the weights. “To be honest, when I do legs, I can’t even drive a car after working out,” he says. “I just hit it as hard as I can.”
CHAD MENDES
Nickname: Money Class: Featherweight MMA record: 16-1 Best Known for: High-level wrestling; knockout power
Watching Chad Mendes shadowbox or hit mitts, it’s tempting to think that the 145-pound fighter is somehow related to Mike Tyson. The former NCAA national runner-up wrestler is a mesmerizing fast-twitch phenomenon who looks like a leopard when he’s taking guys down and packs devastating one-punch knockout power to boot.
Presently ranked number two in the world in his weight class, Mendes is in line for another crack at the only man to beat him in 17 fights: UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo. Mendes trains in Sacramento on the team Urijah Faber created, Team Alpha Male. When someone as strong as Urijah Faber calls you an animal and raves about how explosive you are, the rest of us should take it as gospel.
“Mendes is definitely the signature power guy for Team Alpha Male,” says Alpha Male trainer, Russell Dunning, pointing to the fighter’s 450-pound deadlift. “Pound for pound, he’s probably one of the strongest guys I’ve ever seen, Dunning says. “When someone’s lifting two and a half times their body weight, you’re talking about an extremely powerful person.”
