Lions Den Scottsdale Arizona

When was the school established?
The Lion’s Den Scottsdale was established in early 2008 and opened its doors in June 2008.

Who started the school and why?
Scott Peters, former NFL player (NY Giants, Arizona Cardinals), and Jonas Ash invested in and started the Lion’s Den Scottsdale. Scott and Jonas wanted to create a training facility where active fighters and non-fighters who enjoy training could train alongside each other and receive the best instruction in the state of Arizona.

What styles of fighting do you teach?
The Lion’s Den Scottsdale (http://www.lionsdenaz.com/) offers training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (gi and no gi), Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, and MMA. Training is provided by top trainers from around the world including Carlos “the professor” Farias and Marcos da Silva, Master Bob Karmel, Coach Mario “O” Francis, and Eric Larkin.

What types of classes are taught and when?
The Lion’s Den offers a full schedule of classes for both stand up training and ground training as well as bootcamps for females. For more information, please visit the Lion’s Den website at http://www.lionsdenaz.com/.

Talk about a couple of your current fighters?
The premiere fighters currently training at the Lion’s Den Scottsdale include Benny Madrid, Travis Scott, Sean Scott, Mitch Wheeler, Matt Howard, and Stephen Watson. Benny has been training in MMA for over 3 years and is a natural MMA fighter. He has trained under Edwin Dewees, Joe Riggs, and other well-known MMA veterans. Travis is a former NFL lineman that played for the Rams and the Giants. Travis recently made his MMA debut. Sean is a former collegiate wrestler whose forte is wrestling, grappling, and jiu jitsu but is also a competitive boxer. Sean and Mitch are both incredibly strong for their weight classes. Mitch and Stephen are well-rounded MMA fighters with strong backgrounds in wrestling and grappling. Matt Howard is a former wrestler and football player. All fighters have a bright future in MMA.

Is there an upcoming event that you have a fighter participating in? If so, what event?
All fighters at the Lion’s Den are actively fighting and either just recently fought or will be featured at upcoming events. Matt Howard, Benny Madrid, Travis Scott, Sean Scott, and Tim Gidley will be fighting in Tolleson, AZ on November 21st and Stephen Watson will be fighting in Deming, NM on November 7th.

Tell us about your training programs?
Training at the Lion’s Den Scottsdale is targeted at particular audiences. For example, the Lion’s Den hosts a large number of children that train in wrestling, grappling, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Boxing and muay thai classes are offered to the general public that are definitely interested in training while competitive training is offered to active fighters. Fitness bootcamps are offered to interested females.

What makes your school unique?
The Lion’s Den Scottsdale is unique because of the quality and size of the training facility as well as the quality of coaches and trainers. As mentioned above, the Lion’s Den offers training by world renowned coaches and trainers in every aspect. Due to the level of training provided, a person training to simply stay in shape may be training right next to professional world class fighters and athletes on some occasions.

Who can attend the courses you teach?
Some classes at the Lion’s Den, such as the children’s classes, target a particular age group and other classes, such as the professional MMA classes and competitive muay thai classes, target those with more advanced skill levels. However, the majority of classes offered at the Lion’s Den may be attended by anyone that is interested.

Anyone that deserves recognition from your school (staff, fighter, etc.)?
We’d like to congratulate Benny Madrid, Sean Scott, Travis Scott, Stephen Watson, Mitch Wheeler, Matt Howard, Nick Chasteen, Dave Adams, Tommy Hicks and the other fighters and competitors at the Lion’s Den for their recent performances and wish everyone good luck in the future. http://www.lionsdenaz.com/

MMA Clarksville

When was the school established?

SSF Submission Academy started in 1997 by my buddy Bill. Bill died in a car wreck and I took over. The main location in Clarksville TN opened 2007.



Who started the school and why?

The school was started by Bill and I so we would have a place to train between our training trips to CA.



What styles of fighting do you teach?

We teach MMA, BJJ, Judo, Sambo and Muay Thai.



What types of classes are taught and when?

MMA is taught M, W, F at 7pm. BJJ and Muay Thai are taught on Tues and Thurs nights.



Talk about a couple of your current fighters?

I am really proud of my fighters. They are winning every where. We've had guys fight in local shows all the way up to the UFC.



Is there an upcoming event that you have a fighter participating in? If so, what event?

I have Thomas Campbell and Steven Durr fighting in the Hook n Shoot 145 Tourney in Nov. I also have Zack Hicks and Yannick Jones on that card as well. We have a few guys heading down to LA for a fight this weekend. We fight out out state at a higher level then any other school in the area. I think that is part of the reason our guys win most of the time. They compete at a higher level then other teams.



Tell us about your training programs?

We push conditioning and technique really hard. We are a Pro level school. We have guys like Dan Barrera, Brad Morris and other UFC vets stop in to train with us. Fighters from other schools have quit their schools and come to us because we can take them to the next level.



What makes your school unique?

We are the only school in the Clarksville TN and Murray KY area to have fighters in the UFC, Pride, Dreams, XFC, Bodog, HnS, KoTC and every other major show. We have the USMTA HW World Champion and our kids program came back as the #2 Team at NAGA Nationals. We are also the only team with a manager that has gotten guys into THE big show in our area.



Who can attend the courses you teach?

We are open to anyone who wants to train and learn. We have teachers and fighters from other schools come train with us all the time.



Anyone that deserves recognition from your school (staff, fighter, etc.)?

Thomas Campbell, Brian Marvin, Ray Jula, the Schwalms, Ron Dayley, Chris Beasley, James Nickerson, Yannick Jones, Kenny Tyson, Nick Casadden and the rest of our instructors are awesome. We have the best instructors around. Anyone interested in joining MMA Clarksville here is their website: www.mmaclarksville.com