Academies woo Silva and Belfort

Martial arts clubs are keen to get fighters to train in their gyms as Abu Dhabi's UFC 112 fight-card is expected to be confirmed in coming weeks.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, left, is expected to fight in Abu Dhabi.

ABU DHABI // Many of the country's leading mixed martial arts institutions have started wooing ultimate fighters to commit pre-competition training regimes in their respective camps as Abu Dhabi's UFC 112 fight-card is expected to be confirmed in coming weeks. Although no UFC 112 fight has officially been given the go-ahead, widespread reports suggest the capital's maiden UFC staging on April 10 will feature two title-fights: middleweight champion Anderson Silva's mouth-watering clash against the explosive Vitor Belfort, and lightweight king BJ Penn's mandatory defence against one of either Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) master Renzo Gracie, the man who regularly trains jiu-jitsu black belt holder Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, is also being tipped to make his long-awaited UFC return against welterweight legend Matt Hughes. But with UFC bouts usually staged in indoor arenas and the Abu Dhabi showpiece planned for a yet-to-be confirmed outdoor venue, the question of where the fighters might train for two-to-three weeks in the run-up to fight night was answered by a pair of the UAE's leading mixed martial arts (MMA) figures yesterday.

"Vitor called first and asked about Abu Dhabi, the training facilities, the weather and how I thought the UFC would be received," said Carlos Santos, the BJJ trainer at Abu Dhabi Combat Club. "Anderson called later and basically asked the same questions. I told them both they should come early because it will be an outdoor event, not indoors like they are used to, and that many factors and conditions will be different for them.

"They wanted to know if they could use our facilities and gym for two weeks before the fight. I know these guys, they are close friends of mine and we used to train at the Carlson Gracie centre in Rio [de Janeiro, Brazil]. "So I have opened the club's doors to them and anyone else who is on the card. Renzo is the first to arrive at the club towards the end of March. The Dubai-based MMA pioneer Tam Khan, however, does not believe Silva and Belfort will train in the same location and is predicting his centre, the TSG Dubai MMA Academy, will be buzzing with UFC fighters in a couple of months.

"We're trying to get fighters to set up base here in the lead up to UFC 112," said Khan. "It doesn't make sense to me that Silva and Belfort would train together. "One of them could be here because our facility caters for all types of MMA training and conditioning; we've got boxing, Thai-boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, everything. And unlike other facilities in the UAE, you don't have to drive 20 minutes down the road just to find a bag after weight training.

"In four weeks we've also got a new facility opening with a fully-fitted cage where fighters can train in realistic scenarios with the best up-and-coming fighters in the UAE. There will be a separate rooms for Olympic power-lifting, tyre-lifting, bags, wrestling, mats, even a nutritional bar for supplementation and recovery. "We are the best place to spar, train and condition in the UAE and we're also private," added Khan.

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