Warlley Alves laments end of X-Gym: We had Anderson Silva and Jacare Souza in our prime

The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 champion Warlley Alves,is sad to see one of Brazil’s most prominent MMA teams, X-Gym, come to an end after ten years. A place that once was home to names such as Anderson Silva, Ronaldo Souza, Rafael Cavalcante and others was sold at the end of 2017.

As Warlley, who moved to Team Nogueira about a month ago, told Combate, he believes it was once the number one gym in the world, and is sad to see it go.

“It’s very sad,” Alves said. “In our prime, we had Anderson Silva, Rafael Cavalcante, Jacare Souza, Erick Silva, etc. We were strong. Most champions spent some time there. That gym was number one in the world, in my opinion. Anderson became the UFC’s middleweight champion while training there. People changed their lives over there. They came in broke and were able to make a living and feed their families. Honestly, I was one of the guys who fought the most so it wouldn’t end like that. Even though I spoke to everyone, it still ended. Some guys went to the United States, like Jacare, who is a brother to me, others went to Team Nogueira and others to different gyms.”

Rogerio Camoes, one of X-Gym’s original founders and physical trainer of many UFC fighters, such as Anderson Silva, was the one who officially announced the end, in an interview withPortal do Vale Tudo.

“We sold it about a year ago,” Camoes said. “Because of that, I had to step away from the team and take care of other stuff, so some athletes made a decision to start looking for other teams. There were just no conditions for us to keep going, our training structure just wasn’t the same anymore.”

“Ronaldo (Jacare) went to Florida. Alan Patrick ended up with Pedro Rizzo. Gregory Rodrigues went to Lyoto’s. Some went to Team Nogueira, like Warlley (Alves). So everyone of us went our own ways, but the legacy remains. We worked for 10 years and I believe many of those athletes will keep all that work with them. I’m thankful to everyone who supported us all this time.”

Warlley Alves (11-2) snapped a two-fight losing skid vs. Bryan Barberena and Kamaru Usman, when he defeated Salim Touahri via unanimous decision last October.