BTT Opens Gym in Las Vegas

Brazilian Top Team leaders Murilo Bustamante (Pictures) and Luis Roberto Duarte have opened a new training center in Las Vegas. The academy has a ring, an Octagon, a weightlifting area and a unique place to train muay Thai.

Duarte will be responsible for leading the new BTT subsidiary.

"We will form a great team around here," he said. "The academy already is frequented by many professionals, but they have no flag. Now we will have."

Duarte will coach MMA; Ricardo Cavalcanti, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Carlson Gracie, will teach grappling; and wrestling, boxing and muay Thai coaches will be named in coming weeks.

The BTT leaders expect the gym to produce new champions and also give their Brazilian fighters a place to train in the United States when preparing for a fight on American soil. Rousimar Palhares, who recently signed with the UFC, will use the facilities in the final stretch of his training before UFC 84.

"This is our home there," Duarte said. "We will bring [Palhares] before the fight for him to get used to the climate of Vegas, which is much more dry than that of Rio de Janeiro. We will do everything we can for him to have a good debut in the UFC."