Much of the country first realized Connecticut had a top flight Jiu Jitsu/MMA program when Dan Cramer had success on the UFC’s Ultimate Figher reality show.  Cramer was credited as being part of the American Top Team out of CT, which is connected to Best Way Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Danbury.  The man behind Cramer’s training and the growth of Best Way Jiu Jitsu in CT is Luigi Mondelli, the head trainer at both the Danbury and Bridgeport locations.  Mondelli is a black belt from Rio De Janeiro and is a 4x Pan Am Jiu Jitsu champion. With the success of Cramer and the UFC, he has seen his school and sport blossom.

“After Dan Cramer was on the show we had a boom in our school. People knew he was from CT.  A lot of people from this area did not know of an American Top Team in this area. I notice more interest around and am getting more calls. CT is getting to a point where it is becoming a more competitive state.”

Mondelli’s high level group has taken time to materialize, but he now has 12 top fighters currently based out of Danbury with Cramer and Hitalo Machado rising in the pro ranks.  Once Best Way and Mondelli open the Bridgeport location (scheduled for September 1) these fighters will split time between the east coast location and Danbury an hour away.

“I started this program from scratch. We didn’t have anybody. It started with Dan Cramer and Hitalo Machado 2.5 years ago and from there started getting more guys committed to the training.  Cramer trains in Danbury two times a day.  Hitalo Machado is a pro fighter too. He trains twice a day. Once we open Bridgeport they will alternate locations, Monday in Bridgeport and Tuesday in Danbury.  In Bridgeport we will have the octagon.”

While Dan Cramer gets a lot of attention, Modellli hopes to treat all his fighters from beginner to expert in the same fashion.

“My goal is to make them all fight pro. In first two years they train as if they had pro fights. So, they have same conditioning as if they were pro fighters. My guys fight amateur first and I get them ready to fight as if they are going to the biggest event of their life.”

This was the logic he used with Cramer when he wanted to try out for the Ultimate Fighter Show on Spike TV.

“Dan came to me and said he was thinking about tryouts. He was finishing college. I told him lets train as if the trials were a fight. When they came to New Jersey for trials we brought him there and he did well on the ground.  He has good character, is a well-educated guy.  He does not talk trash. They called him and he went to Vegas, then told him he was in the house.”

Cramer was scheduled to fight Cale Yarbrough on the final Ultimate Fighter Fight Night show but suffered an injury while training in preparation.  A setback, but the UFC is still on board with his contract and now he is scheduled to fight in November according to Mondelli.

“He was going to fight Cale Yarbrough and he trained here and then I sent him to Florida to train but during a wrestling drill he fractured his collarbone. He was to fight on  the final show, but they ended up not fighting. Now UFC kept the contract.  He is 100% now. He just got back in last two weeks to training hard. Now he is back and seems like in November he is fighting.”

—-

*Look for Dan Cramer in the UFC and if you are interested in more information about Best Way Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools in Connecticut click here.

*The new Best Way Jiu Jitsu location in Bridgeport is scheduled to open September 1.