St. Louis, MO. – August 15, 2011 – Representatives from Finney’s HIT Squad recently announced that world renowned K-1 and Muay Thai/Kickboxing coach, Mauricio “Baboo” Da Silva, has joined the Finney’s HIT Squad coaching staff. Da Silva, who has trained many of the sports elite, has been appointed the facilities lead Muay Thai/Kickboxing coach. He will join top-ranked strength and conditioning Coach Andre Benkei, who recently began coaching at Finney’s in May. De Silva, known as “Baboo” relocated to St. Louis in late July and has already begun working with fighters at Finney’s HIT Squad and Finney’s MMA.
Longtime friends Andre Benkei and coach “Baboo” have similar martial arts backgrounds with very distinct and effective training styles that work seamlessly together. Both Benkie and Baboo were trained in karate kyokushin Kai, the same original style of Georges St. Pierre. Baboo trained all of his life in Sao Paulo (Brasil) and Benkei trained in Rio de Janeiro (Brasil). Both had Japanese coaches who quickly made them “Uchidashi” (private students) in their states.
According to Andre Benkie, “Baboo and I were almost the same age and became “Uchidashi” almost at the same time. The difference between our styles is this – When coach Baboo was being trained with karate and kickboxing rules, I was being trained with MMA rules (to prove the superiority of my style in the old times of MMA.) Coach Baboo and fighters from Sao Paulo went very far in the kickboxing world.”
Mauricio “Baboo” Da Silva is a well-known and highly respected coach and trainer of K-1 and MMA. He has trained a number of world class fighters including Francisco Filho, Glaube Feitosa, Ewerton Teixeira, Ray Sefo, Aleksandr Pitchkounov, Jan Nortje, Doug Viney, Mighty Mo (kickboxer) and Akebono Taro. Mauricio holds a 1st Dan Black belt in Kyokushin karate and trained together with the Brazilian Kyokushin World Cup team as a sparring partner for fighters such as Francisco Filho and Glaube Feitosa.
Benkei had this to say about Baboo joining the coaching staff, “We are very lucky to have Baboo at Finney’s. I know he will make our team of future champion’s even stronger. It has been my dream to bring our striking style to the forefront of the MMA world because my master always wanted to use it in MMA during the early days. Baboo brings this style to the Finney’s fight team and the MMA world will soon see the edge it gives our fighters.”
Jesse Finney had this to add, “I have been in the kickboxing game for thirty years and I have never seen a kickboxing coach as skilled as Baboo. We are thrilled to have him on our team!”
Between Muay Thai/Kickboxing Coach Mauricio ‘Baboo” De Silva, Strength and Conditioning Coach Andre Benkei, Wrestling coach Ryan Sutton and high level Judo coach George Stanich, many Brazilian fighters have heard about Finney’s HIT Squad and want to be a part of the team. BJJ Black Belts Marcus Aurelio, JR Buscape, Ricardo Oliveira, Alexandre Pequeno Nogueira, Leozada Nogueira, Lucas Lopes, Ezra Lenon and Kiko France are just some of the top-level fighters making their way from Brazil to train in St. Louis at Finney’s. The fighter program has also drawn Andre Sales, a high level Brown Belt, and great strikers such as JR Killer, Marcus Grosse, Joao Victor and Terrell Brown.
Coaches at Finney’s are all experts in their disciplines and have the same common goal – to make Finney’s fight team the best on the world. The experience and knowledge of the coaching staff at Finney’s HIT Squad and Finney’s MMA is unparalleled and you can expect nothing less from Finney’s fighter program.
Complete with elite instruction, two training facilities with top-of-the-line equipment, on-site housing, and professional representation through Elite MMA Management, Finney’s mixed martial arts fighter program is quite possibly the best in the nation. Both professional and amateur athletes on Finney’s fight team have access to everything they need to advance their careers.
Finney is actively pursuing high level professional fighters right now. To find out more about the fighter program or to submit your fight resume for consideration, please email Jesse Finney directly at jesse@finneysmma.com.
