Major honours
Founded in Rio de Janeiro in 1996 by Andre Pederneiras and Wendell Alexander, Nova Uniao first made its name in Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition before setting the standard for MMA's lighter divisions. A training method that fuses jiu-jitsu's positional framework with Muay Thai striking proved especially powerful at featherweight and bantamweight. Its flagship was Jose Aldo. After winning the WEC featherweight title in 2009, he carried the belt through its transition to the UFC and defended it until 2015, running an unbeaten streak of roughly ten years, and his signature low kicks became the era's textbook for the division. Renan Barao won an interim bantamweight title in 2012 and the undisputed championship the following year, Marlon Moraes brought home a WSOF bantamweight belt, and Eduardo Dantas held a Bellator bantamweight title. Pederneiras is regarded as the longest-serving of the handful of Brazilian coaches who still call fights directly from the corner.
Record comparison
Bars are scaled to the strongest team in this list.
Club legends
Rivalry
The rivalry between Nova Uniao and Sacramento's Team Alpha Male began when Aldo broke down Urijah Faber with low kicks in 2010 and grew through matchups between Barao and Faber, and later Barao and TJ Dillashaw, becoming the biggest camp rivalry in the lighter divisions.