MMA siblings share more than a surname. For some, the journey begins in the same childhood gym. For others, watching a brother or sister compete opens the door to a fighting career of their own.
The Gracies, Diaz brothers and Shevchenko sisters are familiar examples, but the family connections stretch far beyond those names. Across MMA, siblings have trained together, cornered one another and taken very different routes through the sport.
These 10 sibling stories explore those connections, from shared breakthroughs to individual ambitions and lives beyond the cage.
Ilia and Aleksandre Topuria
The Topuria brothers have been fighting together for most of their lives. Born in Germany to Georgian parents, Aleksandre and Ilia were introduced to combat sports as children, beginning with Greco-Roman wrestling after the family returned to Georgia.
When they later moved to Alicante, Spain, the brothers discovered Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA at Climent Club. They eventually committed themselves fully to the sport.
Aleksandre, the older of the two, was instrumental in Ilia’s development. As Ilia established himself as one of MMA’s biggest prospects, Aleksandre took on a role in his brother’s corner. He helped Ilia prepare and traveled alongside him throughout his run to UFC stardom.
During that period, Aleksandre put his own career on hold to help Ilia pursue his ambitions. After starting his professional career with a record of 2-1, he stepped away from competition for several years.
The documentary Los Topuria offers a closer look at that sacrifice and the role Aleksandre played in his younger brother’s success. Despite the time away, he never abandoned his own goal of reaching the UFC, returning to competition before making his Octagon debut in 2025.
The brothers’ roles came full circle at UFC 312. Aleksandre had spent years standing in Ilia’s corner as his younger brother became a UFC champion. When Aleksandre finally made his own promotional debut, Ilia returned the favor by working his corner.
Ismael and Gabriel Bonfim
Few sibling stories in MMA have been as closely intertwined as Ismael and Gabriel Bonfim. Hailing from Brasília, the pair were first introduced to martial arts by their older brother, Odair.
One of 12 children, Odair helped lay the foundations for his younger brothers’ careers. In an interview with MMA Fighting, he recalled collecting aluminum cans and scrap metal to pay for his own martial arts classes. Unable to afford space for a gym, he knocked down walls inside their home to make room for training equipment.
Ismael and Gabriel went on separate runs on the Brazilian regional circuit before finding themselves on the same card at LFA 126. Both went on to earn Contender Series opportunities in 2022.
They were featured on the same episode and secured UFC contracts. Fittingly, they were booked on the same card to make their UFC debuts in Brazil at UFC 283 in 2023.
Ismael announced himself with a stunning flying-knee knockout of fan-favorite Terrance McKinney. Following on from his older brother, Gabriel also won his UFC debut in emphatic fashion. He needed less than 60 seconds to submit Mounir Lazzez.
Their careers enjoyed symmetry on their journey to the UFC, but different divisions gave each brother his own path to follow. Ismael established himself at lightweight. Gabriel introduced fans to his submission threat at welterweight. For a family whose training space began inside their own home, seeing both brothers win on the UFC stage marked a shared achievement years in the making.
Edmen and Leon Shahbazyan
The Shahbazyan brothers were introduced to martial arts together as children, but their journey into MMA began almost by accident.
Edmen initially started training simply because he wanted to lose weight, and Leon joined him. The pair became increasingly obsessed with combat sports. They entered a grappling tournament on short notice and both came away with wins, helping turn what began as a hobby into something much more serious.
They continued developing their skills together at Glendale Fighting Club under Edmond Tarverdyan, best known as Ronda Rousey’s head coach.
Edmen embraced MMA from a young age and developed into one of the gym’s standout prospects. He eventually became a training partner of Rousey before turning professional and making his UFC debut in 2018. Aptly nicknamed “The Golden Boy,” his rapid rise made him one of the promotion’s most highly regarded young middleweights.
Leon’s path was considerably longer. The older of the two brothers, he developed his own identity as a submission specialist, with the majority of his professional victories coming on the ground. After turning professional in 2016 and spending years competing outside the UFC, he joined his brother in the promotion in 2026.
The brothers trained together from childhood and even shared a bedroom growing up, pushing one another through the formative years of their fighting careers.
Edmen reached the UFC first, but Leon’s longer road gave the family another breakthrough to celebrate. What began with an effort to lose weight had taken both brothers to the sport’s biggest stage.
Alex and Aline Pereira
The Pereira siblings share a combat sports foundation, but their careers have taken very different routes.
Growing up in São Paulo alongside their three other siblings, Aline followed Alex into martial arts. She developed into a successful kickboxer in her own right, going 21-3 as an amateur before turning professional and eventually joining GLORY, where Alex was already established as one of the organization’s biggest stars.
Alex went on to become a two-division GLORY champion before shifting his focus to MMA and winning UFC titles across two weight classes.
Aline continued to build her own career in kickboxing, with her brother playing a direct role in her development. At one stage, Alex was also her coach, and Aline described how training alongside him helped prepare her for the realities of competition.
Aline followed him into MMA in 2022, making her professional debut with LFA after establishing herself in kickboxing. She later took another route through Karate Combat, becoming the inaugural women’s flyweight champion before returning to MMA.
Following her brother has not always been straightforward for Aline. Early in her kickboxing career, she spoke about being judged simply as “Alex’s sister,” with some people assuming her success was a result of their relationship rather than her own ability.
Over time, she felt she had earned recognition under her own name. Her career across kickboxing, MMA and Karate Combat gives fans several places to discover the fighter behind that familiar surname.
Umar and Usman Nurmagomedov
The Nurmagomedov name carries enormous weight in MMA, but Umar and Usman have been building their own careers within the family’s famous fighting system.
The brothers began wrestling together as children in Dagestan before moving on to other combat sports. When Umar took up Thai boxing, Usman followed him into the discipline.
Their development brought them into the training system established by their uncle, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. They trained alongside their cousin Khabib and a generation of fighters who would go on to reach the highest levels of MMA.
That shared upbringing gave both brothers the same foundation, but their careers have taken different routes. Umar reached the UFC and established himself in its bantamweight division. His style reflects his background in wrestling and sambo, combining grappling pressure with a dangerous striking game of his own.
Usman developed his career through Bellator and PFL, finding championship success outside the UFC. His style has developed into a more striking-oriented approach despite the grappling-heavy foundation the brothers share. That combination has allowed him to threaten opponents on the feet without abandoning the skills developed under Abdulmanap.
Their relationship remains central to both careers. Umar has spoken openly about his admiration for his younger brother, naming Usman as his favorite fighter and describing how proud he is of his achievements.
The brothers also continue to train together alongside Khabib and the wider team built around Abdulmanap’s teachings. Their careers have taken them to different organizations, but the family’s influence remains part of how they prepare for each fight.
Raul, Jessie and Kevin Rosas
The Rosas family has been fighting together since the brothers were children. Their father, Raul Sr., was already involved in combat sports as a boxing coach.
His children began training after watching him practice. Raul Jr. has recalled starting at around four years old because he and his siblings wanted to train alongside their father rather than simply watch from the sidelines.
The brothers followed that early introduction into professional MMA, developing their careers alongside one another.
Raul made the first major breakthrough. After becoming a youth MMA world champion, he earned his UFC contract on Contender Series in 2022 and became the youngest fighter ever to compete in the promotion.
His success also helped create opportunities for his older brothers. Raul has repeatedly spoken about wanting Jessie and Kevin to join him in the UFC. Kevin has described Raul’s success as opening doors for the rest of the family, with their father and siblings also involved in his training camps.
Jessie followed Raul to the UFC after building his career on the regional circuit. He has embraced being known as Raul’s brother while working to give fans reasons to remember his own performances.
He has also spoken about the importance of that family connection in preparing for fights. Raul, their father and Kevin have all been involved in his preparation, giving him a support system that knows him beyond his performances in the cage.
Kevin has taken a similar route through professional MMA while continuing to train alongside his brothers. He has spoken about the patience required to gain experience before making the jump to the UFC, with Raul’s breakthrough providing an example of what is possible.
Although the youngest brother reached that stage first, the Rosas family’s approach has remained collective. The same siblings who wanted to join their father in training became the people helping one another prepare for professional fights.
David and Melissa Martinez
For David and Melissa Martinez, combat sports have always been a family affair. Their parents were both karate practitioners who became instructors, introducing the siblings to martial arts from an early age.
Melissa has described beginning in Toshinkai karate because of her parents’ influence. David also developed a karate background before moving into kickboxing and MMA. The pair trained together throughout childhood and eventually developed their professional careers side by side.
Their relationship went beyond simply sharing a gym. David and Melissa trained together, cornered one another and found ways to make their tournament appearances a friendly competition. David recalled that they would sometimes make bets over who could progress further in their respective brackets.
Melissa was the first to reach the UFC. She became a Combate Americas champion and established herself as a world champion kickboxer before making her UFC debut in 2022.
David built his own reputation with Combate Global, winning its bantamweight championship before earning his UFC opportunity through Contender Series in 2024. His signing made them the first brother-sister pair on the UFC roster at the same time.
The influence between the siblings has gone both ways. Melissa has described David as an inspiration for her move into MMA, while David has named his sister as his favorite fighter and credited her with inspiring him to become better.
They have also continued to work together, with David helping in Melissa’s corner and both siblings remaining involved in each other’s training camps. Melissa has explained that even when they work with different training partners, they go to training together.
Their tournament bets offered one way to measure themselves against each other. Training and cornering together gave them another way to help each other improve. That combination of competition and support has followed the Martinez siblings from childhood martial arts into their professional careers.
Costello and Gino van Steenis
The van Steenis brothers followed a similar route into MMA, beginning in Altea, Spain, before making their way to the Netherlands.
Costello, the older of the two, was born in Rotterdam but grew up in Spain, where he first discovered MMA. Initially, he simply wanted to learn how to defend himself. As he recalled in an interview with MMA Fighting, entering a competition at his coach’s encouragement helped him realize he could pursue a career in fighting.
His coach encouraged him to move to the Netherlands, where MMA was more established. Costello settled in Vlaardingen and joined MMA Vlaardingen, also training alongside Gegard Mousasi.
The move became the foundation for a professional career that took him through Bellator and into the PFL.
Gino was still in school when Costello left Spain. Six years younger, he watched his older brother make the journey before deciding he wanted to follow the same path.
Gino finished school before joining Costello in the Netherlands to pursue MMA. He eventually followed his brother into the PFL, competing at lightweight while Costello established himself at middleweight.
Their training partnership became an important part of that journey. Costello has described Gino as a fundamental member of his team when preparing for fights, with both developing their skills at MMA Vlaardingen.
In March 2026, those parallel careers brought them onto the same PFL card in Madrid. Gino competed earlier in the night before Costello defended his middleweight title. After leaving Spain to pursue MMA, the brothers returned to compete there together on a major international card.
Sean and Stephen Clancy
The Clancy brothers have been surrounded by combat sports for much of their lives.
Sean Clancy Sr. introduced Sean Jr. to martial arts when he was young as a way to bond with him and teach him discipline and life skills. Sean Jr. has said he has virtually no memory of a time before training.
Stephen’s introduction came through the same family connection. He recalled joining Sean Jr. and his stepfather, Sean Sr., as they trained at the side of a class. What began with joining in became a permanent part of his life.
The brothers developed at Higher Level MMA under James Doolan. Sean traveled from Paisley for training, with Stephen following the same route. They shared the long journey to the gym as well as the work that awaited them there.
Sean was the first to turn that upbringing into a professional career. He developed through the Scottish amateur scene before becoming one of the leading prospects in British MMA. His professional career took him through Cage Warriors and onto Dana White’s Contender Series, where he earned a UFC contract in 2026.
Stephen followed a similar path, although he has been keen to earn recognition for his own achievements. He began competing as an amateur while still a teenager and developed into one of Scotland’s promising young fighters, building experience in competition alongside the training he shared with Sean.
Having his brother nearby gave Stephen a close-up view of the demands of pursuing a professional MMA career. He could learn from Sean’s preparation and progress while putting those lessons to use in his own fights.
For the Clancys, that connection is rooted in everyday routines. Sean’s route to the UFC began in the same classes, shared journeys and training sessions that helped Stephen find his own ambitions in the sport.
The Dulatov Brothers
The Dulatov brothers have one of the more unusual stories for MMA siblings. Their family fled Chechnya for Germany in 2007, settling in Düsseldorf. The brothers pursued combat sports while also making names for themselves in the fashion industry.
Their older brother, Djibril, helped open that second door. In an interview with DW, he recalled being approached by a modeling scout while shopping for a belt. Two months later, he had his first contract with Lanvin. Islam, Tamerlan and Sulumbek followed him into the industry after an agency employee spotted a photograph of them together.
Sulumbek also credited Djibril with helping shape their sporting ambitions. Speaking to DW, he recalled how his older brother got them interested in boxing, wrestling and kickboxing after the family arrived in Germany. Fashion became another pursuit the four brothers shared alongside their training.
Islam eventually became a successful model himself. In 2018, British Vogue included him among its 10 standout male models of the season, noting that he had been booked exclusively to walk for Versace in Milan. Even then, he was training in MMA with hopes of turning professional.
After turning professional in 2019, Islam earned his UFC opportunity through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024. He made his promotional debut at UFC 318 in July 2025, knocking out Adam Fugitt in the first round.
His younger brother, Tamerlan, has followed him into professional MMA. Turning professional in 2023, he went on to compete in OKTAGON, building his own fighting career alongside the family’s modeling work.
Djibril has also competed professionally, winning his debut in 2019 before returning with a first-round Von Flue choke in October 2025.
All four brothers also share their experiences in the RTL+ video podcast Dulatov Brothers, discussing their arrival in Germany, family relationships and ambitions beyond modeling and fighting. It gives audiences a chance to hear the family’s story in their own words.
Djibril was the first to find a place in fashion. Islam was the first to reach the UFC. Tamerlan has pursued both careers himself. Their paths have moved at different speeds, but for the Dulatovs, success in one profession helped make their ambitions in another possible.
