Well I think it's a possibility that people might come into the school mostly for fitness reasons, but I think very few of them won't think on at least some level feel that they are much better fighters when they started, even if they aren't the goofass braggarts "Don't **** with me! I workout at UFC!" types.

It's a shame that they aren't teaching it all proper like, but I for one don't support the idea of a fight promotion also training and fostering fighters. I'm all for, say, open seminars where everyone gets together and trains with the best the sport has to offer under the banner of the UFC, but I just can't get behind the UFC as an organisation that nurtures talent. Seems like a conflict of interest to me.

I don't see the problem really, they're straight up about not creating competitive fighters. If the training is good for fitness and a bit of basic self protection then why not? One thing I do see coming down the line for UFC though is some kind of a loss of credibility unless they market the difference between their McUFC dojos and genuine cage fighters. As has been said here, there will loads of goofballs going around saying they train at UFC and spin offs where guys set their own dojos off the back of them having "trained at the UFC". It could be a good way for them to spot up and coming talent though, perhaps they will have another class of schools for more genuine fight training (eg UFC Pro)...

The UFC is a commercial business, it exploits fighters, etc. It is not some saintly undertaking, lighting the way to the ultimate truth in martial arts. It's the fight business, and the fight business is populated by seedy types. Plenty of young guys are going to get brain damage to feed some guys record, and have little to show for it. You're shocked that White would do something to make more money? Grow up!

And as far as the Gracies go, they are all about the money, take it from an ex student. There will be hard core gyms, you'll just have to seek them out.

I walked by the Ralph Gracie school here in Berkeley once and watched a class for a few minutes. Not ONE of those college kids on the mat were ever going to be world champs! Some of them were even giggling as they rolled! Giggling!

The quality of fighters coming out of the UFC gyms is what will matter in the long run. They're basically putting a safety net in place for fighter failure. If they actually train competition fighters who go out and get their asses kicked in the local shows they can always fall back on the "We're not looking to train or create fighters, We're looking to create a fun family environment.” comment.

If they do actually produce some quality fighters then they can always say, "Of course they're good they come from the UFC gym!" They are basically just covering their asses. Initially it will probably hurt some of the local gyms but as soon as they start losing fights on a consistent basis their real fighter clientle will drop off and go back to the local gyms.

I think the masses will flock there because "Its teh ultimate fightin"

MMA/Vale tudo/NHB is not and should never be "family friendly"!

These gyms sure don't look as real as it gets (TM).

I see no reason why these UFC gyms can't try to foster fighters as well as keep it a family fun enviornment. The LA Boxing club near my house, for example, has children's classes and cardio kickboxing, but it also has legit coaches and a fight team.

I've visited the LA Boxing in my neck of the woods and was impressed with their ability to train fighters and fitness enthusiasts alike.

I'm not sure I get how they are training fighters at any level with no striking at all, and what seems like pretty limited grappling. It's a gimmicky 24 hour fitness. Rate it as such.

nice kicking technique in the first photo ;]

"In high school we UFC if anyone had a problem. We'd meet after school at the flag pole and two kids would UFC until there was a winner. Sometimes the UFC got brutal and all the kids would stand around and chant "UFC...UFC... UFC". Since then I've matured, I only get into the occasional UFC."

what really fucks me off, and this is a bugbear i have with some of the PTs i work with as well- teaching good technique isnt hard. if you cant teach someone to have good technique, it isnt the person you are training, its YOU who is doing it wrong. of course not everyone is cut out for fighting but the 40 year old lady i train is still gonna get tagged if she drops her fucking hands. perhaps not as hard as i would tag a 25 year old rugby player, but the intent is the same.

and they appreciate it too. and it keeps me in business because the guys i train look fucking dangerous as opposed to looking like clowns who apparently value guarding their navel over their face.

this kind of gym- makes sense from a business standpoint, the problem comes with the fact that the "instructors" are gonna be people with **** all experience who couldnt spot errors in tech if their life depended on it.

well one thing to consider some people are fans of watching ufc and might enjoy that level of training without being a pro fighter...its the same as watching people that are into football and could never hope to com pete, play flag or two handed touch football.. its only silly if one of those guys says hes the best player ever since he dominates in that low level arena, other people would look at him silly and hopefully make him check himself

As the future owner of an MMA mcdojo I find this to be totally awesome!
jk, my gym will actually produce fighters.
I wonder if they're planning on holding fight shows in the gym, I went to a show at a big commercial gym once and it wasn't a bad setup. And with a freakin Octagon right in the center... it only makes sense. After all, they could make a killing.

What's the point in having an octagon in these gyms?

What's the point in having an octagon in these gyms?

Its just about the look, but another point thats overlooked is that you can also have people that actually know something and train there. Take my case as an example I'm 42 , I've been training in Muay Thai for over 25 years, and have been doing Greco Roman Wrestling for about 12 years. I stopped going to MMA gyms about 4 years ago. Why you ask? Because simply it was to damn expensive. MMA gyms in my area range from $80 to $150 per month. In addittion I have a membership at Golds Gym which costs me $30 per month. I found by just going to Golds I ran into lots of USF wrestlers in addittion to other martial artists that I could train with. A group of us always get together in their aerobics room for a good throwdown, and training. So by just doing training at Golds I save a good amount of money. Oh, and yes we keep our hands up.