Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Take one step inside the brand-new, 38,000-square-foot UFC® GYM™ in Concord, Calif. and you’ll quickly learn that this is no ordinary fitness facility. As music pumps through the gym, an enthusiastic teenager swings heavy ropes, visions of Randy Couture dancing in his head. In another corner of the sprawling exercise center, a forty-something businessman channels his inner-Machida during karate class. And inside the UFC Gym’s renowned Octagon™, a mother of three fresh off the treadmill eagerly kicks Thai pads held by a dedicated instructor.
This is a normal day inside the state-of-the-art UFC Gym, which opened its doors to much fanfare last month in Concord. The gym, the first of many planned by the Ultimate Fighting Championship® in alliance with New Evolution Fitness Company (NEFC), is revolutionizing the exercise world by combining mixed martial arts and fitness.
With cutting-edge training techniques including MMA programming such as Muay Thai kickboxing, jiu jitsu, and self-defense classes, as well as one-of-a-kind offerings such as UFC Kid’s Gym Fitness, Octagon Training Disciplines, and High-Octane Conditioning, UFC gyms are allowing fitness seekers to train like their favorite UFC stars. In turn, UFC Gyms are motivating consumers and encouraging them to tackle fitness in a whole new way.
“UFC Gyms will raise the bar of what’s expected from a fitness center,” UFC President Dana White said. “We shook up the sports industry with the UFC and we plan to do the same to the fitness industry with UFC Gyms. Our gyms are more than just treadmills and free weights. We want people to step foot inside a UFC Gym and be a part of an awesome experience.”
“We share a passion to make UFC Gyms one of the most successful brands in the fitness industry,” NEFC founder Mark Mastrov, who oversees UFC Gyms with NEFC CEO/co-founder Jim Rowley, said. “With our innovative approach to fitness, we plan to create an atmosphere in which our members see immediate results. What’s more, they can do so in a facility that is second-to-none.”
That experience is already underway in Concord. With plans for an official grand opening of the first UFC Gym forthcoming, as well as designs to build UFC Gyms globally, White believes the first major brand extension of the Ultimate Fighting Championship is poised for major success worldwide. By invigorating the fitness industry with the raging success of the UFC, White is confident that UFC Gyms will build a strong following and become the ultimate fitness destination.
“The opening of the UFC Gym in Concord marks the beginning of a new era in fitness,” White said, adding that UFC Gyms featuring BJ Penn and Georges St-Pierre are planned in the fighter’s native cities of Hawaii and Montreal, respectively. “We’ve teamed with NEFC owners Mark Mastrov and Jim Rowley to create a brand that will get people excited about working out again. This is going to shape up the way we all approach fitness.”
For more information on UFC Gyms, please visit UFCgyms.com. For current UFC fight news, visit UFC.com, UK.UFC.com, GERMANY.UFC.com, UFCJapan.jp or UFCEspanol.com.
About The Ultimate Fighting Championship®
UFC is the largest live pay-per-view event content provider in the world and the fastest growing main stream sports organization in history. Owned and operated by Zuffa™, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iNDEMAND Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN Entertainment, BellTV, SaskTel Max™, Shaw Pay-Per-View, and Viewers Choice. International distributors include WOWOW in Japan, Rede TV and Globosat’s Combate Channel and SporTV in Brazil, ESPN in United Kingdom, Televisa in Mexico and throughout Central America, with worldwide distribution via the Internet on UFC.com and Yahoo! Sports. UFC content is distributed commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. UFC programming is distributed in 132 countries, territories and jurisdictions, reaching 430 million homes worldwide, in 20 different languages.
Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa® , The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, registered service marks, trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated entities and other licensees in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates or other respective owners.
About New Evolution Fitness Company (NEFC)
Based in Northern California, New Evolution Fitness Company (NEFC) has a two decade plus record of success delivering superior returns on investment in the acquisition, development, management and operation within the fitness industry both domestically and internationally. Founded in 2008 by Mark Mastrov and Jim Rowley, the current team of NEFC professionals represents over a century of experience working in a broad sector of health, wellness and fitness.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and just say it. This venture will fail and it will fail huge. I just don’t see any upside to this venture, there are only so many kids that would be willing to pay the huge amount of cash to join and think they will end up like their heros.
Just to add, this venture feels a lot like the XFL.
Not even close mma guru. Gyms with the right image can generate huge amounts of revenue. Even before opening their doors, this gym will have an incredible image and appeal behind it. Think of all martial arts fan that can now go to a large professional facility besides the martial art school they may or may not belong to. Like him or hate him, Dana White has a golden touch and my prediction is that in less than five years this chain will be a force in the health club industry.
Actually the comparison to the XFL is pretty lame. The NFL had all the stars, so it was inevitable the XFL would go extinct. Survival of the fittest, UFC already has most of the top mma fighters in the world under contract. The biggest exception would be Fedor of course. But Fedor is an island and the UFC is a continent of fighters, sponsors and endorsements etc.
Yes mma guru you are way out on the limb and very soon it will snap and you will fall down into the parking lot of the UFC gym built right under your nose even as you are being trampled by the mob of people rushing to get to their work out. And Dana White will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Some things never change. Most people can seldom see opportunity when they are staring it right in the face. Dana has proven over and over that he is a winner and has the golden touch. People want more than treadmills, yoga classes and workout equipment. They want to be connected to their dreams and to their idols. In this way, Dana is kind of like a drug pusher pushing a dream. It doesn’t matter if its realist or not. When have people been realistic when it comes to their dreams or passions. Dreams are what they are. People will pay through the nose for far less.
This gym will take off like wild fire and the rest of the industry will rush to copy what they are doing, but they will lack the image. And image is everything. So you are way wrong mma guru. Just like I would never bet against Warren Buffet, I would never bet against Dana White. They both have the golden touch.
Mark my words, you are no guru on this one, more like a young foolish grasshopper. LOL