What's the quality of BJJ classes in the UFC gyms?

BoxingFan653

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So I just moved out here to San Diego from Los Angeles. I had a legit MMA gym and I am just a recreational kinda guy so it's hard to let me down.

With that said, the most surprising thing about San Diego is that the gyms around here (weight lifting) kinda suck. I also have been looking for a BJJ gym and I hear there are plenty of options for the usual $110-150 a month minimum.

However, I live close to the UFC gym around here and it's about $69-80 per month and it might be the right fit to kill two birds with one stone.

However, before I sign up (again) to another bad gym membership I was wondering what you guys think of UFC gyms or any advice? I checked yelp and all that and the reviews seem kinda tampered with like friends and family reviews.

I would appreciate any advice. Not trying to train to become a world class fighter just something to get my fat ass into shape. I have 1 year of training in BJJ as well.
 
Depends on the gym I would think.

We had a blue belt leave our school to be an instructor at a UFC gym then he left and a purple belt from our school took over. In this case I would say very low level.
 
Every ufc gym is meant basically for fun, you can spar over at those gyms but they don't compete at all. And their mainly for just working out that's it.
 
Check it out. They'll give you a pass. You can't throw a rock in San Diego without hitting a black belt, so who knows what you'll get.
 
The quality of the training at UFC gyms depends entirely on the coaches they have. There are good coaches at some gyms, and the training will be 100% legit and you'll compete if you want.
 
I stopped by the Huntington Beach ufc gym and some purple belt was teaching a class. Which was silly. But the facility is amazing.
 
It really depends on the gym. Some can be really high level, for example, BJ Penn Honolulu location. On the other hand as others have stated, it can be some blue belt.
 
Just try it out. It will never be as good as a real bjj school but some UFC gyms can come close
 
The one in Oceanside has a brown belt that I wrestled against in college. He's a tough dude but the numbers of really good athletes is low. I sent a few of my students there and they liked it. These are 12-14 year old boys from the hood, they were very surprised when a blue belt female was beating their ass.
 
They're all different. Gym near me had a black belt instructor in addition to solid striking coaches.
 
So I just moved out here to San Diego from Los Angeles. I had a legit MMA gym and I am just a recreational kinda guy so it's hard to let me down.

With that said, the most surprising thing about San Diego is that the gyms around here (weight lifting) kinda suck. I also have been looking for a BJJ gym and I hear there are plenty of options for the usual $110-150 a month minimum.

However, I live close to the UFC gym around here and it's about $69-80 per month and it might be the right fit to kill two birds with one stone.

However, before I sign up (again) to another bad gym membership I was wondering what you guys think of UFC gyms or any advice? I checked yelp and all that and the reviews seem kinda tampered with like friends and family reviews.

I would appreciate any advice. Not trying to train to become a world class fighter just something to get my fat ass into shape. I have 1 year of training in BJJ as well.
Dude, If I lived in San Diego and was wanting some of the best BJJ training I could possibly ever receive (regardless if that's for competition or just self defense/ weight loss purposes,) I'd be moving to ATOS. cost of living in Cali is just outrageous nowadays, or else that's where I'd be in a heartbeat.

UFC Gyms aren't something I would necessarily waste my time with, unless I just wanted to go do some strength training or break a lil sweat with some of my training partners on an off day and go roll there..

You may get lucky with a UFC gym and have a legit blackbelt there though, who knows.. I just wouldn't waste my time there if their rank was lower than Brown Belt and I would need to roll with them to see if they're legit. In today's world, it's easy to go buy a colored belt and pose as whatever belt you wanna be.
 
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I used the weights a few times on a guest pass in Lakewood CA (just outside Long Beach). Watched the BJJ class out of the corner of my eye. It was laughably bad. I am/was a very casual BJJ hobbyist, and the lack of intensity was embarrassing even to me.

The gym was all about HIT classes and treadmills. I think the BJJ was an afterthought.

Other gyms may be better.
 
Hey man what part of SD are you in? I live in SD too.

People laugh when I say this, but I like the Gracie Barra I train at. Our black belt holds multiple gold medals from Pan/Worlds/Nationals etc and is so far the toughest person I ever rolled with. He's legit.

I am more than happy to give my honest opinion but PM me please. People here can be too judgmental when it comes to Grace Barras
 
@Evenflow80

Does Gracie Barra have a bad reputation? Why?

People here trash Gb a lot when I mention I train there. Not sure why. Because maybe it's the biggest organization? At any rate whenever anyone posts on here they are in San Diego looking for bjj gyms I just tell them to privately PM me and I'll be happy to help recommend the GB I train at and answer all questions honestly
 
People here trash Gb a lot when I mention I train there. Not sure why. Because maybe it's the biggest organization? At any rate whenever anyone posts on here they are in San Diego looking for bjj gyms I just tell them to privately PM me and I'll be happy to help recommend the GB I train at and answer all questions honestly
I had a coworker who works out there, Ray, if its the one I have trained at. Hes a blackbelt. I was very impressed with the facilities, the level of competition, and mostly, how genuinely nice and accommodating everyone was. Highly above average gym.
 
I had a coworker who works out there, Ray, if its the one I have trained at. Hes a blackbelt. I was very impressed with the facilities, the level of competition, and mostly, how genuinely nice and accommodating everyone was. Highly above average gym.

Hmm not sure i rememeber a black belt Ray, which GB are you referring to?

Feel teh same way at my GB too. Granted, I've only ever trained at a GB, but judging from our competition results etc, we're pretty decent.

And yeah every one there now is a friend to me. Not a single jerk or unpleaseant person, which is truly remarkable when you think about it.
 
@Evenflow80

Does Gracie Barra have a bad reputation? Why?

It's not that they have a bad reputation, they just have two major turn off points.

1) Is that they're a megacorp (who also happens to run the most prestigious BJJ-focused tournaments). They have a crapton of affiliate gyms, and that's scary. They have a certain way they expect the business side to work (i.e., I've visited GB gyms that demanded GB gi's were the only acceptable Gi's, have certain sales tactics they all employ, etc.). It's very efficient as a franchise. A lot of the critics of GB are pretty much put off by that fact alone; it reminds them of the tae kwon do chains. In reality the quality is across the spectrum (there are world class competitors who fly the GB colors, and since bell curves are a thing, naturally there will be some lower-quality schools) as with any school/affiliate system, but it's easy to forget that fact sometimes. They also tried some shenanigans regarding exclusive in-house GB tournaments, but I don't know if that ever actually happened. It was like, 8 years ago?

2) Is that it engenders intense tribalism, or becomes an identity for people. It can happen with any gym, but since there are a large number of GB students (see 1), it becomes a more pervasive feeling for a lot of people. And while anyone within the GB family loves to link up arm-in-arm with their fellow GB brethren in singing the gospel, it's annoying for non-GB people. Obviously not true for every GB student, and there's nothing wrong with having pride in your school; but it's the same reason 10th planet students or Gracie Combatives students can get under your skin, because they base their entire identity off of what BJJ franchise they pay their money to.

Unless I'm totally disconnected from people nowadays, this is the main beef. Very little of it actually has to do with the instructors or training, but just with business attitudes and student attitudes.
 
It's not that they have a bad reputation, they just have two major turn off points.

1) Is that they're a megacorp (who also happens to run the most prestigious BJJ-focused tournaments). They have a crapton of affiliate gyms, and that's scary. They have a certain way they expect the business side to work (i.e., I've visited GB gyms that demanded GB gi's were the only acceptable Gi's, have certain sales tactics they all employ, etc.). It's very efficient as a franchise. A lot of the critics of GB are pretty much put off by that fact alone; it reminds them of the tae kwon do chains. In reality the quality is across the spectrum (there are world class competitors who fly the GB colors, and since bell curves are a thing, naturally there will be some lower-quality schools) as with any school/affiliate system, but it's easy to forget that fact sometimes. They also tried some shenanigans regarding exclusive in-house GB tournaments, but I don't know if that ever actually happened. It was like, 8 years ago?

2) Is that it engenders intense tribalism, or becomes an identity for people. It can happen with any gym, but since there are a large number of GB students (see 1), it becomes a more pervasive feeling for a lot of people. And while anyone within the GB family loves to link up arm-in-arm with their fellow GB brethren in singing the gospel, it's annoying for non-GB people. Obviously not true for every GB student, and there's nothing wrong with having pride in your school; but it's the same reason 10th planet students or Gracie Combatives students can get under your skin, because they base their entire identity off of what BJJ franchise they pay their money to.

Unless I'm totally disconnected from people nowadays, this is the main beef. Very little of it actually has to do with the instructors or training, but just with business attitudes and student attitudes.

You're not wrong on anything you said. In my GB they're extremely strict about using only Gracie Barra official wear and nothing else. This extends all the way to the $70 shorts we use for no-gi. About the only thing I am so far allowed to wear that is not GB wear are the black tights under my GB shorts on no-gi days. Gis run about $200 and rash guards and shorts $70 each. Its expensive but the quality is definitely pretty good IMO.

There is a quarterly GB only tournament, GB Compnet. Its OK, just a bit disorganized and its mostly the kids divisions. I had a ton of fun the firs time I competed though, and I did IBJJF and other smaller local tournaments, and GB compnet was above average in terms of professionalism and quality of competition, but IBJJF was obviously way better.

Its also true that we are expected to be fanatically loyal to GB and nothing else. Every day our professor instills that in us. But I really thought it was the same or even worse at other affiliations/teams?
 
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