Ray Longo is Building a Championship Team at LAW MMA
Ray Longo is Building a Championship Team at LAW MMA
LAW MMA is a tight-knit gym full of homegrown champions from the past, present and future.Just one glance at the images on the wall of fame hovering over th
LAW MMA is a tight-knit gym full of homegrown champions from the past, present and future.
Just one glance at the images on the wall of fame hovering over the mats and heavy bags is all it takes to realize this. The moments captured in time in these images show Matt Serra and his surprise after shocking the world at UFC 69 by capturing the UFC welterweight title from Georges St-Pierre. They also show Chris Weidman proudly sporting the UFC middleweight title around his waist after his surprising victory at UFC 162, among many others.
Co-owner of the Garden City, New York, gym and author of "The Book of Weidman," Ray Longo, is not just a coach to his team of face-smashers. He is a mentor, a father figure and a friend. He prides himself on the organic, grassroots, homegrown feel of the gym and the success of everyone in it. He is far more concerned about the spotlight being put on his fighters than he is about his self-promotion.
"I think you have to find people you like, that you have a connection with, that you don't mind sharing your personal life with," Longo said. "That's more important than the training. There are a million good trainers out there, but some of them can't get out of their own way. As long as the trainer is squared away, it's all good after that.
"No disrespect to any other trainers, because Chris is one of those guys who could be anywhere, and he would end up being a world champion. I am here to lift my guys up on my shoulders when they win and be a safety net for them when they fall."
Longo is a man of his word. He lives in a world where a handshake seals the deal. He has never signed a contract with the fighters he works with or represents. In taking that close relationship to an entirely new level with one of his star students, Longo officially went into business with the former UFC middleweight champion Weidman and helped him fulfill yet another dream: becoming a gym owner.
"I have been in the gym business for a long time," Longo said. "Right before Chris won the championship, he wanted to have his own gym. I thought it was a great opportunity to do something with him. He did a great job with it. He put a lot of money into the gym. He redid the gym the way he wanted it. He wanted a place he could train and get and not have to go to other gyms to get work in. And that's what we did.
"It was always more of a grassroots kind of gym. We had one bathroom and no shower. Now we have a couple of bathrooms and showers. That's what the people want. That's what they got. It's all good. It's a little cleaner than I am normally used to, but it's all good."
LAW MMA isn't a gym of fighters anonymously running around in scheduled classes, going through the motions and then heading home for the evening. It's not a facility full of wannabes fighting for popularity or paychecks, either. It's more of a fighting family. You can walk in any day and find novices rubbing shoulders with current and former UFC world champions and everything in between. It is a well-oiled machine of well-functioning friends fighting.
"Having the pro fighters here is the icing on the cake," Longo said. "We have top-level guys, so that keeps the stimulation up. There is a great synergy of pro athletes, amateurs, weekend warriors and guys that just want to get in shape.
"One thing feeds the other. Guys that train for fun love to be around the fighters. I think that's a big deal for a lot of people. I do a lot of private lessons. I don't think there is one private that I do that I don't like. I'm at a point in my life where I am only going to be around people I really like. I feel like I have worked my way up to at least doing that."
Just one glance at the images on the wall of fame hovering over the mats and heavy bags is all it takes to realize this. The moments captured in time in these images show Matt Serra and his surprise after shocking the world at UFC 69 by capturing the UFC welterweight title from Georges St-Pierre. They also show Chris Weidman proudly sporting the UFC middleweight title around his waist after his surprising victory at UFC 162, among many others.
Co-owner of the Garden City, New York, gym and author of "The Book of Weidman," Ray Longo, is not just a coach to his team of face-smashers. He is a mentor, a father figure and a friend. He prides himself on the organic, grassroots, homegrown feel of the gym and the success of everyone in it. He is far more concerned about the spotlight being put on his fighters than he is about his self-promotion.
"I think you have to find people you like, that you have a connection with, that you don't mind sharing your personal life with," Longo said. "That's more important than the training. There are a million good trainers out there, but some of them can't get out of their own way. As long as the trainer is squared away, it's all good after that.
"No disrespect to any other trainers, because Chris is one of those guys who could be anywhere, and he would end up being a world champion. I am here to lift my guys up on my shoulders when they win and be a safety net for them when they fall."
Longo is a man of his word. He lives in a world where a handshake seals the deal. He has never signed a contract with the fighters he works with or represents. In taking that close relationship to an entirely new level with one of his star students, Longo officially went into business with the former UFC middleweight champion Weidman and helped him fulfill yet another dream: becoming a gym owner.
"I have been in the gym business for a long time," Longo said. "Right before Chris won the championship, he wanted to have his own gym. I thought it was a great opportunity to do something with him. He did a great job with it. He put a lot of money into the gym. He redid the gym the way he wanted it. He wanted a place he could train and get and not have to go to other gyms to get work in. And that's what we did.
"It was always more of a grassroots kind of gym. We had one bathroom and no shower. Now we have a couple of bathrooms and showers. That's what the people want. That's what they got. It's all good. It's a little cleaner than I am normally used to, but it's all good."
LAW MMA isn't a gym of fighters anonymously running around in scheduled classes, going through the motions and then heading home for the evening. It's not a facility full of wannabes fighting for popularity or paychecks, either. It's more of a fighting family. You can walk in any day and find novices rubbing shoulders with current and former UFC world champions and everything in between. It is a well-oiled machine of well-functioning friends fighting.
"Having the pro fighters here is the icing on the cake," Longo said. "We have top-level guys, so that keeps the stimulation up. There is a great synergy of pro athletes, amateurs, weekend warriors and guys that just want to get in shape.
"One thing feeds the other. Guys that train for fun love to be around the fighters. I think that's a big deal for a lot of people. I do a lot of private lessons. I don't think there is one private that I do that I don't like. I'm at a point in my life where I am only going to be around people I really like. I feel like I have worked my way up to at least doing that."