By Monta Wiley
Behind every great fighter stands at their side a great coach. These coaches are considered generals, building and preparing their warriors for battle through rigorous training exercises and strategic development in order to give them the tools necessary to obtaining successful careers in mixed martial arts.
Being a leader is a tough role to take on. With the committed obligation of building legions of fighters from nothing it is met with difficult hurdles through the venture. Nevertheless when the smoke clears and fighters and the coach’s school blossoms to great heights it makes all that pain and struggle worth every moment.
In this exclusive two-part series Fight Hub TV talks with four instructors who give us an in-depth look at the biggest reward their received from being a coach. Part 1 starts off with Former Co-Owner of Team Quest Heath Sims, Marc Fiore Head instructor of Fiore MMA and world renowned coach Greg Nelson
Heath Sims (Former Co-Owner of Team Quest): Starting, developing, and running Team Quest has been very rewarding. What makes the experience rewarding is that it was created from scratch. We started with a small group of fighters that trained together in a high school wrestling room and built it into one of the most successful gyms in the world. There was an enormous amount of time devoted to many aspects to create a successful gym. This started with choosing the right location. Then designing the most efficient layout. We developed all the training programs, hired instructors and staff, formed marketing plans, and put everything into motion. This was all done on a boot string budget and many hours of hard work.
The coaching was the easiest part of the puzzle. This was because it is what we know best. If we had all of the puzzle in place we could concentrate on the fighters. The most rewarding part of the countless hours of work would be the development of our fight team. Over a 5 year period we created many opportunities for our fighters by providing management. We started Sokoudjou in Pride. Team Quest placed Tarec Saffiedine, Jesse Taylor, and Joe Warren in Dream and Strikeforce. Team Quest had a major impact on the UFC program, The Ultimate Fighter. We placed 5 fighters on TUF. Dan Henderson along with our coaching staff were the coaches for TUF 9.
Marc Fiore (Head instructor of Fiore MMA): being involved in the sport of MMA for 12 years has been satisfying and a joy to meet fighters, coaches and all the people in the MMA world. I have been fortunate enough to corner and train world champions in the past; my goals of today are too get my young fighters to the big show and the fighters that I already have in the big show is to get them to be world champions. I drive to the gym every day with a smile on my face, because I have 30 fighters that all have the same goal. The biggest joy I get out of coaching MMA is calling my young fighters and telling them they made it to the big show and to see the joy in there face when they are getting their hands wrapped by the best Cut man in the world. I enjoy seeing my fighters lights turn on when the big show lights turn on. Obviously I enjoy seeing them win, but most of all what I enjoy about training fighters is the fight but after that Friday/Saturday they are back in the gym that following Monday to get better.
Greg Nelson: I have been practicing ‘Mixed Martial Arts’ since 1983. I was already wrestling, boxing and doing martial arts in 1977, but really focused on gymnastics and wrestling as competitive sports and martial arts with a couple friends. However in 1983 I started training in Thai Boxing, Jun Fan Martial Arts and Filipino Kali. We were doing Kickboxing to Takedown to Striking on the Ground drills with Sifu Larry Hartsell in 1985. I was also sparring with Clinch and take downs in the mid-late 80’s. To put it lightly, I have a serious love for the sports of MMA, Muay Thai, Submission Grappling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and wrestling (the Combative Martial Arts). In addition I am a Martial Artist and believe in and focus on the tenants of traditional martial arts (something that is getting lost in MMA).
Growing with the sport, and being at the cutting edge of it, there have been many changes over the years. One thing has stayed the same, my love for training and seeing how far I can take a disciplined, hardworking individual and allow him to grow as an athlete and a person of character. Ultimately, my goal is to change people’s lives for the better through the martial arts.
Through the day in and day out training I can see the difference in our fighters. The growth of not only their fighting skill but how they are changing and becoming training partners helping each other out and looking after one another. This is a team and the strength of the wolf is in the pack and the strength of the Pack is in the Wolf. In the end, I hope that the fighters that are pushing so hard now will come to love it as I do, and become part of the coaching staff. If you can develop, not only a great fighter, but also a great instructor that has the attitude of a student, always learning and growing, you have the perfect trifecta.
It has been rewarding to take 3 wrestlers that have had no, zero, nada, real martial arts training, and take them from their first MMA fight all the way to the UFC Champion. I am not sure how many other instructors have done that, but that is just a start. We have developed three home grown UFC Champions at 3 different weight classes (155, 185 & Heavy Weight). For me when they get that belt strapped around their waist, it solidifies that we are doing something right. The fighters’ aside, having a school that maintains a high level of martial integrity has also been a source of pride. We have around 550 students that are doing BJJ, Muay Thai, MMA or JKD/Kali. That is the real reward, taking average people and increasing the quality of their lives through solid straight forward no nonsense high quality martial arts. Looking out at the floor on any given night I can see doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, construction workers, salesmen, you name it, they are on the floor pushing hard. We have had a number of people lose over 100 pounds and a lot of people lose 30-50 pounds while at the same time learning useful skill. Honestly, that is the greatest reward, everyday Jack and Jills feeling great, being healthy and having a more productive life because of it.
When you love what you do and see positive results in hundreds of people and have been part of developing a dedicated group of discipline fighters, a few to the highest level, it’s rewarding, but it simply has become my way of life.
