The Arena (MMA)
The Arena is a Mixed Martial Arts gym / team headquartered out of San Diego, California, with an additional location in the West Coast of Australia. The Arena is considered one of the top 10 fight teams in the United States, with fighters signed to major U.S. promotions including UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, and Bellator, Prominent trainers include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Coach Rani Yahya, Wrestling Coach Stephen Abas, MMA Coach Jeff Clark and Boxing Coach Rob Garcia.
History
The Arena was originally a private training facility for professional MMA fighters, similar to the Black House gym now located in Los Angeles.
In 2009, The Arena began teaching mixed arts classes to the public in order to create a feeder system to recruit and train potential fighters as well as instruct martial arts students who want to train like fighters.
The Arena was named for the Latin word "Arena", which was used to describe the area inside Roman amphitheaters where gladitorial contests where held. "Arena" originally meant "sand" in Latin. The word became synonymous with these Roman amphitheaters, because layers of sand covered the floors inside them to absorb the spilled blood of the gladiators who fought there.
Today
Today, The Arena is one of the fastest growing Mixed Martial Arts gyms / teams in the sport. The Arena specifically focuses on teaching Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, No Gi Jiu Jitsu, and Wrestling up to highly competitive levels.
The Arena's Grappling program is particularly strong. Rani Yahya, the 2007 ADCC World Champion and WEC Contender, is the Head Jiu Jitsu Coach at The Arena. Yahya has the highest submission percentage (93.33%) of any ranked fighter in MMA and is regarded as one of the best pound for pound grapplers on the planet.
In addition to Yahya, Freestyle Wrestler Stephen Abas, coaches at The Arena. Abas is one of the most accomplished U.S. wrestlers in the history of the sport. He was a 4x NCAA All-American and 3x National Champion, with a collegiate record of 144-4. After graduating college in 2002, Abas went on to win a Silver Medal for the U.S. in the 2004 Olympics. Other wrestlers who trained with Abas at the United States Olympic Training Center (USOTC) also train at The Arena.
To round out their Wrestling training, The Arena brought on Gheorghe Ignat, a Heavyweight Greco-Roman Wrestler, to coach as well as fight. From Romania, Ignat was a national champion by the age of 15 and made the Olympic Team the following year, the youngest wrestler in the history of Romania to do so. Ignat has won multiple Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in numerous International championships. Besides turning pro as a MMA fighter, he plans to compete in Greco-Roman Wrestling for Romania in the 2012 Olympics.
Backed up by its world-class coaching, The Arena has a young, but highly regarded professional fight team that includes champions, contenders, and up and coming fighters.
Fighter Roster
- Diego Sanchez aka "Nightmare"
- Rani Yahya
- Cristiane Santos aka "Cyborg"
- Fabricio Camoes aka "Morango"
- KJ Noons
- Xande Ribeiro
- Joe Duarte
- and many others.
Because of The Arena's strong relationships with high-level members of the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community such as Royler Gracie and Saulo Ribeiro, many other Jiu Jitsu / MMA fighters train at The Arena's San Diego headquarters when they are in the area, including André Galvão, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Antônio Rogério Nogueira, Demian Maia, Junior dos Santos, Paulo Thiago, etc.