FOR MMA GYMS
Four disciplines, one till, and no software that admits it
An MMA gym is the hardest of these to run: striking, wrestling, grappling and the rounds where they meet, usually with a different coach for each and a timetable per discipline. The member list is one list, the money is one account, and nothing joins them up.
The progression problem is worse. A gym that grades boxing and jiu-jitsu separately produces fighters who are good at neither in a cage, because nobody is tracking the phases in between: the shot off the jab, getting up under strikes, the scramble.
STRIKING, WRESTLING AND GROUND PHASES
Phases, not belts
The MMA template is organised by phase (stand-up, clinch, takedowns, ground) and the integrations between them, recorded as ordered sequences: strike into takedown, sprawl into front headlock, get up under strikes. On top of it sits an amateur-to-pro track sequenced by sanctioning reality rather than talent: cleared to spar, medicals and licence, amateur bouts, a win standing and a win on the ground, then a professional debut.
What that changes for an MMA gym
Knowing which phase you are losing
A fighter who cannot name it cannot choose to leave it. The tree makes that conversation specific instead of 'work on your wrestling'.
Cleared to spar is a decision, and it is recorded
So nobody gets put in hard rounds because a different coach assumed they were ready.
One member list across four timetables
Somebody who came in for striking and stayed for wrestling is the same member, on the same plan, in the same analytics.
Medicals and licences before the week of
The paperwork a commission needs, against the fighter who needs it, rather than in a folder of PDFs.
SEE IT AS THEY WOULD
Step into an MMA gym
Four seats in an MMA gym with an amateur team and two hundred members who will never fight. It is Crucible MMA, Pittsburgh, PA, an invented gym in a sandbox that resets every night, not a customer.
Dana Kowalski
Owner — an MMA gym with an amateur team
Owns Crucible and manages five amateurs and one pro. Start here: the phase-based curriculum, the amateur-to-pro track, and the memberships that pay the rent.
Rui Almeida
Head coach — wrestling and integration
Coaches the wrestling and the MMA rounds, and decides who is cleared to spar. Look at how a fighter's phases are recorded and where the gaps show.
Josh Armitage
Front desk — check-in, day passes, walk-ins
Handles the desk, the day passes and the phone. Look at the desk screen, and at how narrow the permissions on it are.
Sofia Marchetti
Member — amateur, 3-1
Three amateur bouts and a win in each phase. Her progress page shows the amateur-to-pro track with real history behind it.