Is Ray Longo the GOAT coach? 4 UFC champs out of a small gym in Long Island

[ExitLUPin]

Matt Serra one of the biggest upsets against WW GOAT GSP he also took BJ Penn and Matt Hughes to the brink

Weidman upset against MW GOAT Anderson and ended a 17 fight win streak and 7 year unbeaten streak. Weidman started his career 13-0 and hadnt lost for 6 years

Aljo big upset against Yan and made defenses, 9 fight win streak in the deepest division at the time, 5 years unbeaten

Merab beats down OMalley. 11 fight win streak, 6 years unbeaten

All of them were purely GRAPPLERS too that knew 0 striking before training with Longo.

Chris developed great MMA striking and KOd one of the GOAT strikers. Matt and Aljo developed serviceable striking Serra even finishing GSP with striking and has KOd some good guys. Now Merabs standup has improved leaps and bounds since he moved there.

 

[no fat chicks]

He kind of looks like Danaher in that picture.

They must have good coaching phrenology

 

[Substance Abuse]

The 'GOAT Coach' is carried to greatness by top level fighters. Don't ever think different.

 

[RonDante]

There’s an argument. Honestly, who would be ahead of him?

 

[Rationality]

He's up there for sure.

 

[John makfresshi]

There’s an argument. Honestly, who would be ahead of him?

Javier Mendez

 

[Pechan]

He should fight Javier Mendez for the honor.

 

[muaytao]

This guy gives me the creeps

 

[Brom Bones]

He probably lets the fighters suck on his tits to imbibe them with his powers.

 

[BjPenn2017]

Him telling Chris Weidman to punch a hole in Anderson’s fucking chest was awesome, he is a great coach and knows his fighters strengths and weakness very well

 

[muaythaibeast]

There’s an argument. Honestly, who would be ahead of him?

Greg Jackson

 

[Bend NvR Break]

They robbed Serra in the Hughes fight. That should've been a Serra victory by decision 29-28.

 

[NoSmilez]

I think it is a little bit of luck too. I think they are one of the few real MMA school in NYC area. Population is huge there and athletes need a place to train at even though it is out of the way in Long Island. Longo's gym is not small. They have space for weights and a cage.

Most MMA places over in NYC aren't really MMA schools. There are BJJ places that might have a striking class or a striking place that has BJJ class. Wrestling is taught half assed at those places. Most places don't have a cage or an active team. Even guys like GSP wasn't training MMA there. He was doing striking in one spot then BJJ in another.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

The 'GOAT Coach' is carried to greatness by top level fighters. Don't ever think different.

Absolutely not Sherbro. A coach can make it break a fighter.

 

[20falarVerdades]

Prime Greg Jackson

 

[Elvis.]

 

[_manhattan]

 

[HuskySamoan]

Matt Serra one of the biggest upsets against WW GOAT GSP he also took BJ Penn and Matt Hughes to the brink

Weidman upset against MW GOAT Anderson and ended a 17 fight win streak and 7 year unbeaten streak. Weidman started his career 13-0 and hadnt lost for 6 years

Aljo big upset against Yan and made defenses, 9 fight win streak in the deepest division at the time, 5 years unbeaten

Merab beats down OMalley. 11 fight win streak, 6 years unbeaten

All of them were purely GRAPPLERS too that knew 0 striking before training with Longo.

Chris developed great MMA striking and KOd one of the GOAT strikers. Matt and Aljo developed serviceable striking Serra even finishing GSP with striking and has KOd some good guys. Now Merabs standup has improved leaps and bounds since he moved there.

GOAT coach is Abdulmanap, all other discussions come in at 2nd place and beyond. He coached guys like Khabib, Usman, Umar, Islam from when they were kids. Not just them either but so many guys came up with him through Sambo and MMA even if they left at some point or he passed away...Tagir, Renat, Frodo, Ikram, Sultan, Gadzhi etc etc. One knock on Longo here is both Aljo and Serra kinda won their titles off of flukes. Merab is a good nod but he came to Longo in his 20s already established in Judo, experience in wrestling, amateur boxing, kickboxing and MMA training. Longo is a good mention though since it's not a vast system of coaches with him, he's the guy sorta like Mark Henry as opposed to guys like Xtreme Couture, Killcliff, ATT where there's a lot of coaches contributing.


Anyways, seriously, Abdulmanap has been dead 4 years and has raised champions and his system of fighting hasn't begun to be broken yet at producing champions. He got in at the gross roots levels with guys too, he didn't have highly skilled guys coming to him in their 20s. Pros and cons to both but yeah.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

I think its a perfect blend

Talented, competitive guys with tons of drive that already bring a strong skill-set to the table

Good coaching tactics, delivering effective basic techniques, through drills. Different gyms drill different aspects, some of these aspects are more important than the others so what/where you drill can impact your game

Training partners that push you and can beat you always helps, egotistical guys don’t like this and some others seem to do OK without this concept


Matt Hume built Mighty Mouse into an unstoppable well-rounded goat and I can’t name one of his training partners

Same with Max Holloway, idk who the fuck he trains with, he a goat too

Topuria? Trains with his brother….?

 

[IIIIIIII]

i don't know about the best coach when it comes to the x's and o's, but he seems to be the best at connecting with fighters on a personal level and gaining their trust. the one thing i always notice between rounds is how upbeat they usually are. even when things don't look great, it never feels like they lose spirit.