The UFC’s ongoing global expansion will continue in 2023 with the opening of a new UFC Performance Institute in Mexico City.
The new facility, which is planned to open in Q4, will offer the same state-of-the-art facilities that have already been established at the UFC’s other Performance Institutes in Las Vegas and Shanghai. Now the organization plans to build a bricks-and-mortar presence for the Latin American market, with the 32,000-square foot facility set to be a similar size to the original UFC PI in Vegas.
Per a press release from the UFC, the UFC Performance Institute in Mexico City “will feature experts in the fields of MMA coaching, strength and conditioning, sports science, physical therapy and performance nutrition, and will serve as a training hub to develop and support MMA athletes from Mexico and the greater LATAM region.”
“Some of the greatest athletes in combat sports history have come from Mexico,” said UFC President Dana White.
“Our teams at the PI are the best in the world at what they do, and we know that by making the resources and training available in the country, Mexico can become one of the greatest sources of MMA talent in the world. This is a massive opportunity for the sport of MMA and for athletes throughout Latin America.”
The new facility will be a focal point for the UFC, which already has 150 Latin American fighters on its active roster, which amounts to more than 20 percent of the total. That group includes UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno, and interim UFC featherweight title challenger Yair Rodriguez.
Per the press release, “UFC opened the first Performance Institute in Las Vegas in 2017 as the world’s first Mixed Martial Arts multi-disciplinary research, innovation, and training center.
“Through the first five years of operation, over 700 athletes on the UFC roster have utilized the facility or its remote services. In addition, hundreds of athletes from the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, as well as the Olympics and college sports, have visited the facility for support during their off-season training.
“In 2019, UFC opened a second Performance Institute in Shanghai, now the world’s largest, state-of-the-art MMA training and development facility. Nearly three times as large as the Las Vegas facility, the 93,000 square-foot facility in Shanghai serves as a training hub to develop and support the next generation of MMA athletes from mainland China and the greater Asia-Pacific region.”