Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/810324
PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAROSLAV NELIUBOV/SHUTTERSTOCK (MALE FIGHTER); GETTY IMAGES (FEMALE FIGHTER); DESIGN AND RENDERING BY KGA ARCHITECTURE The UFC's new Performance Institute will include a full-size octagon and bag-training area with camera analysis to help fighters hone their technique. FIGHT CLUB UFC'S STATE-OF-THE-ART PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE GETS READY TO RUMBLE. BY MATT KELEMEN It's early in the year, and Ultimate Fighting Championship COO Lawrence Epstein is leading a tour of the mixed martial arts organiza- tion's massive new Corporate Campus and Performance Institute. "Everything is on schedule" for its May opening, Epstein says. "You can really visualize what's going to happen with athletes using the facility." Actually, it's difficult to envision unless you can imagine more than 500 finely tuned UFC fighters along with a 250-plus member staff at the UFC Athlete Retreat, which will bring them all together in the 30,000-square-foot facility for two days right after the opening to experience the amenities they'll have free access to. Six miles southwest of UFC's Vegas event venue, T-Mobile Arena, fighters will train with top-shelf equipment in environments that simulate training in higher altitudes; indoor and outdoor tracks; and even pain management with laser technol- ogy and cryotherapy. Upstairs, fighters will be able to analyze their sparring technique via camera analysis and motion capture technology while they work out. The Institute was designed to have crossover appeal, since other professional athletes and celeb clients of parent company WME/IMG will have access, too. Still, Epstein emphasizes, the Institute is all about UFC's fighters. "First the facility needs to accommodate our athletes," he says, "but we see opportunity for working with athletes from other sports. Las Vegas is turning into one of the greatest sports towns anywhere in the world." 21 Complex Dr.; ufcgym.com . "LAS VEGAS IS TURNING INTO ONE OF THE GREATEST SPORTS TOWNS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD." —LAWRENCE EPSTEIN 64 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM SPACE SNEAK PEEK