Our Work
UFC Performance Institute - Las Vegas, Shanghai & Mexico City
Transforming the UFC’s approach to athlete development
facilities across three continents
flagship facility in Las Vegas
of athletes on UFC roster supported by the Performance Institutes
Las Vegas
Shanghai
Mexico City
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With its legacy in mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, UFC sought to elevate the brand’s perception on the elite global sports stage and create sustainable growth through the creation of its own talent development programme. In 2017, the concept of the UFC Performance Institute was born, and Ardent Sports was brought in to develop the global strategy for the UFC Performance Institute (PI) and its connection to the athlete community.
This facility was to be much more than just a gym; it needed to integrate high-performance services that support all aspects of an athlete’s training and development, including wellbeing, recovery, rehabilitation and competition. The team at Ardent led and developed the functional design and design brief for the new performance institute; working alongside the architect and project management team to create the design concept and oversee the design review.
Leveraging its wider expertise in elite sports training environments, Ardent Sports was also responsible for the procurement of the equipment and the recruitment of the performance team.
The Las Vegas PI became the blueprint for future facilities, with Ardent Sports supporting the launch of UFC Performance Institutes in Shanghai (2019) and Mexico (2024), as part of the UFC’s strategy to deliver best-in-class services to support optimal performance for athletes and coaches around the world.
The UFC Performance Institute continues to be a global leader in human performance and the ‘gold-standard’ for health, wellbeing, and performance in MMA and combat sports.
“From the outset, our goal was to define and elevate the global blueprint for elite MMA performance. Working with Ardent Sports, we developed a cohesive strategy - from defining our vision and benchmarking, to detailed functional design - that shaped the UFC Performance Institute into the high-performance ecosystem it is today. Ardent Sports' athlete-centred approach combined with their strategic and technical expertise helped us build facilities in our global strategic markets, that not only supports today’s fighters, but anticipates the needs of tomorrow’s elite talent.”
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