WLIT.FM™ Exclusive: Ray Longo - The architect of Long Island MMA greatness
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — Trace the biggest moments in Long Island mixed martial arts and you keep landing on one name: Ray Longo. Coach, teacher, tactician, and culture-builder, Longo turned a neighborhood facility into a launchpad for world titles—and a home for fighters who carry the Island’s work ethic into the Octagon. From Matt Serra’s seismic upset of Georges St-Pierre to Chris Weidman’s dethroning of Anderson Silva, and the bantamweight era shaped by Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili, the imprint reads the same: disciplined striking, smart game plans, and a team-first mentality that starts on Commercial Avenue in Garden City at Ray Longo MMA.
The Garden City hub
Inside an unassuming industrial strip sits Ray Longo MMA—a neighborhood academy and elite fight lab in one. Beginners share mat space with professionals, every session steeped in fundamentals: footwork, feints, distance management, defensive responsibility, and clean, repeatable combinations. The mantra is simple: master the basics, then express them at speed.
Four world champions—and a pipeline of contenders
Longo is among the rare coaches to help produce four UFC champions from one regional ecosystem:
Matt Serra — UFC Welterweight Champion (2007). The knockout of GSP at UFC 69 remains one of the sport’s defining upsets—born from preparation, composure, and the belief that fundamentals win fights.
Chris Weidman — UFC Middleweight Champion (2013). Calm entries, counters, and a granite mindset set up the historic win over Anderson Silva at UFC 162, ushering in a new era at 185.
Aljamain Sterling — UFC Bantamweight Champion (2021). From “Funk Master” movement to championship composure, Sterling’s evolution shows a decade of mat time sharpened under Longo’s eye.
Merab Dvalishvili — UFC Bantamweight Champion (2025). A cardio machine forged into a champion with tightened entries, stance switches, and disciplined striking—proof of Longo’s knack for refining a wrestler’s hands without blunting the grind.
Around those reigns, the room continues to produce contenders and fan favorites—Al Iaquinta, Gian Villante, Matt Frevola, Nazim Sadykhov, and more—each carrying a recognizable blend of Island grit and technical polish.
The Longo method: simple, sharp, repeatable
What separates Longo-coached fighters isn’t a bag of tricks—it’s a stack of habits:
Footwork first. Close and exit on angles; don’t trade in the pocket unless the percentages favor you.
Jab + body work. Touch upstairs, invest downstairs, keep opponents honest.
Ring generalship. Win cage position—cut exits, circle off walls, and force opponents into your strongest ranges.
Between-rounds clarity. Longo’s cornering is famously direct: one or two adjustments, drilled a thousand times, delivered with conviction.
A team that outperforms its zip code
Long before “super-camps” were fashionable, Longo helped pioneer a homegrown, stay-home model: build complete fighters here, keep community intact, and carry that identity on fight week. The result: champions who sound like New Yorkers, fight like seasoned pros, and keep their training ecosystem local. That civic pride travels; opponents feel it when the crowd does.
For the next generation
Walk into Ray Longo MMA on any weeknight and you’ll see veterans sharing space with hungry amateurs, kids drilling stance switches with the same care a contender gives to a title-camp pad round. Longo and his coaches preach safety, respect, and consistency. The room is competitive, not cut-throat; the standard is high, but accessible. It’s why parents trust the beginner classes—and why professionals trust the game plans.
Why Ray Longo matters—beyond belts
Longevity with relevance. Decades in, Longo still corners at the highest level and still on-boards new talent.
Culture keeper. Technique matters, but so do the values—honesty in training, humility in victory, accountability in defeat.
A Long Island brand of excellence. Blue-collar hours and big-stage moments are baked into his coaching. Fighters come back after wins and losses alike because the room makes you better.
Visit, train, or follow along
Curious locals can drop into a fundamentals class, come for a trial session, or follow fight-week updates from the team. Whether your goal is fitness, self-defense, or competition, the same coaching tree that shaped champions is on the mats nightly.
Ray Longo MMA
1 Commercial Ave, Garden City, NY 11530
