Instructors.
Curtis Crawford: Owner, Head MMA Coach, Boxing, Kickboxing
John Heath: Jiu Jitsu, MMA
Brandon: Wrestling, MMA
Martial Arts Background:
Curtis Crawford is best known in the MMA world as the man who helped Evan Tanner win the UFC Middleweight Belt in 2005. A veteran of MMA, Crawford first started training in the sport around 1995 with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith as well as fighters from AMC Pankration including Frank Shamrock, Tsuyoshi "TK" Kohsaka, and Matt Hume. Around 2001–2002, Crawford began training at Team Quest and also fought a few times as a member of their fight team. There he became friends with UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture as well as Evan Tanner and helped them prepare for most of their fights. Crawford opened his own gym in 2003 and has trained both amateur and professional fighters. After a four year break from fighting to focus on training other fighters, Crawford fought in the IFL for the Seattle Tiger Sharks in early 2007. He is currently training diligently for upcoming professional fights and will be the subject of a documentary film that is currently in production.
Total Years Training:
Boxing - Over 27 Years
Kickboxing - Over 25 Years
MMA - Over 12 Years
Achievements:
- Fighter in the International Fight League (IFL) for the Seattle Tiger Sharks (2007).
- Member of the Team Quest Fight Team (2001–2002).
- World Kickboxing Association (WKA) Amateur Champion (1984 and 1985).
- Mixed Martial Arts Trainer to Evan Tanner (2005 UFC Middleweight Champion).
- Trained with Maurice Smith (1997 UFC Heavyweight Champion) for 15 years.
- Assisted in training Randy Couture (UFC Heavyweight Champion, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, UFC Hall of Famer) for his bout against Tito Ortiz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title in 2003.
- Personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness for several years.
John has an amateur mma record of 8-3 and holds 2 title belts (Dominance MMA Middleweight Champion and PFA Ultimate Cage Fight Welterweight Champion). He is making his professional mma debut on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at the Uprising Professional MMA Event in Seattle. John is also a brown belt in brazilian jiu jitsu and has competed in over 30 submission grappling competitions with six 1st place medals and five 2nd place medals. He also has a 3-0 amateur boxing record and is 4-0 in amateur muay thai kickboxing. In addition to these accomplishments, he has also trained multiple amateur mma champions.