Ray Longo

DOB: N/AGym: Serra-Longo MMALocation: Long Island, New YorkMartial Arts Background: Boxing, Jeet Kune Do, JudoNotable Fighters: Matt Serra, Chris Weidman, Al Iaquinta Ray Longo’s beginnings in martial arts The New York native Ray Longo has been training in various martial arts since he was a kid. One of the first martial arts that Longo took […]

DOB: N/A
Gym: Serra-Longo MMA
Location: Long Island, New York
Martial Arts Background: Boxing, Jeet Kune Do, Judo
Notable Fighters: Matt Serra, Chris Weidman, Al Iaquinta

Ray Longo’s beginnings in martial arts

The New York native Ray Longo has been training in various martial arts since he was a kid. One of the first martial arts that Longo took up was boxing.

He loved the sport and the training, but Longo would focus more on his education than a fighting career. Ray would graduate from St John’s with an accounting degree, but would still train and later coach fighters.

During the day, Ray would work a normal job and at night would run his gym, Longo’s International Martial Arts Academy. Training his students in a variety of martial arts from Jeet Kune Do, boxing, and grappling.

Longo meets Matt Serra

Longo met UFC veteran Matt Serra at a Judo school when Serra was just 17 years old. They became immediate friends and Longo would invite Serra to his gym to train striking.

Matt was a young aspiring fighter, so Longo would become his trainer. Their friendship has lasted 30 years first as a fighter and coach and then business partners.

Serra-Longo Fight Team

A year after Matt Serra received his black belt from Renzo Gracie, he and Longo would open a gym together. Serra-Longo Fight Team located in Long Island, New York.

Together Longo and Serra would grow their academy and become the best martial arts school in the Long Island area.

Ray Longo the MMA coach

Ray Longo has been cornering MMA fighters like business partner Matt Serra since the mid 90s.

In 2007, Longo began getting recognition after Matt Serra pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. Knocking out Georges St Pierre to become the UFC welterweight champion.

Serra credited his longtime coach Longo for coming up with the game plan to take out GSP. Ray would get more spotlight on season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter as an assistant coach for Matt Serra.

6 years later, Longo would help orchestrate another one of the greatest upsets in UFC history. Chris Weidman would KO Anderson Silva at UFC 163 to end the greatest title reign ever in MMA.

Notable fighters

In nearly 40 years of being a trainer, Longo has worked with some of the world’s best fighters. Including Matt Serra, Chris Weidman, Al Iaquinta, and Aljamain Sterling.

Matt Serra

One of Longo’s first fighters was longtime friend and business partner Matt Serra. At first, Serra would meet Longo and train together at a judo school in New York.

Longo would soon become Serra’s striking coach at the same time he would train BJJ with Renzo Gracie.

Serra would win his first four MMA fights with the help of Longo. During this time, Serra would also earn his BJJ black belt from Renzo Gracie and open a martial arts school with Long. Serra-Longo Fight team.

Matt would have his first stint in the UFC going 4-4 in his first 8 fights. He would then be offered a spot on the comeback season of TUF.

After beating Chris Lytle in the finals, Serra would earn his title shot against champion Georges St Pierre. With the help of Longo, Serra would shock the world by stopping GSP in the first round to become champion.

It would be the highlight of Serra’s career as he would go 1-3 before retiring from fighting. Today, he still runs his successful school with Longo, as well as hosting his own podcast and various MMA shows.

Chris Weidman

Like with Serra, Ray Longo has been working with Chris Weidman since he got into the sport. Weidman would become one of the most talented fighters if not the most talented that Longo has worked with.

He would enter the UFC after just 4 fights and win his first 5 fights in the promotion. 3 of 5 of those wins were finishes with 3 of those wins coming against top 10 fighters in the division.

This win streak would put him against champion Anderson Silva. The odds were against Weidman, but he would pull off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.

Stopping one of the greatest champions of all time in the 2nd round to become middleweight champion. Chris would defend his title 3 times before losing it to Luke Rockhold.

Aljamain Sterling

The third fighter that Longo helped train to a world title with Matt Serra was bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling .

Sterling is a native New Yorker that wrestled in college with Jon Jones. He was initially encouraged by Jones to get into MMA after his wrestling career was done.

After training with the BombSquad before going to train at Serra-Longo Fight Team. Together, they would go 8-0 before Sterling would make it to the UFC in 2014

Aljamain would win his first 4 fights in the UFC before taking the first two losses of his career. After those losses, Sterling would go 2-1 and then go on a 5 fight winning streak.

His last fight with Longo and Serra in his corner would earn him a first round submission win. After leaving Serra and Longo, Sterling would win the bantamweight championship by DQ.

Ray Longo’s legacy

Ray Longo has done it all as a MMA coach. He has been part of two of the biggest upsets in MMA history and has coached 3 UFC champions;

Longo along with Serra are two of the most liked coaches in all of MMA and Jiu Jitsu. For over 40 years, Longo has proven he is one of the best trainer’s in the business.

He now runs a martial arts academy with Chris Weidman along with being the head trainer at Serra-Longo Fight Team.

Ray Longo Praises Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker But Doesn’t Think It’s ‘Fight of the Year’

Renowned head coach Ray Longo thinks Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker had the “Round of the Year,” but it isn’t his choice for the 2020 “Fight of the Year.” Poirier and Hooker competed in a lightweight clash this past Saturda…

The post Ray Longo Praises Dustin Poirier vs. Dan Hooker But Doesn’t Think It’s ‘Fight of the Year’ appeared first on MMA News.

Coach: Aljamain Sterling Shouldn’t Sign Another Fight Unless It’s For The Title

Longo: ‘No Question’ Sterling Has Earned Title Shot For Ray Longo, it’s title shot or bust for Aljamain Sterling. Sterling earned his fifth win in a row following his impressive first-round submission victory over Cory Sandhagen at UFC 250 earlier this month. In the process, “Funk Master” cemented himself as the next in line for […]

Longo: ‘No Question’ Sterling Has Earned Title Shot

For Ray Longo, it’s title shot or bust for Aljamain Sterling.

Sterling earned his fifth win in a row following his impressive first-round submission victory over Cory Sandhagen at UFC 250 earlier this month.

In the process, “Funk Master” cemented himself as the next in line for a title shot with UFC president Dana White agreeing as much after the event. However, nothing is certain in this sport.

After all, not many would have expected Petr Yan to fighting Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight title at UFC 251 next month. Some may even argue that it should be Sterling facing Yan instead of Aldo.

Sterling’s head coach Longo even believes the fight with Sandhagen could have been a title fight in itself as he believes his pupil should not be fighting for anything less than a belt in his next outing.

“Over here we thought he deserved … this could have been a title fight,” Longo told MMA Junkie. “You had two really good guys on great winning streaks. Look, technically Aljo might be the uncrowned champ right now. Who the heck knows? But we always believed that he should have been fighting for a title, and if this is what he had to do to get there, to have that one more fight against a guy that’s right up there with him in the division, and that’s what he did.

“He couldn’t have had a better outcome, and now there’s absolutely no question he earned a title shot. … I wouldn’t sign a contract unless it’s for a title. I mean, he earned it. He deserves it, he works hard, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Sterling is certainly targeting the winner of that fight. In a recent interview, he stated how nobody could truly be considered the bantamweight champion until they took him out.

“Petr Yan may fight Jose Aldo and he may win the belt or Jose Aldo may win the belt but people are going to always look and see ‘you’ve got to beat this guy first’ and it gives me comfort knowing that people are behind me and realizing that my skills are dangerous and I’m a real threat to this division,” Sterling said. “In order to be considered the best, you have to take me out.”

Do you think Sterling is guaranteed the next title shot?

Ray Longo Advises Aljamain Sterling To Only Sign UFC Contract If Title Shot Is Guaranteed

Head coach Ray Longo is tired of seeing Aljamain Sterling wait for his shot. Sterling took on Cory Sandhagen on the main card of UFC 250 earlier this month. Many expected this to be a highly competitive fight that had the potential to come down to the …

The post Ray Longo Advises Aljamain Sterling To Only Sign UFC Contract If Title Shot Is Guaranteed appeared first on MMA News.

Chris Weidman’s Coach Strongly Reacts To Anderson Silva Retirement Comments

Ray Longo was not impressed with Anderson Silva’s retirement comments. In a recent interview, Silva claimed he was planning on retiring before his first fight with Chris Weidman back in 2013. He informed UFC president Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta of his plans before revealing that they gifted him a Bentley Continental GT afterwards in […]

Ray Longo was not impressed with Anderson Silva’s retirement comments.

In a recent interview, Silva claimed he was planning on retiring before his first fight with Chris Weidman back in 2013. He informed UFC president Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta of his plans before revealing that they gifted him a Bentley Continental GT afterwards in what he believes was an attempt to change his mind.

It clearly played a part as Silva would eventually face Weidman at UFC 162 and end up suffering a second-round knockout defeat to lose his middleweight title.

And for Weidman’s head coach Longo, Silva basically admitted he sold out for a brand new vehicle.

“I mean, so basically what he’s saying is he’s a f*cking whore,” Longo said on MMA & Beyond podcast (via MMA Fighting). “And that the moral of the story [inaudible], and then for the rematch they gave him gift certificate to McDonald’s. They let him have a shopping spree at Target for the rematch. They bought him out. ‘Listen, I know you don’t wanna do this, but here’s a gift card to Starbucks.’ I don’t even understand what does that mean.

“Imagine that, though, when Dana and Lorenzo offered the Bentley and he took it, and then Lorenzo goes to Dana, ‘shit, we could’ve gotten him with a Chevy. We could’ve gotten him with a f**king SUV, a Honda SUV. Why the f**k we go with a Bentley, you f**cking morons?’ The hell is going on? [laughs]. After he lost the first fight, he drove the f**cking Bentley into a wall.”

Silva also revealed that he also planned on retiring if he defeated Weidman in the rematch and regained his title. However, he would break his leg and suffer a TKO defeat in the process. For him, that was a sign from above that he still had more time left in the sport.

“I would have stopped if I had won the fight, I wouldn’t fight anymore, but I ended up breaking my leg,” Silva said. “I think that was a message from God saying to me, ‘Look, man, you’re not supposed to stop yet. It took so long for you to get here and now you want to stop?’ I don’t know, I think those are subliminal messages that stay in your head.”

What do you make of Longo’s reaction to Silva?

Ray Longo Responds To Anderson Silva’s Retirement Comment

Chris Weidman’s coach Ray Longo has a rather interesting response to Anderson Silva’s retirement comment. Silva recently revealed that he considered retiring before his first bout with Weidman. At that point, Silva hadn’t been beaten under the UFC banner and he set the record for most successful consecutive title defenses in the promotion’s history. His […]

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