Ray Longo is a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

(MMA) coach, stunt man and actor. Considered one of the top coaches in MMA, he is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

Serra-Longo fight team Serra-Longo Fight Team is a mixed martial arts team based on Long Island, New York that was formed by Matt Serra and Ray Longo. The team has two gyms operating under it, Serra BJJ Academy and Longo-Weidman MMA. It has produced four UFC champion ...

. He has trained and cornered four

UFC Champions Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Matt Serra Matt Serra (born June 2, 1974) is an American former professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitor and a former UFC Welterweight Champion. He is the co-sta ...

Chris Weidman Christopher James Weidman (born June 17, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. An accomplis ...

Aljamain Sterling Aljamain Antoine Sterling (born July 31, 1989) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Bantamweight Champion. S ...

and the current bantamweight champion

Merab Dvalishvili Merab Dvalishvili ( ka, მერაბ დვალიშვილი ; born January 10, 1991) is a Georgian and American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championsh ...

Background

Longo graduated from St. John’s University in 1980 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Accountancy and began working full time as an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

while training a few fighters by night. After meeting Matt Serra, they formed the

. As a striking coach, Longo takes extra precautions regarding fighter's health, including

concussions A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brie ...

. He is a certified instructor of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

Jeet Kun Do Jeet Kune Do (/ˌdʒiːt kuːn ˈdoʊ/; zh, c=截拳道, l=stop fist way' or 'way of the intercepting fist, j=zit6 kyun4 dou6; abbreviated JKD) is a hybrid martial art conceived and practiced by martial artist Bruce Lee. It was formed from L ...

Concepts. Longo was a 2015

World MMA Awards The World MMA Awards are awards presented by ''Fighters Only'' magazine to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of mixed martial arts. Winners are presented with the ''Fighters Only silver statuette''. The World MMA Awards are divided ...

''Coach of The Year'' nominee.

References

Living people Mixed martial arts trainers Year of birth missing (living people) St. John's University (New York City) alumni

External links

* {{US-martialart-bio-stub