If Canada is the mecca of mixed martial arts, then the Tristar gym in Montreal is the mecca of MMA training.
With Jon Jones and Rashad Evans squaring off for the UFC light-heavyweight title in the main event at UFC 145 Saturday, eyes have and will be focused on Jackson’s Martial Arts & Fitness Academy — a gym in Albuquerque, N.M., lead by Greg Jackson, who is Evans’ former trainer and Jones’ current trainer.
But despite this matchup of Jackson disciples that will take centre stage (or centre cage if you will), Tristar could end up stealing the show as it has four fighters competing on the card.
Lightweight John Makdessi takes on fellow striker Anthony Njokuani in preliminary action; Toronto’s Mark Bocek fights fellow Canadian John Alessio; former WEC champ Miguel Torres is up against Michael McDonald; and Rory MacDonald is featured in the co-main event against British striker Che Mills.
There is a stable of elite fighters competing in the UFC that call Tristar home including: welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, MacDonald, Makdessi, Yves Jabouin, Ivan Menjivar, Frances Carmont, as well as Canadian MMA stars David Loiseau, Denis Kang, Nordine Taleb and Mike Ricci.
Also, fighters like Bocek, Torres and Kenny Florian, who do not reside in Montreal, regularly train at Tristar to prepare for their fights.
The Tristar team is regarded as one of the premier teams in MMA along with the likes of Jackson’s team, Black House MMA in Brazil and California, Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, American Top Team in Florida and the Nova Uniao squad out of Brazil.
Much of that has to do with the success St-Pierre has had in the Octagon, but it’s not just stars like GSP that make the gym so appealing to fighters.
“There is a lot of guys at Tristar that people don’t know, they never hear about it but they’re very good. That’s the thing about Tristar, they have so many diamonds in the rough,” St-Pierre said on a recent episode of UFC Ultimate Insider.
“Every fighter that trains at Tristar, we all have our different routine, our own boxing coach, our own wrestling coach, our own jiu-jitsu instructor, plus we have Firas (Zahabi) that united us all together.”
Zahabi, the head trainer at Tristar, is the man at the core of the gym’s success and his fighters aren’t shy when it comes to giving him praise.
Last year, while he was teaching a grappling seminar at Xtreme Couture Toronto, Torres told me that he knew from the first day he met Zahabi that he wanted to train at Tristar.
“He figures out what your weaknesses are, what your strengths are, and that’s the biggest thing he has done for me … He gets the best trainers in the world, the best fighters in the world all in one place. He’s like a mad scientist.”
And the results have been positive for the East Chicago, Ind., native. Since he began training in Montreal in 2010, Torres has gone 3-1 — with his only loss being a controversial decision to Demetrious Johnson at UFC 130.
MacDonald agrees that Zahabi’s style of training is what separates him from other MMA coaches.
“Firas, he’s a super intelligent guy for one,” MacDonald said. “He researches meticulous, little tiny aspects of martial arts and he brings it together in a way that I don’t think anyone else is doing right now. It’s going to change the sport.”
Bocek told sportsnet.ca that the way Zahabi, who he has known for years, caters to the individual is key.
“He’s very good at putting strategies together for specific types of opponents. What I believe separates him from other coaches is he understands every area of mixed martial arts very well. And he also trains, he’s not just a coach, he trains, so he knows what it’s like to be on the mat. He knows what works and what doesn’t work.”
Zahabi, a martial artist himself who has won titles in Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu, says that it’s important for him to also train as a constant reminder of what fighters go through on a daily basis.
“I train the pros during the day but I also train at night myself and I think that keeps me in the loop of what it’s like to be on the mat,” Zahabi said. “It’s real easy to see all the mistakes when you’re off the mat and just point the finger all the time; it’s hard to actually get on there and do it.”
Tristar was founded in 1991 by former kickboxer Conrad Pla, and Makdessi believes that in addition to Zahabi’s techniques it’s the diversity, atmosphere and the history at the gym that makes it one of the top facilities in the world.
“It’s a gym that’s been there, has history, you have great guys who run the gym,” Makdessi told sportsnet.ca. “I believe in the history of Tristar. It’s the first really mixed martial arts gym that started in the ’90s. I feel like that’s why it established itself from all the great fighters that go through there.”
When Makdessi, Bocek, Torres and MacDonald step into the cage at UFC 145 on Saturday, they feel the time spent training with one another will pay off in the form of victory.
“It’s nice that we’re all getting here together and competing together so we can support one another,” Bocek added. “But the training was very tough, which was a good thing. It will be worth it in the end. We’ve got a little Canadian army here (in Atlanta) so it’s very good.”
