Training to be the ultimate

BY MICHAEL D. CLARK

The violent and often bloody sport is going mainstream

Walk into one of the newest and largest martial arts gyms in Greater Cincinnati and the first thing that catches your eye is "the cage." It's a giant, black, fenced-in metal cage designed so that two men can step in and savagely pound on each other without allowing any escape.

The ominous-looking fighting pen is surrounded by an expansive 13,000-square-foot gym recently opened in Butler County's West Chester Township by Brazilian native and Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Jorge Gurgel. What the first-time visitor also notices is that the cage is surrounded most evenings by dozens of young boys and girls grappling on a 3,000-square-foot mat while nearby their moms and dads pummel away at punching bags and gym instructors.

The 30-year-old Gurgel is hoping his global popularity as one of ultimate fighting's most charismatic fighters will attract the young and old, men and women, to his new Mixed Martial Arts Academy off Cox Road.

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