This gym pretends to be the real thing, the staff thinks itself to be all that, they make you feel like crap when you don’t do what they want you to do, and buy into their sales pitches about shakes, and gear.

I left when they started harrasing me about buying the over priced stuff they sell. Their technique is not that good, I am working out some place else and the difference is incredible!!

Both negative reviews are fake. What contract? You don’t have to sign anything to do the free trial. I did the full 30 days free and didn’t sign anything. You are either a fake reviewer from another gym or a complete idiot. Glorified amateurs? David Avellan, Marcos Avellan, Enrico Cocco, and Efrain Ruiz are the head instructors and are established fighters and known around the world. Just google their names.

The Broward gym is ran by Mike Bernhard, ISKA MMA champ and super badass, watch his knockouts on youtube to see what sort of “amateur” he is. LOL, their wrestling coach Mike Rio is a 3-time collegiate national champion.

Joel looks like it was written by the same guy. FFA sells Combat Sports equipment and sells it for less than combatsports.com. The biggest giveaway that this review was fake though was the line, “and buy into their sales pitches about shakes, and gear…” FFA DOES NOT SELL SHAKES. There are absolutely no shakes at FFA, I’ve been with FFA for a little over two years and have trained at both locations and there has never been any shakes.

FFA is a great gym! Ignore these posers. If you aren’t sure, just visit the gym and check it out. Boxing ring, cage, world class trainers, open 24 hours, blah blah blah, you get the point. Check out the website http://www.BestFreeTrial.com and come join up with us. Tell them Allen “the cookie monster” sent you, lol, they’ll know who I am. And let them know I’m keeping the posers at bay! lol

This gym is a XXXX and the instructors are a joke. Besides Marcos and David they do not have any quality coaching. Half of the staff are a bunch of kids that were brought up through their own system. Marcos and David are top notch grapplers, but their MMA game doesn’t go far. A clear example of that is watching David getting knocked in like 17 seconds in his last fight. As for Mike teaching in Davie, the guy has fought no one but a bunch of cans. There is a reason why all there former coaches left to American Top Team. If you want quality training and you live in Miami, Top Team is the way to go and they’re not going to rape you with the contract like FFA does.

Hello, this is Eddie Sultan with the Freestyle Fighting Academy. I work the member services department and am posting this from the gym.

First of all, in the past 8 years we have been open, we have had only one Joel Sanchez train at FFA and he is a blue belt. Master Marcos has contacted him and confirmed he did NOT write that review. He will be posting on here soon.

FFA offers a 30 Day FREE Trial. There is nothing to sign to try us out for 30 days. Furthermore, we even have a 60 day money back guarantee, that if you try out our program fully and after 60 days have decided we did not come thru for you, we will give you your money back.

Understand that we are the oldest MMA gym and the largest MMA gym in Miami, with close to a thousand members – we wouldn’t be this successful if we weren’t coming thru with our promises and treating our students great. Our gym has over 90 classes a week with classes starting at 6am and ending at 1:45am… and we are Open 24 Hours a Day.

Do not let the people who post with fake names deter you from checking us out – you are an adult, nobody is going to put a gun to your head to sign anything 🙂 You can come in and try us out for 30 days free and, I repeat, NOT SIGN ANYTHING. If you like what we offer, you can join up.

Why do we offer a 30 Day Free Trial and all the other free stuff? What is the catch? The catch is that 85% of our inquiring students end up signing up… that is a real statistic. The free month is our way of just getting you in the door because we know you will love what you see here.

The REAL QUESTION isn’t asking WHY FFA is offering 30 DAYS FREE… but WHY AREN’T OTHER GYMS OFFERING 30 DAYS FREE? They aren’t offering 30 days free because they know that most of the guys and girls won’t stick around after a month… in other words, they know they have the best chance of hooking you if you have to make a decision right away. So ask yourself who runs a more honest business… the one that lets you test it out for a month or the one that forces you to decide after one free class?

I’m sure someone else is going to reply to this with another fake name that isn’t in our records and pretend they were a student here that got a bad deal, etc. And then one of our real students will post on here such as Leo and defend us… at the end of the day, the only way you will find out about us is by coming in and checking us out yourself. You can also research us online and see our pedigree. Right now, as I post this, Master David just got back from ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships in Spain and finished 3rd place in the WORLD at under 88kg. You can google that as well.

If you are curious, call us up right now at 1-888-FFA-GYMS (1-888-332-4967) and make an appt to check us out. It will take about 30 minutes of your time to check out a gym that is known world-wide. Google Marcos Avellan, David Avellan, Enrico Cocco, Efrain Ruiz, Mike Bernhard, Mike Rio, Che Moreno, David Lago… these are the instructors at FFA. You can see their fight videos too – but their abilities as fighters are nothing compared to their abilities to teach.

And yes, Master David did get KO’ed once by the first punch thrown in the WEC. I would rather judge his abilities to fight based on other fights, such as his fight on Bodog which can be seen here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3anik_david-avellan-vs-antony-rea-bodogfi_extreme

They say a picture is worth a thousand words… and a video is worth a thousand pictures. Check out the video if you are interested in learning from some of the best fighters in the world.

Our instructors are great grapplers, great strikers, and great fighters. We sent ten of our instructors to Thailand to train for a month, you can check that out on youtube by typing “FFA Thailand” and see all our instructors learning in Thailand.

By the way, if you are still scared of checking us out, feel free to just “drop in” on Saturdays from 2:00pm to 4:00pm… that is our “Open Mat” and is a permanent FREE deal. We are open to everyone, regardless of what gym you are from, and many people from other gyms come in to train at that time. People from ATT, Noguiera’s, Xtreme, etc., all swing by to train and have fun.

If you have any more questions, call us up or email us at [email protected]. Also check out our website at http://www.BestFreeTrial.com

Best Regards,
Eddie Sultan
Member Services

Again, there is NO RECORD of anyone with the first name or last name “Marlin” ever having even tried out a class at FFA.

Concerning FFA’s striking, I like to let our record speak for itself…

FFA’s all-time kickboxing/boxing record is 54-13, which is an impressive 80% win ratio! That record is spread out amongst 28 different fighters produced by FFA.

We were recognized by LeftHook Promotions (the largest amateur kickboxing show in Florida) as the #1 Team in Florida (and the only team that went undefeated in 2008).

We produced ISKA Kickboxing State Champion Joe Ray (Undefeated at 9-0).

Christine Alvarez won the Florida Boxing Golden Gloves.

Master Efrain has a black belt in kickboxing under legendary kickboxer Joe Lewis.

Coach Enrico has been practicing traditional martial arts since age 4 and has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do under his father, Master Jose Cocco.

Master Efrain, Master David, and Master Marcos had extensive training, about three to four years, under Eric “El Tigre” Castanos, who was a 3-time Kickboxing World Champion and assistant trainer of Boxing World Champ Jermaine Taylor.

And as mentioned by “Marlin”, our team sent 10 of its fighters and instructors to Thailand, where Master Marcos and Master David received diplomas for completing a one month Advanced Muay Thai Instructor Course under Tiger Muay Thai, home of many Thai fighting champions.

There is so much more info validating the gym’s obvious striking skill, such as our impressive 90% finish rate in our MMA fights in 2007 (18 out of 20 fights).

From what I know, FFA is the only school in Miami to have had sent as many instructors as it did to Thailand. You can see all the videos from FFA’s trip to Thailand at http://www.MuayThaiJourney.com

Was the trip to Thailand worth it??? Well, within a month of his return, FFA coach Mike Bernhard won the ISKA MMA title by KOing American Top Team Black Belt Ailton Barbosa in 11 seconds, here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzr2jvVbVcQ

Those who know of Ailton know what a great fighter he is. Mike gave credit to his striking training at FFA and to the training he received in Thailand.

I now enjoy these attacks because they give me an excuse to bring up all of FFA’s accomplishments 🙂 As I said, feel free to learn more about us by giving us a call at 1-888-FFA-GYMS (1-888-332-4967) or sending us an email at [email protected]

Best Regards,
Eddie Sultan
Member Services

P.S. Good luck to the FFA kickboxers fighting this Saturday in Left Hook’s “Backyard Brawl!”

This gym plain blows. The staff is as far from professional at it gets. I guess with all the mma hype, places like this are really cashing in. A huge waste of money and time training at this place. Their strikers compete in C-level shows so if you wanna learn from undertrained people who boast about their great winning record at circus shows then this place is for you!

Thank you everyone, the moderators asked us not to fill up the review page with too many video reviews, so we’ll post only ten more here. If you want to see more, visit our youtube channel at http://www.Youtube.com/TeamFFA to see over 50 reviews from real people. Or you can also type “FFA Testimonial” on youtube and see all the testimonials. Thank you.

I’ll tell you something these guys will work your ass off. I love the conditioning they do there. No disrespect to the team and anyone in there but i took the free month trial and i didn’t learn anything. We spent more of our time jumping up and down than learning any techniques. I didn’t go back at all. I recommend this gym to anybody that wants to lose weight and get in shape.

Great grappling instruction, contract is VERY LONG…2 years. The striking instruction stinks. Go somewhere else to learn MMA. If you want to learn how to grapple, this is a good place, for 200 bucks a month, you should be able to attend as many classes as you want not just 3 a week.

Been a member for almost a year and I love it. I train in both the women’s bootcamp and the martial arts program. Originally my boyfriend at the time signed up and brought me along. I was hesitant and joined just to do something together. We broke up but I loved it so much I stayed. Really comfortable atmosphere for women and the schedule is very accommodating (in case you are wondering my ex and I never take the same classes).

Coming from a traditional muay thai background I really appreciated my training at FFA. You can tell that the instructors have a depth to their knowledge since they have trained with many different wrestlers, jujitsu guys, boxers and kickboxers and are open minded to travel all around the world to expand on what they know.

garbage!!! Waste of money and time. a bunch of glorified amateurs who cant fight, and just want to take your money

This is a review website… so let me ask you this… what would you prefer… possible fake reviews from local rivals, or verified REAL reviews on video? Here are some of MANY you can find on youtube by typing “FFA reviews”:

UFC Contender Tom Lawlor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FnriTVKnfk

BJJ Black Belt & Muay Thai Champ Nakapan Phungephorn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3tnwIbG-vg

WEC Contender Mackens Semerzier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trr8oTfrkq4

BJJ Instructor Karim Arditi (Hong Kong):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIZ9i87MuOk

Renzo Gracie Black Belt George Serneck:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql8dMi_3mHY

FFA Blue Belt Yoshi Dade:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhazYIxWelw

FFA Blue Belt Luis Hernandez:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9-JKTP-LXU

BJJ Black Belt & National Champ Travis Tooke:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ffa+reviews+bjj&aq=f

We have PLENTY more on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/TeamFFA

And please watch our infomercial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wlFOXuJS0M to see even more testimonials at the end, including a testimonial from 3-time Collegiate National Champion and undefeated MMA fighter Mike “The Wolverine” Rio.

Best Regards,
Eddie Sultan
Member Services

Just found this site figured might pay my respects, I remember going there around like a year ago, it was a pretty bad ass gym, had I the money I would still be there, college bills just messed me up though.

Tried a few other gyms and FFA was the best one by a long shot, with the instructors actually instructing and giving clear directions unlike a lot of other gyms(cough… the ATT’s in South Florida) where I did the trial, I literally had some trainers on other MMA gyms just perform and show the move and you either got it or you don’t and never even gave assistance, Its like I know im just a trial member but jesus, come on!

In FFA that was never the case and when I left the class I usually(and I say usually because lets face it, Im not the fastest learner, being a southpaw doesn’t help either and I of course don’t expect to have the whole class devoted to me) had a understanding of the move and knew how to perform it, by the end of the week I always knew how to do it and do it correctly. Having someone always willing to spar with me was a big bonus too.

This gym is horrible. They say that you get 30 days for free but they dont tell you how they train their staff to get you to a sign a contract misleading you into thinking its only 30 days free and they will tear up the contract if you dont like it but then they charge you regardless. furthermore, they have acknowledged that their staff has been misleading but still did not give me back my money. Oh wait theres more. they also train their staff to come up to you and give you kudos right before they get you to sign a contract for years of commitment. They will also promote you to more advanced class and then tell you that you cant train there unless you sign a contract but nothing they give you while your signing up states any of that. Can you get some training there? yes absolutely. will it be top notch? absolutely not. If you like the im in kindergarten pump me ups like you can do it with a thumbs up and a smile then this is the place for you. You are a number here and thats it. I noticed a video of someone that bought the lifetime contract there and then later learned that he doesnt even train there anymore and pays to train somewhere else! what does that tell you about this place? marcos is all about sales and sales only everything else comes second. EVERYONE LEAVES THERE AND I MEAN EVERYONE. their own head instructors are all gone. they are overpriced and take you to court if you dont pay even after having told me that they knew they were in the wrong. this is a waste of space gym i dont suggest anyone go there. also notice that they respond to every bad review saying they are fake profiles!!! kindergarten stuff. just ask arounf go to other gyms first and ask the about ffa and just google the reviews a pleathura of bad reviews on this place. big big noooooo for ffa. ps i am not an imposter i have factual information and dont buy into this im another gym trying ot get business or badmouth you as i have not stated what gym i train at. cheers

I trained there for eight months before moving and this was a solid school with friendly guys and great instructors. What I liked best was the range of classes and styles. Magnificent gym!

I’ve been at FFA for 3 months and I love it. I’m reading these reviews and some of the things I’ve heard are ridiculous. First of all, I started out with the free 30 day trial and never had to sign anything. Even if these people on here are telling the truth about FFA making them sign a contract for the 30 day trial (I doubt it), but I can guarantee you that since March 2012 they don’t make you sign anything for the free trial. The one complaint I had about the 30 day trial is that they try really hard to get you to sign up even before you finish the trial but at least they give you a free 30 days. The people here are friendly and the coaches are great. They push you without making you feel bad and they’re open 24 hours a day so you can go in and practice whenever you want.