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10 Best MMA Gyms In San Antonio, Texas

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Mixed martial arts (MMA) is sweeping the nation, and San Antonio, Texas, stands out with its vibrant MMA scene.

If you’re in San Antonio and itching to dive into the world of MMA, you’re in luck—there’s no shortage of top-notch gyms around.

Choosing the right one can be a challenge, but don’t worry. We’ve got the scoop on the best MMA gyms in San Antonio to help you find your perfect training spot.

Rodrigo Pinheiro BJJ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfyWNZLxwFI

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Rodrigo Pinheiro BJJ is one of the best MMA gyms in San Antonio, Texas. It is primarily a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym.

The gym specializes in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and offers Muay Thai and MMA programs. Rodrigo Pinheiro BJJ provides classes for adults and kids and private lessons. The kids’ classes are designed to help kids become “bully-proof” and build their confidence.

Their doors are open six days a week and offer morning, noon, and evening classes. They offer a variety of class packages to accommodate students of all ages and experience levels.

Rodrigo Pinheiro BJJ prides itself on being one of the most affordable martial arts schools in San Antonio.

The gym also caters to beginners who have no prior experience in BJJ and individuals who have some experience with the sport.

This would be a great gym to choose if you’re looking to develop a solid BJJ and grappling base with various striking options.

Ronin MMA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p_BbZjMKzA

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

  • Gym Type: Mixed Martial Arts
  • Location: 5630 W Loop 1604 N STE 104 78251
  • Notable Coaches: Felicia Bannister, Coach Dave, Coach Christian

Ronin MMA is a 100% female veteran-owned MMA gym in San Antonio. It was founded in 2015 by Pro MMA fighters Debbie Garcia and Felicia Bannister.

Sadly, Debbie passed away shortly after Ronin opened. But Ronin MMA is continued by Felicia as the owner to keep spreading the vision and values she shared with Debbie.

Most of the coaching staff are veterans across different disciplines, like BJJ and MMA. There’s a lot of pride here in providing a safe space for its members to train from the outside world.

Ronin MMA has a strong community presence. They provide various programs that partner with charitable goals, such as the We Defy Foundation, which provides combat veterans with BJJ and fitness training to help overcome their disabilities. This is just one of many organizations they work with.

They also offer adaptive mixed martial arts training, where they can customize the programming around any physical limitations for both adults and kids. If you have any form of disability or specific challenge, this could be a great location to choose.

The space is humble, but they offer all the essential equipment you could need. There are punching bags, floor mats, wall padding (particularly useful for MMA), and even a competition-sized MMA cage.

You can also use fitness equipment like free weights, TRX, and medicine balls in their BeastFit programs.

Here you’ll be able to train mainly in Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, as per their regular schedule. The setting is still suitable for more advanced MMA training if you are looking for it, but you might need to book personal training or group training to get it.

If you’re female and particularly looking for a female-owned gym to attend, then this is an ideal choice.

Dominion MMA

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Dominion MMA has been around for over 10 years. Its primary goal is to offer an environment for success where its coaches guide each student through every step of their unique journey.

Dominion MMA is on a mission to help every member change their life. They want members to walk out the door after class with a sense of pride and that they just became a 1% better version of themselves.

The team at Dominion cares about coaching and motivating each member to obtain the results they’re looking for. And as each person’s goals can be different, they enjoy the challenge of adapting them to you.

Their Mixed Martial Arts program includes access to classes in BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, and even Wrestling. You can learn the critical combination of styles to become a well-rounded fighter.

Their schedule opens a mix of classes almost every day of the week, with Boxing, Muay Thai, and BJJ classes every weekday and a couple of MMA-specific options.

This would be a great gym to choose if you have some grand fitness goals and you want to reach them via martial arts so you can learn skills along the way. You’ll be in the right crowd by choosing this gym.

Black Label Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiZ2c6alCTM

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Black Label BJJ Academy is a premier mixed martial arts facility located by the San Antonio Airport.

Classes are typically available 7 days a week! They offer primarily Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. But there are also options for Kickboxing, Wrestling, Boxing, and Muay Thai for kids and adults.

Many parents choose this gym to go with their kids. It’s a popular choice for young martial artists. The instructors are certified personal trainers who can train adults and kids across different martial arts disciplines.

There’s a strong community vibe here on the mats that focuses on helping each member improve themselves a little each time they step on the mats.

They don’t believe that students should try to become “better” than anyone else they spar with, particularly in Jiu-Jitsu, but instead focus on being consistent. “It’s not about who is good; it’s about who is left.”

This would be an ideal gym to choose if you are looking to mostly learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and need somewhere to take your kids along, too.

Ohana Academy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dq46R4VGqA

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Ohana Academy is a gym where you can learn from top Martial Arts professors. They’ll help you get to your goals swiftly while still enjoying the process.

The Ohana Academy was founded by Jason Yerrington, a black belt in BJJ via study under Luiz Sergio “Marra” Corea. 

This gym is dedicated to delivering a family-oriented atmosphere where you can reach your goals while surrounded by a friendly group of fellow students and teachers.

The skills and knowledge here can help you lose weight, get ready for competition, or even improve your everyday life and confidence.

A mixture of martial arts programs is available at Ohana, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Wrestling, and MMA.

Even specialty strength and mobility classes are available, which raise the bar. These experts can be hard to come by but help massively optimize your performance and keep yourself injury-free.

You can find a diverse schedule at this gym as there are many classes throughout the weekdays and training available on Saturday mornings.

Most of the schedule includes BJJ classes but with dedicated options in-between for arts like Muay Thai, Wrestling, and MMA.

If you need a place for your younglings or even teens, there are options for it. This would be a great place to pick if you want to bring the whole family to get fit, learn practical self-defense in martial arts, and become a better human every visit.

Ultimate Submission Academy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z8k0oDmi8w

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Ultimate Submission Academy is where regular men and women can learn high-level martial arts and self-defense.

This gym opened intending to make a difference in their local neighborhood. Day in and day out, there’s a strong commitment here to providing South San Antonio with excellent fitness training and motivating workouts.

Suppose you’re a complete beginner, a professional fighter, or a former service member looking to stay sharp and take on a new challenge. In that case, this is a place for you.

You’ll be backed by a supportive community in high-intensity exercises. They’ll be happy to help you achieve your goals along your journey.

One of their most successful fighters is Ray Rodriguez.

Ray Rodriguez is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt with over ten years of training experience. Ray began his martial arts experience in the military.

He was exposed to the Modern Army Combative Program (MACP) and today holds the program’s highest level of certification. In professional MMA, he is presently ranked #1 in the state of Texas in the Featherweight division.

Arguello Jiu-Jitsu & MMA / South Side Fight Club

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycygmkeHaQQ

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Arguello Jiu-Jitsu & MMA (formerly named South Side Fight Club) is a mixed martial arts gym founded by Ernest Arguello.

This gym offers co-ed children’s and adult classes in BJJ, Thai Boxing, American Boxing, Wrestling, MMA, and health & conditioning.

Their classes are available on a part-time basis in the evenings. Still, it makes an excellent location for taking your kids’ class. At the same time, you can participate straight after in the adult class before heading home.

The gym floor is incredibly spacious and versatile for ground grappling and sparring. There are padded walls on one side and even a cage wall closer to the entrance, which allows you to test your abilities in a cage grappling imitation.

If you live or work on the south side of San Antonio, then the location might make this gym the best choice.

Brazilian Top Team San Antonio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrBNOX1VM7Y

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Brazilian Top Team San Antonio was founded in 2000 by Master Murilo Bustamante. Bustamante is a Master of jiu-jitsu and a world champion in 1999. He is a four-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion and even once a UFC Middleweight world champion.

BTT is a leading source for creating new training methodologies for combat sports. The BTT family has produced many high-quality UFC fighters.

This team is dedicated to providing you with the best combat sports training, emphasizing jiu-jitsu, wrestling, submission & grappling, and conditioning.

They believe deeply in using jiu-jitsu to help you grow and develop as a person. There are classes here to guide and motivate both young people and adults to achieve their best selves.

The primary goal of the Brazilian Top Team Academy is to create a welcoming and family atmosphere as well as the most outstanding combat sports instruction available.

They teach Brazilian jiu-jitsu to children as young as three years old and teens, ladies, and adults.

For both the young and elderly, BJJ has proven to be the most effective instrument for defending yourself and building self-confidence. Jiu-jitsu helps kids improve their discipline, motivation, camaraderie, and athletic ability.

This would be a great gym to learn at if you want to learn from some of the very best grapplers in the country, with a desire to progress through the ranks of competition.

Ambush Muay Thai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncsW_sQznbQ

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Ambush Muay Thai was founded by Elton Wells in 2010. Elton is an instructor of Buddhai-Sawan USA, a foundation to continue the lineage of authentic Thai fighting arts.

The training at Ambush Muay Thai is based on traditional Muay Thai. It incorporates Western boxing features to craft a competition-orientated style. It focuses on foundations, tactics, and clinch.

Their training strategies are well adapted to be suitable for complete beginners. They have many walking through their doors and taking them on a journey of improvement.

The team here believes strongly in fostering a sense of community that can achieve success through hard work and dedication to their skill development.

This San Antonio gym is located in north-central San Antonio, just off Bitters and Blanco near the Winston Churchill High School. Ambush Muay Thai also has another gym in North East San Antonio, just off Nacogdoches Road.

This is an excellent gym to choose if you are committed to learning Muay Thai as a primary striking proficiency. They’ll be able to teach you a deep range of skills in this martial art that will pay off in any mixed martial arts tournament.

Kingdom Martial Arts Academy

Our Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Kingdom Martial Arts Academy is a popular gym in North West SA. They specialize in helping complete beginners in Muay Thai or fitness become much better versions of themselves.

They offer programs to people who are new to the sport of Muay Thai or even competitors who want to get a unique edge.

What is pretty unique about this gym is that they even have their own online Muay Thai course led by Charlie Johnson. You can dive deeper into the advanced mechanics of Muay Thai, like clinch work and developing your Fight IQ.

In their physical gym location, their classes include fight camp conditioning, ground-up training, adult and kids Muay Thai, bag class, and even women’s only.

This could be an excellent gym to choose if you are in the northwest region of San Antonio and want to specialize in Muay Thai skills. Especially if you are a complete beginner, you can learn a lot here.

1 thought on “10 Best MMA Gyms In San Antonio, Texas”

  1. Hey, thanks for the love and shout out! This is Felicia from Ronin MMA Texas.
    I just wanted to let you know. We recently moved to a new location. Our new location is 5630 W Loop 1604 N STE 104 78251.

    Thanks!

    Reply

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