Trevor Wittman: MMA Coach Profile (Gloves, Gym, Methods)

Do you have some questions about MMA coach Trevor Wittman?

In this profile, we’ll bring you all the information you need to know about Trevor Wittman such as his background, his previous and current gyms, his sports equipment company, who he coaches, his coaching methods, his courses, his coaching success, and his influence in the MMA industry.

Who Is MMA Coach Trevor Wittman?

Trevor Wittman is a professional boxing and MMA coach, born March 5, 1974, in Denver, Colorado, USA.

His rise to fame came after coaching many UFC fighters to success, such as Kamarau Usman to welterweight champion, Rose Namajnuas to strawweight champion, and Justin Gaethje to UFC lightweight interim champion. Trevor Wittman is regarded as one of the best striking coaches in all of MMA.

Trevor Wittman started out in martial arts by wrestling competitively at Berlin High School in Connecticut, USA.

Not seeing it as a career, Trevor Wittman studied at the Art Institute of Colorado, an art and culinary school. It was here Trevor started boxing and kickboxing around the age of 18 but was forced to quit after a few years due to several broken hands and mostly a hyperinflated lung.

Nearly a year later at 22 years old, Trevor Wittman started training boxers to make a living and remain involved in martial arts.

What Is the Name of Trevor Wittman’s Gym?

Trevor Wittman doesn’t currently have a gym dedicated to training fighters. Instead, Trevor Wittman has a gym and training facilities inside the headquarters of his fight equipment company, ONX Sports, located in Denver, Colorado since 2015.

Trevor Wittman’s first gym was T’s K.O. Fight Club, which he opened in 1998 at the age of 24, after 2 years of progress as a boxing trainer.

His second gym, Grudge Training Facility, opened in 2009 as a boxing gym but soon rebranded as an MMA and boxing gym as he’d been training MMA fighters for many years already. Wittman relocated Grudge Training Facility to Arvada, Colorado in 2013, and eventually closed the gym in November 2016.

During its 7-year run, Grudge was frequented by many of the best MMA fighters in the world at many of the top MMA promotions. Rashad Evans, T.J. Dillashaw, Stipe Miocic, Donald Cerrone, and GSP to name a few, had trained there and been coached by Wittman.

Why Did Trevor Wittman Close Grudge Training Facility?

Trevor Wittman closed Grudge Training Facility because after two decades of coaching, he wanted to focus more on his family and the sports equipment company he founded in 2015, ONX Sports.

He also had various health issues such as being diagnosed in 2021 with Dupuytren’s contracture, a condition causing fingers to bend inward and unable to be fully straightened due to the fibrous tissue under the skin knotting and thickening.

He also had benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which creates random spinning and dizzy spells of moderate intensity. Naturally, this meant Trevor Wittman couldn’t coach large groups of fighters as often.

Lastly, he’s likely not struggling for money and thought he could earn more by working with fewer fighters.

By arranging a higher percentage cut with a few elite UFC fighters in return for solely focusing on their improvement, when they win and earn a lot of money, he also outearns what he was earning from coaching many lower-level fighters.

Being the great coach he is, he continues coaching select elite fighters he believes he can improve; as long as it doesn’t affect the commitment he has to the other few fighters.

Trevor Wittman ONX Sports

Because of Trevor Wittman’s huge experience in combat sports (especially in boxing and MMA), he’s personally experienced and knows about many injuries in the industry. This motivated him to launch his own sports equipment company in 2015, selling premium quality products to prevent MMA injuries.

Wittman has even had many injuries as a coach, being beaten up because the current products such as shin guards and mitts weren’t protective enough. 

He’s had three broken hands, elbow, wrist, shoulder, and hand injuries due to there not being any left and right mitts, which makes them uncomfortable, not fitting to the hand, and unable to be squeezed properly to prevent injury. 

So, Wittman’s goal is to sell functional training products that improve on the current cheap-to-produce equipment. 

This led Trevor Wittman to make his first product in 2012, a pair of mitts. He started selling them to coaches because they liked the product and he could get their feedback before selling to the mass market.

Even back then he was using real leather and the best materials to make the best protective products he could, no matter the cost. Trevor Wittman’s main selling point is his gloves (discussed below), but he also has headgear and shin guards for sale.

The shin guards have a left and right for proper fitting (while most shin guard brands don’t), which stops them from turning and keeps them comfortable throughout a training session.

They’re also boot-shaped and have foam protection around the most commonly injured areas when kicking, the instep of the foot, the ankle area, the toes, and the whole back side of the leg to protect against leg and calf kicks (especially useful for coaches).

Trevor Wittman’s (ONX Sports) headgear is extremely light fitting and its main goal is to prevent cuts, lacerations, and damage to the ears during training; as these often cause fighters to miss an upcoming fight.

The headgear is also shaped with zero blind spots and doesn’t affect a fighter’s vision. Lastly, it has a lacing system at the back which can be used to tighten or loosen the ONX headgear as needed.

Trevor Wittman Gloves

Trevor Wittman’s gloves are the main product sold via ONX Sports. There are currently three different gloves: X-4 Training Glove (velcro) (12, 16, 18 oz), X-4 Training Glove (lace up) (12, 16, 18 oz), and X-Factor Training Glove (lace up) (12, 16, 18 oz).

X-Factor Training Gloves (lace up) (12, 16, 18 oz)

The reason Trevor Wittman created the X-factor training gloves is that most gloves when wrapped up aren’t providing wrist or hand stability. 

Fighters hurt their knuckles because too much hand wrap causes the contact point of punches to be the door-knocking knuckles. To avoid this, the wrist is bent downward in an unnatural fashion, causing injuries to the wrist.

To combat this, the X-Factor Training Glove is designed with metacarpal, carpal, and wrist support in mind. It’s also the first wrap-less glove on the market, and the patented strapping system of the glove is what gives the glove this extra support, adjustable sizing, tightness, and maximum comfort.

Also aiding this is the heat-moldable foams inside the glove for perfect fitting to each person’s hand and extra space where it’s preferred. The gloves are also thinner around the wrist to mimic how they are in a real fight, which is perfect for the conditioning of the wrist to help prevent injury in a fight.

Normally with boxing gloves, fighters have a false sense of security because the padding around the wrist is much thicker and harder to punch through. All combined, Trevor Wittman’s gloves are designed to prevent injury.

Trevor Wittman’s MMA Gloves

Trevor Wittman’s MMA gloves have naturally curved fingers which solve the issue of eye pokes in MMA as they’re naturally facing inward into a fist and it’s harder to fully straighten the fingers.

Fighters can fully straighten their fingers if needed, so the gloves don’t have any negative impact on grappling. They’re a lot more comfortable than the straight-fingered UFC gloves as the more natural position of the hand doesn’t put pressure on the wrist and forearm.

They also have an X-strapping system that tightens the glove to each user’s hand like a seatbelt mechanism. This keeps all muscles, ligaments, and bones in place to prevent injuries when punching. The straps are also used to wrap around the mid and wrist section of the glove to prevent glove grabbing.

Trevor Wittman’s also introducing MMA training gloves which have more padding on the front and sides of the knuckles. This provides more protection overall and especially for casting punches and hammer fists.

This is important because 75% of injuries in MMA happen in training, so Trevor Wittman’s MMA training gloves are aiming to reduce that number.

And while many people believe Trevor Wittman’s MMA gloves are the best MMA gloves, they’re not used by UFC fighters in competition as ONX Sports and the UFC have been unable to come to terms, and no other big MMA promotion has entered the conversation. They’re also still in development and not for sale.

Talks have stalled because the UFC wants to buy ONX Sports or at least own the gloves outright, whereas Trevor Wittman’s unwilling to give the patents over to them as part of the deal. Obviously, Trevor Wittman feels the amount the UFC is offering is too low.

Another potential reason is Trevor Wittman’s MMA gloves are curved like how Pride’s gloves used to be, and the UFC likes to distance itself from other MMA promotions for marketing reasons. Also, the UFC can design and manufacture a new pair of gloves if they feel they need to change their current design.

Who Are Trevor Wittman’s Fighters?

Since focusing on his health, ONX sports, and only working with a select few, Trevor Wittman’s fighters have been Curtis Blaydes, Dan Ige, Cory Sandhagen, Matthew Lopez, Austin Hubbard, Rafa Garcia, and his three most notable, Justin Gaethje, Rose Namajunas, and Kamaru Usman.

As of 2023, Trevor Wittman’s been a coach for 27 years and has worked with dozens of well-known MMA fighters and boxers. In alphabetical order, here’s a list of some of the fighters he’s worked with in MMA and boxing.

MMA

1. Alvin Robinson
2. Aspen Ladd
3. Austin Hubbard
4. Brandon Girtz
5. Brandon Thatch
6. Cody Donovan
7. Cory Sandhagen
8. Curtis Blaydes
9. Dan Ige
10. Donald Cerrone
11. Duane Ludwig
12. Ed Herman
13. Gerald Harris
14. Georges St-Pierre
15. James McSweeney
16. Jared Hamman
17. Jon Madsen
18. Josh Koscheck
19. Justin Gaethje
20. Justin Salas
21. Justin Wren
22. Kamaru Usman
23. Keith Jardine
24. Kevin Burns
25. Luke Caudillo
26. Mathew Lopez
27. Matt Mitrione
28. Melvin Guillard
29. Mike Wessel
30. Nate Marquardt
31. Neil Magny
32. Pat Barry
33. Paul Buentello
34. Rafa Garcia
35. Rashad Evans
36. Rose Namajunas
37. Roy Nelson
38. Shane Carwin
39. Stipe Miocic
40. T.J. Dillashaw
41. Todd Duffee
42. Tyler Stinson
43. Tyler Toner

Boxing

1. DaVarryl Williamson
2. DeAndrey Abron
3. Juan Carlos Candelo
4. Manuel Perez
5. Verno Phillips

What Are Trevor Wittman’s Coaching & Training Methods?

First and foremost, Trevor Wittman’s a striking coach and is well-known for vastly improving the striking of any fighter he works with. With the amount of MMA fighters he’s worked with compared to boxers, it’s clear he has a gift for developing the striking game in MMA.

Striking
Trevor Wittman improves the striking technique of all of his fighters and makes sure they have a fast, accurate, and snappy jab. A big part of improving his fighters’ striking technique and fighting style is to massively work on their footwork, movement, distance management, and fluidity.

Game plans
Trevor Wittman personalizes game plans for every fighter he works with. He never has a set method for victory and is fluid in his approach. 

And while at times Trevor Wittman formulates game plans with the focus on how his fighter can beat their opponent, he often focuses on a game plan that looks at stopping how an opponent plans to beat his fighter.

This means going over his fighter’s weaknesses relentlessly, over their opponent’s strengths, and making adjustments from there. It also means he doesn’t tamper much with his fighter’s strengths.

Trevor Wittman does this because he doesn’t want his fighters to be constantly thinking about their opponent and how they can beat them, and he also understands the most important facet of MMA is being well-rounded.

Cornering Style
Trevor Wittman’s cornering style is again personalized to each fighter. However, he shares energy, composure, focus, and confidence with all of his fighters.

For each fighter, he gives great tactical advice depending on what’s happening in the fight. He never sugarcoats anything and is quick to tell his fighters if they’re doing something wrong, the rounds they’ve lost, or if they need to calm down and compose themselves.

He can read the psychology of his fighters expertly and he knows the different ways to speak to each fighter to get or keep them ticking.

Focus
Everything is brought together for the fighters coached by Trevor Wittman because he’s focused on improving the few fighters he works with. This is a huge benefit over other coaches who own huge gyms and split their focus and attention among the dozens of fighters they work with.

Trevor Wittman’s coaching is very personalized and he can make it this way because his time isn’t distracted. It’s no surprise that once he started working with fewer fighters and focused on their needs, Trevor Wittman’s stock accelerated as his fighters blossomed.

Trevor Wittman’s Coaching Success

With his longevity as a coach, Trevor Wittman has a vast amount of MMA and boxing experience. However, his game was taken to the next level when he started to train fewer fighters as he could focus on their needs.

Cementing Trevor Wittman’s status as one of the best MMA coaches of all time, he won Coach of the Year at the World MMA Awards 3 times: in 2017, 2019, and 2021.

He won the awards because Kamaru Usman became the UFC welterweight champion and had 5 title defenses, Rose Namajunas became the UFC strawweight champion and had 1 title defense, and Justin Gaethje was tearing through the lightweight division before losing to then-champion Oliveira.

Trevor Wittman’s Coaching Courses

With his success as a boxing and MMA coach, he’s made various online coaching courses to help aspiring MMA fighters and fans of the sport.

Trevor Wittman’s coaching courses are:

• Secrets to Counter-striking
• Secrets to Power
• Secrets of a Champion Balance
• The Footwork Blueprint

What Is Trevor Wittman’s Net Worth?

While Trevor Wittman’s net worth hasn’t been disclosed, it’s highly likely he has a net worth of $2-5 million. 

Trevor Wittman has owned multiple gyms in America in the past, and now owns a huge headquarters for ONX Sports that also has a gym and training facility inside where he can train his fighters privately.

He’s also been coaching for 27 years since the age of 22 and despite now working with fewer fighters, Trevor Wittman’s earning more as a coach than he ever did.

Trevor Wittman Salary: How Much Does He Earn in the UFC?

From three fighters in 2021, Usman, Gaethje, and Namajunas, Trevor Wittman would’ve earned a UFC salary of $161,800, based on the lowest numbers possible. 

And While we don’t know his contractual business with the fighters he coaches, even if he’s earning just 5% of their total purse, we can get some rough numbers for Trevor Wittman’s salary in the UFC.

In 2021, Kamaru Usman fought 3 times, Rose Namajunas fought twice, and Justin Gaethje fought once – with them all winning every fight.

Kamaru Usman reportedly earned around $500,00 for his first 2 fights, and $1 million for the third against Colby (UFC 268). The total for all three fights was reported to be around $2,024,000, an average of $674,000 per fight. This is just the base salary and doesn’t include PPV points and the rest.

So, if Trevor Wittman takes just 5% of Usman’s base pay, he earned 112k in 2021. Rose Namajunas reported pay for her two fights was $444,000, which does include her ‘of the night bonuses’ and incentive pay (Venum). 5% for Trevor equals $22,000.

Finally, Justin Gaethje reportedly earned $556,000 for his one fight at UFC 268, which would’ve netted Trevor Wittman $27,800. For just these three fighters, Trevor Wittman would’ve earned a UFC salary of $161,800.

However, these are estimates and it’s highly possible to have been much more from just these three, and much more when considering the other fighters he’s coaching.

5% for someone as credentialed as Trevor Wittman is a bargain, especially considering MMA managers have earned up to 20% from UFC fighters while offering much less.

To Conclude

With over 27 years of experience, having owned and headed multiple gyms, 3 World MMA Coach of the Year Awards, and multiple UFC champions under him, Trevor Wittman is undoubtedly one of the best MMA coaches in the world today.