UFC GYM is set to throw open its doors in Murfreesboro on Saturday, Nov. 14, transforming a former YMCA building at 205 N. Thompson Lane into a 41,015-square-foot fitness complex complete with fight floors, an Olympic lifting room and a recovery suite with cryotherapy and a sauna. The grand-opening celebration starts at 8 a.m. and is expected to draw families from across Middle Tennessee for a day of workouts, a ribbon-cutting and a visit from a UFC veteran.
A Fighter, a Ribbon-Cutting and a Line-Dance Workout
According to PR Newswire, the day's festivities include an MMA skills session and meet-and-greet with UFC veteran Jessica Eye, alongside the official ribbon-cutting. A vendor village will give local Murfreesboro businesses space to set up throughout the day, and the schedule wraps at 5 p.m. with a Country Fusion class described as a low-impact dance workout that fuses line dancing with fitness. The club also runs a pre-sale office at 202 N. Thompson Lane, Suite B, according to Rutherford Source.
The Murfreesboro club marks UFC GYM's second location in Tennessee, the chain's announcement notes. The facility repurposes the YMCA building's original gymnasium into a space with eight Olympic lifting platforms, and the broader complex includes two full-size fight floors for jiu-jitsu, boxing and MMA training, a turf zone for conditioning and group classes, a dedicated glute room, cardio equipment, and an elevated indoor track, per Rutherford Source's reporting on the facility layout.
Membership Tiers Start Under $25 a Month
Membership options start at $24.99 a month and include Access, Performance+ and Elite tiers, the PR Newswire release states. Elite members receive recovery services and unlimited kids club access, while select tiers include unlimited guest privileges, according to the same facts reported by Rutherford Source. Founding membership offers include $1 enrollment on every tier, and the gym says it will serve all ages and fitness levels with dedicated programming for kids, women and beginners alongside its strength and combat training.
Group fitness is organized into six categories — HIIT, mind/body, strength, cycle, cardio and dance — and personal training is offered through coaches certified in a program developed specifically for UFC GYM, per the Rutherford Source account. Youth training happens in a separate kids zone with its own full-size gym and drop-off area, open to children ages 6 and older. The youth lineup includes Youth Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Youth Boxing and Youth Daily Ultimate Training, and kids who age out of the program can transition into a standard adult membership.
From Car Lots to the Cage: Owner's Pivot
UFC GYM Murfreesboro is owned and operated by Franklin resident Carmine Grassi, who has spent nearly four decades in the automotive industry after he started selling cars in 1987. He became a dealership owner in 2011 when he bought Infiniti of Cool Springs, then added Ford Lincoln of Franklin in November 2017; the two dealerships together employ more than 375 people, according to facts reported by Rutherford Source. The Murfreesboro gym is Grassi's first business outside the auto industry, and he says the venture follows his own fitness journey, in which he lost more than 100 pounds.
UFC GYM says the Murfreesboro club is expected to create more than 50 new jobs in the community, with openings spanning management, coaching, personal training, youth programming, membership and operations, per PR Newswire. Grassi plans to open two additional UFC GYM locations in the region over the next three years, and says he intends to work with Middle Tennessee State University and local middle and high school athletic programs on partnerships that would give student-athletes access to strength, conditioning and agility training.
Part of a Fast-Growing Franchise
The Murfreesboro opening fits into a broader expansion push for the franchise: UFC GYM reported more than 171 locations opened and 940 additional locations in development globally, according to Franchising.com. The brand's other Tennessee location, in Hendersonville, opened at 261 Indian Lake Blvd., Suite 350, in a 10,080-square-foot facility that was described as the second-largest franchise facility in the United States, according to Main Street Media of Tennessee. That franchise owner described the Hendersonville club as offering small-group fitness instruction for the whole family rather than operating as a traditional fight gym — a framing that echoes the family-focused programming planned for the much larger Murfreesboro site.
