Urijah Faber is Sacramento’s most decorated Mixed Martial Arts fighter. After a successful Division 1 wrestling career at UC Davis as a two-time NCAA Qualifier and the all-time win leader for the Aggies, Urijah began his MMA career. In just 3 years, Urijah rose to the top of the world rankings boasting World Titles for 3 different organizations and maintaining an impressive 15-1 record. Urijah was invited to the prestigious Abu Dhabi World Championships in 2005 under World Champion Cassio Werneck. He also studies under world class instructors in traditional kickboxing, boxing and Muay Thai Kickboxing. With over 8 years of coaching experience, Urijah has become one of the Sacramento area’s most knowledgeable instructors and hand picks ALL the instructors at Ultimate Fitness.

Dustin Akbari is the head instructor for the adult Brazilian Jiu Jitsu program at Ultimate Fitness. Dustin has an extensive training background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai Kickboxing, wrestling and boxing in addition to various other Martial Arts. As a home student since the age of 12, Dustin has had the opportunity to become an apprentice to Sacramento’s finest instructors including Andy Kay, Cassio Werneck and Urijah Faber. Dustin showed much promise in his Pro MMA career but decided teaching was his calling much to Ultimate Fitness’ benefit. Dustin’s natural talent for teaching and people skills make him an incredible addition to the Ultimate Fitness team.

ACE Certified Personal Trainer – Adrian Garcia is originally from Watsonville, California. He wrestled at University of California at Davis where he was a 2-time Pac 10 Place winner, a 2-time NCAA Division 1 Qualifier and a 2-time California State Placer. Adrian received his B.A. in Exercise Science from UC Davis in 2001 and went on to get an M.S. in Sports Performance at California State University Sacramento. Adrian specializes in a few specific fitness disciplines. The first is Core Training with emphasis on deep abdominal muscle and lower back conditioning to improve overall strength, power and flexibility. Another of Adrian’s specialties is Sport Specific Training which is ideal for anyone training for a specific event. He does this by using movements, speeds and intensities that mimic one’s sport. Adrian also specializes in Weight Loss, helping MMA fighters lose weight properly which can be the difference between winning and losing. Adrian has been instructing Conditioning classes at Ultimate Fitness since its inception. He is also available for personal training and Metabolism Measuring.

Mario Soto came to Ultimate Fitness as a member at its inception in 2006. Before that, Mario trained at a Pure Muay Thai school and a Charles Gracie affiliate Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school. Once Mario got a taste of training submission grappling and boxing as well, he knew Cage Fighting was the career for him. He soon started competing in Amateur bouts and went pro in early 2011.

Soto’s fight career is off to a great start and if you get a chance to see him compete, be sure not to blink as he has a tendency to finish his opponents quickly. Mario also competes in BJJ, Submission Grappling, Muay Thai and wrestling tournaments and has won several in his division including Battle of the Bay, Jiu Jitsu by the Sea and Grappling X just to name a few. He has also competed in the Worlds Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championship.

Mario leads his Muay Thai Kickboxing and Conditioning classes with the same take-no-prisoners style he trains in. His classes are tough and fun and a must for folks looking to mix technique and fitness for full body workouts. Mario is also available for personal training.

Kito Andrews has a background in football and track and graduated from CSU Chico. His first exposure to MMA was when he studied Aikido while in college. The real connection came when he studied Jiu Jitsu with Nick Diaz in 2003. Kito has since trained and fought all over the world and landed at Ultimate Fitness several years ago. He has since had 9 professional fights, 7 wins and just 2 losses. His last 2 wins were by way of knock out and had to retire this year due to an injury after a 5 fight winning streak.

Among his many successes, Kito took 1st place in the U.S. Open Jiu Jitsu Tournament in 2009, placed 1st in Battle at the Redwoods Jiu Jitsu Tournament in 2009, was the Ultimate Fitness/Blood Brothers Grappling Champion in 2009 and took 1st place in the Battle by the Sea Jiu Jitsu Tournament in 2010.

Kito drives members to success with unmatched energy and enthusiasm. He not only encourages strong bodies but strong minds which can sometimes be the difference between finishing an exercise and giving up. Kito is known for instilling positive attitudes in every member and client he encounters.

Kito is a AFFA certified as well as a certified massage therapist with a focus on sports massage. Catch him in a Conditioning class soon. Kito is also available for personal training.

Kenneth comes to Ultimate Fitness from the United States Marine Corps. Kenneth’s background is in college wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing. He holds wins over top competitors such as “Razor” Rob McCullough. Another of Ken’s specialties is teaching self-defense. Drawing from his experiences in the Marines and MMA he is able to prepare both men and women to defend themselves in real life situations.

Kenneth leads BJJ and grappling classes as well as daily Kickboxing classes for which he has a huge following. Kenneth’s drills get everybody’s heart rates going! He leads with energy and authority which students find very motivating.

Beginning September 2012 Kenneth has taken the lead on our Kids’ Program. Kenneth is now Kids’ Program Director and Head Coach. This will bring more organization and leadership to our Kids’ Program. We’re very excited to promote Kenneth as he has been on board since our inception, is a true team player and an integral part of the Ultimate Fitness family.

Joseph started his boxing career in 1962 (7 years old) in his family garage in Broderick. As a young man he boxed in local Elks Clubs, American Legion Halls, and surrounding areas of Sacramento. Joe boxed as a Nationally Ranked Amateur winning the Golden Gloves title 2 years in a row before turning Professional. As a Professional he was a World Ranked Professional (#3 WBC and #6 WBA) with 2 State Titles and a North American Boxing Federation (ABF) title, he inherited the family gym “Capital Boxing Gym” which he owned and operated for over 9 years before selling it and getting into the Mixed Martial Arts arena as a trainer at Ultimate Fitness. Since being here he has written a book “Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Strikers Guide for Trainer’s and Fighter’s” to which he has had rave reviews. Joseph is also a California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) Athletic Inspector.

Dion has been training in Kickboxing for over 14 years and teaching kickboxing for almost 10 years. He has competed in K1. Dion has an Amatuer Kickboxing record of 12 and 5. He has earned Black Belts in Kickboxing under two different Middle-Weight Champions. Dion’s extensive skills, energy and enthusiasm keep students coming back to his Kickboxing classes.

Justin Buchholz has been honing the skills of Ultimate Fitness students with his phenominal teaching skills since 2009. Justin’s classes are difficult but his energy, enthusiasm and desire for those around him to succeed will carry even our newest members through his challenging classes.

Buchholz is a former ICON Sport Lightweight champion. He has also fought in EliteXC and he held an 8-1 record before signing with the UFC in 2007. He earned his first win in the UFC against three-to-one favorite, Corey Hill. After a few ups and downs in the UFC, Buchholz defeated Steve Clark by Submission (rear naked choke) in the first round. He then fought fellow UFC veteran Steve Lopez in May 2011 with SCC – Superior Cage Combat. Buchholz beat Lopez with a highlight reel finish, knocking Lopez our in the third with a front kick to the chin. Next, he beat Thiago Mellar by unanimous decision in August 2011 again with the SCC. Justin is currently the Showdown Lightweight Champion and his record is 14-7-0.

Aside from his MMA interests, Justin is a health and environmental fanatic and keeps those around him honest about the way they live. His knowledge of health, nutrition and fitness is quite vast and members learn more than just MMA techniques in his classes.

DJ “The Black Mamba” Roberson got involved in MMA at the beginning of 2008 when an old football teammate dragged him into what he saw as a lions’ den more than a training facility. After just a few rounds in the cage, his passion for MMA was born and he hasn’t looked back since. His current record is 4-4-1.

DJ joined Team Alpha Male back in 2010. While he’s been a fixture at UF for years, we are excited to have recently added DJ to our impressive list of instructors. DJ believes that mastering technique and utilizing ones physical attributes are keys to achieving greatness. As an instructor he is very hands on and motivating. DJ especially loves to teach boxing as it takes hard work, dedication and patience to master its rhythm and to him there is no greater joy than seeing his students progress. He takes his teaching role very seriously and the positive effects it has on others very much to heart.

Dr. Fisher, A Sacramento native, graduated from Life Chiropractic school near the top of his class, cum laude in June 1999. He started his own practice promptly in October of the same year.

His practice grew quickly and he was enjoying everything about treating patients. But, an interesting thing happened in 2005. He was introduced to Mixed Martial Arts super star Urijah Faber. Urijah and Dr. Fisher hit it off and soon were talking about opening Sacramento’s premier mixed martial arts facility. That vision became a reality in October 2006 when they opened the doors to Ultimate Fitness with 100+ members already on board.

Dr. Fisher quickly realized it was too difficult to run two distinctly different businesses from two separate locations, so he moved Fisher Chiropractic into Ultimate Fitness and it was a perfect match. The business meshed so easily with the professional athletes and members in the gym all in need of chiropractic care.

Dr. Fisher is involved in all the day-to-day business of the gym and you can also catch him in Jiu Jitsu classes several times a week.

Dave Rowan has been with Ultimate Fitness since 2006, during construction. Dave met Urijah back in 1998 while coaching college wrestling. Their paths crossed again in 2006 while Urijah and Matt were working on opening the facility. Dave helped construct the inside of the gym and was intrical in getting it opened in a timely manner.

After the gym opened, Dave began training with Urijah and Joseph and started his fight career at age 41. He was an absolute beast and had 4 exciting fights which he won in dynamic fashion. Unfortunately his career ended in 2008 when he blew out his knee. Along with a stellar record in the cage, Dave has a great wrestling record as well. While at Chico State, he was a 2 time All American.

Dave started working full time for Ultimate Fitness in a management role in early 2009. He is our Operations Manager and is responsible for keeping all aspects of the gym running smoothly. He does everything from compiling our EFT drafts to scheduling classes. He’s also the Head Coach of Team Alpha Male and leads the daily team practices.

Carie helped get Ultimate Fitness off the ground. She worked along side Matt and Urijah as Operations Manager, getting systems and procedures in place and members signed up before the doors officially opened in October 2006.

Carie stayed on and helped run the gym until 2009 when she left Operations in the able hands of Dave Rowan to pursue other interests.

In September 2011, Carie returned to her true passion, this time in a Marketing role. Carie handles all aspects of Marketing for Ultimate Fitness and especially enjoys working on the fringe market, helping get women in the door proving the facility is not just a boys’ club. She is diligently getting out the message that Ultimate Fitness provides MMA Fitness for EVERYONE. If you have friends or family members who are interested in trying out the gym, see Carie for 1-week passes!