Ryan LaFlare
A former UFC welterweight, Ryan LaFlare co-founded Long Island MMA and has spent his career developing fighters and everyday students alike. Before turning to coaching, Ryan built a professional record of 14–3 and held the welterweight title in Lou Neglia's Ring of Combat before signing with the UFC.
From Regional Champion to the UFC
Ryan's competitive career gives him a perspective that is difficult to reproduce through coaching experience alone. Before reaching the UFC, he established himself as a successful professional fighter on the regional scene and captured the Ring of Combat Welterweight Championship.
That progression eventually led Ryan to compete in the UFC, where the demands of training, preparation, strategy, recovery, and performance increase dramatically. Experience at that level gives him a firsthand understanding of what separates simply training hard from preparing intelligently for serious competition.
Today, that experience becomes part of the larger development environment at Long Island MMA. Ryan can evaluate training through the eyes of someone who has personally gone through the process—from prospect, to champion, to UFC fighter.
Being well-rounded isn't optional in this sport — it's the whole game.
Wrestling-Based, Fight-Tested
Ryan's coaching draws directly from his own professional fighting career — a style built on wrestling, positional control, and the ability to finish a fight from anywhere.
Control the Position
Wrestling and clinch work aren't just for takedowns — they're how you dictate where a fight happens.
Stay Dangerous Everywhere
Students learn to threaten with strikes, takedowns and submissions simultaneously, not one at a time.
Fight-Ready, Not Just Technically Sound
Training translates from the classroom to live, competitive pressure — the same pressure Ryan faced as a professional.
Wrestling and MMA, Taught From Experience
Mixed martial arts requires athletes to connect striking, wrestling, grappling, conditioning, and decision-making into one complete game rather than treating each skill as an isolated discipline.
Wrestling
Build takedowns, control, positional dominance and the conditioning to wrestle a full fight, not just a single exchange.
Explore Wrestling →Mixed Martial Arts
Learn how striking, wrestling and grappling connect into one system, the same way Ryan had to master it as a professional.
Explore the MMA Program →Grappling
Grappling develops positional control, submissions, escapes, transitions, and the ability to make technical decisions against a resisting opponent.
Explore Grappling Classes →A Progression Built Around Readiness
Long Island MMA supports students who simply want to train as well as athletes who want to compete. For those pursuing competition, advancement is earned through performance, consistency, control, and demonstrated readiness.
Build the Foundation
Athletes first develop reliable fundamentals, conditioning, control, and consistency before the intensity and complexity of training increases.
Earn Higher Intensity
Fighters progress from regular classes and controlled live work into advanced sparring only after demonstrating that they can train safely and effectively under pressure.
Compete When Ready
The decision to compete is based on development rather than ego. Coaches evaluate the complete athlete before deciding whether someone is ready for amateur or professional competition.
Experience From the Regional Scene to the UFC
Ryan's value as a coach comes from more than having competed professionally. He personally experienced the progression from regional MMA to championship-level competition and ultimately the UFC.
UFC Veteran
Ryan competed in the UFC, gaining firsthand experience at the highest level of professional mixed martial arts.
Ring of Combat Welterweight Champion
Before reaching the UFC, Ryan captured the Ring of Combat Welterweight Championship during his rise through the regional professional MMA scene.
Professional MMA Experience
Years of professional competition gave Ryan experience with fight preparation, game planning, training camps, recovery, and performing under pressure.
Owner at Long Island MMA
Ryan remains part of the leadership behind a gym that has developed athletes competing across the UFC, Bellator, PFL, Invicta FC, and Dana White's Contender Series.
Learn From Someone Who's Done It at the Highest Level
You don't need to be a fighter to train with Ryan. Whether you're new to martial arts or looking to compete, you'll learn from a coach who's been tested at the sport's top level.