Local MMA School Wins Statewide Award

Online, January 11, 2011 (Newswire.com) - SSF Submission Academy was recently honored with Around the Octagon's coveted 2010 Gym of the Year award for the state of Tennessee. The selection process began in early November 2010 with the popular mixed martial arts (MMA) website Around the Octagon (ATO) making the initial selection of MMA schools.

ATO chose 18 gyms from across the state for the initial phase of online voting. Once the online voting ended in mid December, the three gyms with the most votes were sent to a panel of judges made up of MMA promoters and other gym owners throughout the state. SSF Submission Academy, Memphis Judo and Jiu Jitsu of Memphis, TN, and Relentless MMA of Union City, TN were the finalists.

The judges considered multiple factors when deciding the winner. These consisted of the gyms' presence around the state, fighters' performance, size and quality of events fighters competed in, and the level of competition fighters went up against. MMA gyms have fight teams that compete, and the performance of the fighters reflects upon their respective teams and coaches; i.e. gyms. Allen Sircy, ATO founder and writer, presented the award to SSF's owner and head MMA coach, Ron Dayley, at 3FC VI Fighting Championship's MMA promotion on January 8th 2011 in Pigeon Forge, TN.

"I was happy to hear that we had won the award. Our team has worked really hard over the past year; we've won numerous titles, and in 2010 alone fought all across the state of TN as well as Louisiana, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia. And SSF has been selected to compete in the UFC and Strikeforce twice each since we opened a little over three years ago. I feel like my team earned this - that being said, there are some great teams across the state really pushing MMA and I enjoy working with and competing against all of them" says Dayley.

In April 2007 Dayley and his wife, Kathryn, opened SSF in his wife's hometown of Clarksville. By SSF's second year in business Dayley was managing and cornering Pro fighter Brad Morris of Australia against Cain Velazquez in Montreal, Canada at UFC 83. He returned to corner Morris again at UFC Night Fight 15 in Omaha, NE. Dayley has also taken two fighters to Strikeforce. The most recent being 18-4 amateur Steven Durr who dominated at the Strikeforce Challengers 13 with a decisive win via triangle choke against Nashville BJJ purple belt David Hurst in the first round (1:36). Durr was selected for the January 7, 2011 Strikeforce amateur undercard that fell between the preliminary Pro card and the Pro main event card which was aired live on Showtime.

Dayley is proud not just of his team but the instructors that help him build that team. Gracie Barra brown belt, Brian Marvin heads up SSF's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) program. Dayley insists that members of the fight team train in Marvin's classes. "BJJ tightens up the MMA game, most MMA guys don't like training with the gi [the required uniform of BJJ] but it can take a MMA fighter's submission game from so so to exceptional and Brian is a submission technician," says a smiling Dayley. "I also can't say enough about our Muay Thai and Boxing head coach, Chris Beasley. Chris is our striking coach and does great work; he's created champions and pushes the teams stand up game like no other. Chris and James Nickerson, our assistant Muay Thai coach, have done a great job with the team." Dayley is complimentary of SSF's Crossfit and Krav Maga coach, Ray Jula, as well, "The guys think Ray's crazy, but he always comes up with new ways to push them, one day they're throwing tires and carrying logs on their backs and the next he's making them pull a car with a rope over their shoulders. It's keeps things lively."

Dayley is a Sombo expert recognized by the American Sombo Association and the United States Sombo Combat Association. A BJJ purple belt and MACP Level II, Dayley is a former Lion's Den fighter. He trained with Ken and Frank Shamrock in the early 1990's at the original Lion's Den in Lodi, CA. Dayley's primary training partner in Lodi was Jerry Bohlander. Over the past nearly 20 years, he has trained under Dan Inosanto, Larry Hartsell, Pat Trey, Gene LeBell, Erik Paulson and myriad others.

SSF has programs in MMA, BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, Krav Maga, and Sombo. SSF's Youth BJJ program came in second in the nation in the Youth and Teen Division at the prestigious North American Grappling Association (NAGA) nationals held outside Atlanta, GA in 2009. With something for everyone, the gym also offers aerobic pole dancing, a popular new form of exercise for women growing nationwide. With the focus on increasing women's upper body and core strength, aerobic pole dancing is a fun new way to get in shape.

Dayley is proud of what he and his wife have built in a few short years. "I love MMA. I just want to have a team I can be proud of, a team that's going places. And, I do. This award doesn't prove that, I already knew it. But it's nice to have the hard work of everyone at SSF recognized."