UFC Performance Institute VP Dr. Duncan French talks mission to help fighters, MMA as whole

LAS VEGAS – When the UFC decided to invest $14 million into its state-of-the-art 30,000-square Performance Institute, there was quite a bit of planning behind it.

But, as one would expect considering such an ambitious undertaking, some variables would need time to figure out.

“Going into it, we all were wondering what this thing was going to be,” UFC Performance Institute Vice President Dr. Duncan French recently told MMAjunkie. “Completely new concept to MMA and to the UFC. We’re based in Vegas, and we’ve got a global roster.

“That’s always going to be something we need to navigate around: How do we reach out and have touch points with every athlete globally? We don’t have accommodation on site. The food has been prepared well or prepared not the way they were wanting for a fight camp? You know, the small, low-level things.”

Judging by the fact that an estimated 40 percent of the UFC’s roster went through its doors in the first six months alone – a number that Frenchs says is growing “exponentially” – it seems MMAjunkie’s “2017 Gym of the Year” is managing just fine.

The Performance Institute – or P.I., as it’s commonly called by fighters and staff – opened last May. Since then, it’s become basically a second home for fighters such as former title challenger Francis Ngannou. UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor used it as a base camp ahead of his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. Middleweight Brad Tavares called it a game-changer. For contender Joseph Benavidez, it’s been instrumental to recovery from injury.

“So far, the feedback and the experience of the fighters has been outstanding,” French said. “So we’re really excited.”

French is encouraged by the data collected so far, showing that more and more athletes are resorting to the Institute to see how it can help them. But he also believes that, on a macro level, there’s a role to be taken on by the facility and its team of experts.

“We really need to start start engaging and expanding our links with the global community of coaches and support staff,” French said. “We need to start pushing out some information and collaborating on new ideas and educating: What is the best practice and the best approach to being a world-class MMA fighter?”

Unlike other sports, which have developed over many decades, MMA is still quite young. Which means there’s still a lot of information yet to be obtained and disseminated. It’s in this connection with the global MMA community, French believes, that the Institute can really make a difference.

“I always look back to NHL hockey. They used to have big enforcers and defensive guys that would get into fights and change the nature of the game,” French said. “Someone figured out if we recruit a smaller team we can skate around the enforcer. Now you look at NHL hockey, in 10 to 15 years it completely changed. It’s evolved.

“We kind of think about the same philosophy with MMA. We feel like some of the insights, the information, the education that we can disseminate, the conversations we’re having with coaches and support staff out through the global community.

“It’s now becoming a real melting pot of conversation about what we do we with MMA to optimize performance. And that’s going to be for the benefit of everyone, surely.”

To hear from French, check out the video above.

And for more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.