CrossFit UFC Throwdown

CrossFit made its debut at the UFC Fan Expo held in Toronto earlier this year. Dave Castro from CrossFit HQ was there to host the event.

“It was a natural match just because so many UFC fighters and fighters in general train with CrossFit or use these principles to train,” Castro says.

CrossFit Games champ Kristan Clever joined the competitors and was thrilled to showcase her sport. She says she’s surprised that CrossFit was asked to attend to the event at the request of the organizers instead of having to buy space like other vendors.

“It’s really encouraging. It’s really exciting. Hopefully some of these folks will get interested,” she says.

According to Jon Gilson, owner of Again Faster, “I think that we’ve known and Coach Glassman has known since really almost Day 1 that metabolic stressors involved in high-intensity output and high-intensity functional movement in CrossFit are very analogous to what happens in the ring.”

Gilson concludes: “These guys know that what we do works, and so we’re going to see more of it in the future.”

The next UFC Fan Expo will be held Oct. 7-8 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.

6min 38sec

Additional reading: Fight Gone CrossFit by Jack Goodson, published April 8, 2011.