Grappling
Build your ground game through Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Grappling and Wrestling. Study positions, control, escapes, takedown awareness, and submissions with a clear technical focus.
Chicago's Only True Mixed Martial Arts Training Gym
Join the Legacy.
Conquer the Fight.Masterthe art.
Learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and MMA. All levels. 88 classes per week. Two locations. Start today.
What is
MMA?
MMA stands for mixed martial arts. It's a combat sport where almost everything is allowed. You can strike or grapple. You can punch, kick, knee, and elbow. You can take the other person to the ground. Once you're there, you can hold them down or force them to quit with a choke or a joint lock. A fight ends when someone is knocked out, taps out, the referee steps in, or time expires and judges decide it.
The "mixed" part is the whole story.
Read more
For most of history, combat sports kept the pieces apart. Boxers only punched. Wrestlers only grappled. Every sport banned something, and those bans are what shaped the technique inside it.
In 1993 the first UFC put the styles against each other with almost no rules, to settle which one actually worked. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter named Royce Gracie, smaller than nearly everyone he faced, won by taking people to the ground and submitting them. That settled the old question and opened a new one: what happens when the wrestler can also punch, and the striker can also stop a takedown? MMA is the sport that grew out of that question.
So a fight moves. Two people start apart, throwing strikes. One closes the distance and they end up tied together. From there it goes to the ground, or back out into open space. A five-minute round can cycle through all of it several times. Each of those places is a different problem with a different set of answers.
That's why nobody trains MMA as one single thing. You learn to strike. You learn to wrestle. You learn jiu-jitsu. Then you learn what changes about each of them once the other two are allowed.
Limited-time Fall Special
3 months.
All access.
Access to all classes at both Chicago MMA locations for three months, beginning the day you purchase.
Through September 30
11 days left
$650$520
20% off the three-month unlimited membership. Save $130.
Claim the Fall SpecialAdult programs
Choose your
path.
Three ways to train. Start with Grappling, Striking, or MMA, then choose the classes that match your interests and experience.
Explore Grappling
Striking
Develop balance, range, combinations, timing, and controlled partner work through the distinct striking practices of Muay Thai, K-1 Kickboxing (Dutch Kickboxing), and Boxing.
MMA
Integrate striking and grappling into one connected practice, from distance and clinch work to takedown awareness, control, and ground transitions.
Kids and Youth Programs
A strong start
for young students.
Kids BJJ gives younger students an age-appropriate place to learn movement, technique, partner awareness, and training-room habits. Explore current placement guidance, parent resources, and first-class preparation.
Grappling, Striking, MMA, and Kids BJJ in Chicago
Train where you are
Two locations.
One membership.
Lincoln Park
1528 N Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60642
Train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Grappling, and MMA in Lincoln Park. Each location includes a dedicated strength room.
South Loop
110 E Cermak Rd
Chicago, IL 60616
Train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Grappling, and MMA in South Loop. Each location includes a dedicated strength room.
Leadership
Meet the people
behind the room.
Meet Misho Ceko, Patrick Gatbunton, and Rosie Aybar—part of the Chicago MMA coaching team.
01Chicago MMA leadershipFounder & Head Instructor
Misho Ceko
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and MMA
Fourth-degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in the Ralph Gracie lineage, fourth-degree Luta Livre black belt, and Sityodtong Muay Thai coach with nearly 30 years in martial arts.
02Chicago MMA coachProfessor · Director of the Kids Program
Patrick Gatbunton
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu · Grappling · Kids BJJ
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, first degree, grappling champion, and Director of the Kids Program.
03Chicago MMA coachMuay Thai Trainer
Rosie Aybar
Muay Thai
Muay Thai fighter and trainer.
Learn more about the people who teach, guide, and build Chicago MMA.
Meet the teamChicago MMA lineage
Join the Legacy.
Chicago Mixed Martial Arts, founded in 2010, is part of the Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Sityodtong Muay Thai, and Luta Livre USA teams. Our roots go back 100 years.
Explore our History
01 / Grappling lineage
Gracie Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu developed in Brazil during the early twentieth century after Japanese judoka Mitsuyo Maeda shared judo and jiu-jitsu with Carlos Gracie. In 1925, Carlos opened the Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro, helping establish a family of methods that became globally associated with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
02 / Striking lineage
Sityodtong
Muay Thai
Sityodtong began as a Muay Thai training camp founded by Kru Yodtong Senanan in Thailand. The Sityodtong Boston history records Mark DellaGrotte’s training at the Pattaya camp with Kru Yodtong in the late 1990s and the permission he later received to teach in the United States.
03 / No-gi lineage
Luta
Livre
Brazilian Luta Livre is a grappling tradition that developed in Rio de Janeiro. The Luta Livre Submission federation’s history identifies Euclydes “Tatu” Hatem as an early central figure and traces his training in Rio in the late 1920s. The art is commonly practiced without a traditional jacket.
Start with 7 days.
The Chicago MMA trial is $49 for 7 days. Review the next steps, choose a location, and begin through our secure booking flow.
Start your trial