Marc Montoya

At a glance

• Founded Factory X in 2008 in a small Denver strip mall
• The gym now covers roughly 10,000 square feet
• Has developed Anthony Smith, Ian Heinisch and Maurice Greene

Overview

Marc Montoya, billed by his gym as Kru Marc Montoya, is the owner and head coach of Factory X Muay Thai in Denver, Colorado. He founded the gym in 2008 in a small strip mall, and it now fills a space of about 10,000 square feet.

Factory X trains both MMA fighters and Muay Thai athletes. Montoya has developed several fighters who went on to the UFC, including Anthony Smith, Ian Heinisch and Maurice Greene.

What you'll find

On Instagram (@coachmarcmontoya) and X (@coachmmontoya), he posts about team culture, mindset and training. His messages cover discipline and behavior as much as technique.

He also appears as a guest on podcasts, where he goes deeper into how he runs a gym. Factory X has a page dedicated to Kru Marc Montoya that outlines his role on the team, and his interview on UFC.com lays out his method. It is a good place to start if you want to understand how he works.

Why follow

His philosophy comes down to building champions in life before building champions in fighting. He uses personality assessments to tailor his coaching to each fighter. The idea is that the same message does not land the same way with every athlete, so he adjusts how he communicates with each one, in training and in the corner.

If you coach or run a club, his content gives you concrete ideas on managing a group, communicating with an athlete and building a gym culture. If you are a fan, it helps you understand what is going on in the corner of Anthony Smith or Ian Heinisch before and during a fight, and why certain decisions get made between rounds.

MMA Official's take

Marc Montoya is most useful for coaches, gym owners and athletes interested in the mental side of fighting. Start with his UFC.com interview, which sums up his method and the story of Factory X, then follow his Instagram for the day-to-day messages.

After that, listen to one of his podcast appearances. That is where he goes furthest into how he uses personality assessments and how he works with individual fighters, with specific examples drawn from life inside his Denver gym and the fight camps it runs.