Trevor Wittman
At a glance
- Coach of Kamaru Usman, Rose Namajunas, and Justin Gaethje
- Founded ONX Sports in 2015
- 2021 Coach of the Year for MMAjunkie, Yahoo Sports, and Combat Press
Overview
Trevor Wittman was born on March 5, 1974, in Denver, Colorado. A former boxer, he stopped competing at 21 and turned to coaching. In 1998 he opened T's K.O. Fight Club in Wheat Ridge, a gym that started out focused on boxing.
In 2009 he opened the Grudge Training Center in Wheat Ridge, which moved to Arvada in 2013. He closed Grudge in November 2016 to focus on ONX Sports, the gear company he founded in 2015 in Golden, Colorado. He now trains his fighters at ONX Labs. He has more than twenty years of experience in MMA and boxing, and his gym history in the Denver area spans nearly three decades.
What you'll find
On Instagram, Wittman posts content about his fighters' training and the ONX gear he designs. He has coached Kamaru Usman, Rose Namajunas, and Justin Gaethje, and worked with Georges St-Pierre, Stipe Miocic, Donald Cerrone, Cory Sandhagen, and T.J. Dillashaw.
ONX makes MMA gloves, shin guards, headgear, hand wraps, and apparel. The company says Wittman launched the brand after seeing fighters break bones in gloves that were not built for real training. The gear is developed in his own lab and tested with elite fighters. Every product line comes back to the same goal: support and injury prevention for fighters who train hard every day.
Why follow
Wittman has led several fighters to UFC gold: Kamaru Usman at welterweight, Rose Namajunas at strawweight, and Justin Gaethje to the interim lightweight title. He was named 2021 Coach of the Year by MMAjunkie, Yahoo Sports, and Combat Press.
His angle is technical analysis, with a strong focus on injury prevention. He is both a coach and a gear designer, which gives him a distinct view of how fighters train and protect themselves. His fighters have won titles in three different divisions, men and women, which shows how he adapts his work to very different body types and styles. Justin Gaethje has also held the UFC's BMF title.
MMA Official's take
Trevor Wittman is a fit for fans who follow his fighters and for athletes interested in training equipment. If you are shopping for gloves or protective gear, his explanations of how ONX designs its products give you concrete criteria.
Start with his Instagram to see his fighters in training and ONX gear in use. Then read the ONX page about his background, which explains how he designed the equipment from his coaching work. Before a fight involving Justin Gaethje or Cory Sandhagen, check his feed for glimpses of their camp.