Gym Profile: Factory X continuing to thrive off its 'amazing culture'

Welcome to Gym Profile, a recurring series by senior MMA news editor James Lynch highlighting some of the top gyms in mixed martial arts.

Factory X Muay Thai/MMA/BJJ is a 10,000-square-foot facility in Englewood, Colorado, and was founded in 2010 by head coach Marc Montoya. Along with a cage and training area, the facility also boasts a pro shop, barbershop, massage room, and an A/V room for watching fight footage. Notable UFC fighters from Factory X include Anthony Smith, James Krause, and Devonte Smith.

Foundation of Factory X

Montoya, 45, grew up boxing and playing baseball but didn't start training mixed martial arts until 1998. His foray began at nearby Colorado gym "Champions," where he had the opportunity to work with future UFC fighters Duane Ludwig and Brad Gumm. Although he never competed in MMA, Montoya gained valuable experience in 2000 while training authentic Muay Thai in Florida, and later went on to compete in several matches.

"(We fought) in a gymnasium, but at the time it felt to me like it was in an 80,000 person arena," Montoya told theScore. "But it was a little gymnasium with just a few fans. But at the time, I was like 'damn this is the s--t, I love this.' And then from there obviously evolved into all the MMA experience and then into being a coach. But that's how it initially started."

The name Factory X originated from a conversation Montoya had with his strength and conditioning coach. The original facility was small and often crammed with members. His trainer noted it was like a "sweat factory" and Montoya ran with it. Using the name "Factory," Monyota also decided to add an "X" on the end which is a common term used in martial arts for different positions. Factory X was born and only had a few notable fighters from the beginning.

"I started with Chris Camozzi, Chase Hackett, Nick Macias, and Tony Miller," Montoya said. "Those were the first four that I started with and then obviously it grew from there. Brian Camozzi was not yet in the mix ... you got to remember he was a teenager then, so he was training sort of. I don't think people realize but Chris Camozzi had 20 fights in the UFC."

What's been consistent throughout the history of Factory X is the culture Montoya created. Egos are left at the door and Montoya takes pride in creating a family-type atmosphere.

"Culture has always been my number one goal when starting the gym," Montoya explained. "I want to have an amazing culture. Wins and losses, all the nonsense, that stuff doesn't wake me up in the morning. Having a good culture (does).

"It's not about having an ego - Anthony Smith better be saying 'hi' to the students that are just coming in to train for general fitness or self-defense or whatever they're doing. He does that because he's the culture guy we want. I don't have to tell Anthony to do that. And so he goes and talks to those people and rubs elbows with them not because he has to ... but because that's the culture that we've built. It starts from the top but it's got to trickle down and that's something that sets us apart for sure."

After the original members, other notable fighters joined the gym: Bellator two-division champion Joe Warren, Bellator middleweight Brian Rogers, and UFC veteran Brian Foster. Now the promotion boasts 10 fighters on the UFC roster in what Montoya calls the "third wave" of fighters in the gym's history.

Full UFC fighter roster

Vendramini is a newer edition to the team and Montoya believes the 24-year-old has all the tools to be a threat in the UFC's welterweight division.

"We have Luigi Vendramini, who got injured, unfortunately - he's only had one fight in the UFC," Montoya said. "But that kid, he's super special, super coachable guy. He was supposed to be here in May but with all this (pandemic) stuff going that's probably going to be pushed back a month or so. But he's back from his knee surgery and unfortunately, his first surgery didn't take. They thought it did then he started training and instantly it had problems again with it. So had to have another surgery so he's been out a little bit. But wait till you see that kid. Give that kid three-four fights and he's gonna impress himself and everyone around him and you guys included for sure."

Former UFC fighter roster

• Chris Camozzi (25-14) middleweight
• Brian Camozzi (7-5) welterweight
• Brian Foster (28-12) lightweight
• Dustin Jacoby (11-5) light heavyweight

Notable prospects

• Brandon Royval (10-4), LFA flyweight champion
• Sid Bice (9-2) LFA flyweight
• Pauline "Pita" Macias (4-0) strawweight
• Austin Jones (8-5) welterweight
• Marquel Mederos (5-3 AM) lightweight
• Carmen Sage (4-0 AM) bantamweight

Factory X also has a number of notable prospects knocking on the UFC's doorstep, including a pair of flyweight standouts in Royval and Bice.

"Sid (Bice) and Brandon (Royval) have been training partners forever," Montoya said. "And they're two of the top 125-pounders in the U.S. for sure. It's really cool to see because I've had this wave of guys where I've trained them, and they were real notable people, and then they've retired. And my model's always been to reload not to rebuild. So we've reloaded kids and we've reloaded new talent so that they come up and have opportunities like Brandon Royval, Youssef Zalal, and Sid Bice."

Watch the full video interview with Montoya below (1hr 31 min mark) and subscribe to theScoreMMA YouTube channel here.