Strong Style opens Broadview Heights location

by Dan Holland

Strong Style MMA and Training Center, which has been headquartered at 6900 Granger Rd., in Independence since 2006, opened its new main location July 29 at 7955 Broadview Rd. The building previously housed FX Fitness.

Over the years, Strong Style has produced a number of well-known professional mixed martial arts fighters who have had great success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, including former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic, Forrest “The Meat Cleaver” Petz, “The Immortal” Matt Brown, Dan “The Bull” Bobish and Jessica “Evil” Eye.

The 34,000-square-foot facility provides approximately double the space of the Independence location, a portion of which will still be maintained for training and classes, according to general manager Andrew Stenger. The new location also offers training in fitness, powerlifting, wrestling and other disciplines.

“Historically, we’ve been a mixed martial arts gym, so with our combat program, we have programs in boxing, kickboxing, jiu jitsu and an overall MMA program for our combat sports,” explained Stenger. “We are also building up more on our fitness side of things – we call it ‘athletics,’ which is an all-encompassing fitness-based class. We also recently began a powerlifting program to add to our competition programs.”

Strong Style Broadview Heights has a full-time staff of 15-20 employees in addition to dozens of instructors, many of whom competed at a professional level. More than 20 professional and amateur fighters make up the club’s current fight team.

“We have a lot of coaches who have been with Strong Style for decades that still come into coach a class here and there,” said Stenger. “Even some of our retired UFC fighters will jump in and teach a class, and that’s what makes the culture here so fun; that we have people who have competed under the Strong Style name who come back and coach the younger generation.”

Stenger stressed that the club is not a combat sports-only facility. “We’re a place where anyone can come in and take himself or herself to the next level,” he said. “Whether they’re trying to get on the fight team or if they’re just here to try to lose weight; it’s all about bettering their health. We’ve seen many stories of people here just completely turning their lives around for the better.”

Strong Style owner Marcus Marinelli and his team faced a number of challenges in renovating the 40-year-old building over a two-and-a-half-year period, including a water main break that flooded the lower level on Christmas Day in 2022.

“Our basement area was flooded up to the ceiling and the pool area was completely refilled,” Stenger recalled. “That same day, we also had a leak at our Independence building that destroyed all of our jiu jitsu mats. So, we had a flood at both facilities on the same day.”

The happenstance pushed backed an opening planned for early 2023.

“In addition to the flooding, the roof was very outdated,” said Stenger. “There were also no light switches anywhere in the building, so we had to redo all the electrical and plumbing underneath. With getting rid of the pool, we replaced everything with tankless water heaters. We had to rebuild a lot of this building, as it was due for some major upgrades.”

Above all, there is a desire among the staff to continue building on the culture begun at the Independence location, said Stenger, who met his wife, Lujain, at Strong Style. “Training is important, but we’re very big on culture here,” he said. “We see a lot of people come in here and not want to leave because they love the people so much. It’s a place where people collectively come to leave the outside world behind and come here to train and work hard.” ∞

Photo (above): General Manager Andrew Stenger and his wife, Lujain Stenger (front desk), pose in front of the Strong Style mural. Photo by
Dan Holland.

In its 34,000-square-foot facility, Strong Style MMA and Training Center offers
powerlifting and competition programs, as well as several combat sports programs.
Photo by Dan Holland.