Why Range
You’re not just a number here. You’re joining a family.
Wondering what makes Range different from every other gym in Gloucester? Every instructor here takes personal responsibility for helping you hit your own goals, whether that is getting fit, getting confident, or getting in the cage.
The academy is run by its founder, Mark “The Wizard” Weir: a UK mixed martial arts pioneer, a two-time Tae Kwon-Do world champion, and a man who once ended a UFC fight in ten seconds. He still coaches here.
From MMA and UFC fighter to trainer and world-class coach.
It has been a pioneering MMA gym since 1996, producing champions in Cage Warriors, Cage Rage, Raged UK and more. Classes run for all ages and abilities.
The fastest knockout in UFC middleweight history.
Ten seconds against Eugene Jackson at UFC 38, at the Royal Albert Hall on 13 July 2002. It was the first UFC event ever held in Britain, and Mark’s debut. Nobody has beaten it since.
- UK mixed martial arts pioneerMark Weir fought in the UFC, WEC, PRIDE and Cage Rage.
- Fastest KO in UFC middleweight historyTen seconds, on his UFC debut. The record still stands.
- First international WEC championOne of several titles across a career that ran to 2013.
- 2× Tae Kwon-Do world championBlack belt in 1988, world titles in 1988 and 1991.
Judo, boxing, then Tae Kwon-Do
Mark started out in judo and boxing. He switched to Tae Kwon-Do because his mum didn’t want him boxing full time, and that’s where his renowned kicking game comes from.
He took his black belt in 1988 under Grandmaster Hee Il Cho. Three months later he won two world titles at the age of twenty, the youngest world champion the sport had seen at that point, and did it again in 1991. He finished undefeated in Tae Kwon-Do and kickboxing competition and took that striking straight into the cage.
Ten seconds, and it still stands
13 July 2002. The UFC came to Britain for the first time, at the Royal Albert Hall, and Mark was on the card. He met Eugene Jackson, hid his right hand behind a hook kick, and knocked him out in ten seconds.
It was his UFC debut, and it still stands as the fastest knockout in the history of the UFC’s middleweight division. The next quickest is four seconds slower, and that one was set in 2007.
- Fastest knockout in UFC middleweight history: 10 seconds, UFC 38, and unbeaten since 2002.
- Fought professionally from 2000 to 2013, for the UFC, WEC, PRIDE, Cage Rage, UCMMA, Pancrase and BodogFIGHT.
- The first ever Cage Rage British middleweight champion.
- WEC middleweight champion.
- UCMMA middleweight champion and UCMMA kickboxing champion.
- Two-time Tae Kwon-Do world champion, 1988 and 1991.
Where the name comes from
“Range fighting” is Mark’s own term for the hybrid he built out of a career spent in every distance of a fight: Muay Thai and boxing on the feet, Tae Kwon-Do range and timing, Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling on the floor. That is the system the academy teaches, and it is why a beginner here is not handed one style and told to make it work.
Ready when you are.
Call, message, or send the form and we will tell you when to turn up and what to bring.