#69. Matthew Pellino : UFC Coach on Strickland, $750K Bonuses & Building Foxgloves
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In this episode of The Quinntessential Questions Podcast, Paul Quinn sits down with Matthew Pellino, Boxing/MMA Coach, Entrepreneur, and Owner of Foxgloves Fight Gym in Singapore. From moving to Malaysia at 19 and taking over coaching within a month, to coaching Sean Strickland at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, to cornering Eric Kelly's knockout of UFC Hall of Famer Jens Pulver in Manila, Matt shares his transformation journey and philosophy on building champions. He discusses measuring coaching success by performance bonuses not records, working with extremely high-level athletes, and why Singapore has zero prize fighters.
Matt also opens up about his biggest regret—stopping fighting too early—and shares powerful lessons about youth mentorship, refusing to hire amateur coaches, and building the "Home of Heavy Hands" with his wife. Whether you're an aspiring coach, combat sports athlete, or entrepreneur building something from scratch, this conversation offers hard-won wisdom on results-driven coaching, authentic community building, and why you don't want to work for no one at 29.
Guest Bio
Matthew Pellino is a UFC/Boxing coach, Foxgloves Fight Gym owner, and combat sports entrepreneur known for accumulating $750K in UFC performance bonuses across his fighters while building Singapore's "Home of Heavy Hands" with the principle that "you don't measure coaches by their record—you measure them by their fighters' bonus checks."
Rising from an undersized 5'9" Florida linebacker to moving to Malaysia alone at 19 and taking over gym coaching within a month, Matt Pellino built a legendary career rooted in results over rhetoric, youth mentorship over expansion, and the courage to coach Eric Kelly through knocking out UFC Hall of Famer Jens Pulver at Manila's Araneta Coliseum (where Muhammad Ali fought), work with Sean Strickland for 1.5 years at Syndicate MMA in Vegas, and corner Joanne Calderwood at Fight Island—proving that great coaching isn't about credentials, it's about the checkbook, refusing to hire amateur coaches even when offered franchises, and telling young Singaporeans the hard truth that "there are no prize fighters here" so they need backup plans, education, and real community like the 200-person Battleground events where kids hang out with PS5s instead of making bad decisions on the street.
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Minutes
(00:00) Introduction
(01:40) Matt's Christmas training & loud coaching voice
(02:21) Dad was an American football coach - origins of loud coaching
(03:03) Who is Matt Pellino: Entrepreneur, MMA coach, 15 years coaching
(03:25) Growing up in Florida: Most competitive football state
(08:43) Moving to Malaysia at 19 years old alone
(09:07) Taking over gym coaching within one month with Luke Russo
(09:47) Knocking out UFC Hall of Famer Jens Pulver in Manila
(51:48) Vegas success: $750K in UFC performance bonuses explained
(53:34) How Foxgloves came about: Wife's idea & "sag" philosophy
(55:22) The poisonous plant story behind Foxgloves name
(56:42) "Home of Heavy Hands" - building gym culture
(1:13:42) Why Singapore has zero prize fighters
(1:15:09) Refusing to hire amateur coaches - protecting quality
(1:17:02) Boxing ring in pool 24 floors up: March 28th at Dashi Sky Pool
Behind-The-Scenes
