Matthew Pellino
Matthew Pellino is a Singapore-based UFC/MMA coach who built his reputation on one principle: "Look at the checkbook—see how many $50K bonuses the fighters got."
An undersized 5'9" linebacker from Orlando, Florida, Matt's combat sports education began at 11 when his Special Forces stepdad brought him to the Modern Army Combatives Program in Nashville, training alongside guys "geared up" including Sean Sherk. His father nearly stopped his first amateur fight: "Hell no, you ain't fighting. Get back up to Florida. You got football season coming."
At 19, Matt moved to Malaysia alone—no connections, no money, didn't speak the language. Within one month, he and Luke Russo took over coaching the gym. The defining moment came cornering Eric Kelly when they knocked out UFC Hall of Famer Jens Pulver at Manila's Araneta Coliseum—the same venue where Muhammad Ali fought the Thrilla in Manila.
His career took him to Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, working with Sean Strickland for 1-1.5 years. "You could hear Sean Strickland say every single word at the Apex. Sean is the one everyone always brings up, but I worked with a lot of really good fighters." At Fight Island, he cornered Joanne Calderwood on the Poirier vs. McGregor 2 card, watching "Conor McGregor's music start" before COVID protocols kicked them out. "We ended up going back to watch Poirier knock him out. The calf kick—I mean left. It was beautiful."
At 29, after a Syndicate owner "didn't like that all the guys winning big fights were working with me," Matt made his move. His wife River (35 fights, NCBA runner-up twice) asked: "What do you want to call the gym?" The answer: Foxgloves—"a dangerous, poisonous plant that settlers in Europe tried to make tea out of. They ended up poisoning and killing themselves." She said: "This is perfect."
The gym became "the home of heavy hands"—old school, comfy couch, fight pictures, PS5 setup. His measurement system: "Everyone can be like, 'Oh, I won this, I did this.' I was like, 'Well, I've got $750K in bonuses between fighters.'"
Matt tells young Singaporeans hard truths: "Can you name one fighter here who makes their entire living from fighting? Non-existent." So his students train from 14 to 19—and get diplomas. "I don't want these guys to have nothing to fall back on."
After 15 years, Matt runs Battleground events with 200 attendees and Monster Energy sponsors. On March 28th, he's putting a boxing ring in Dashi Sky Pool—24 floors up. "Who has put a boxing ring in a pool?"
His philosophy, inherited from his football coach father: "It's not just about getting your hand raised. When you lose in life, you got to handle it gracefully and make the necessary steps to go forward."
Matthew Pellino spent 15 years proving that great coaching isn't measured by records—it's measured by $750K in performance bonuses, youth who get diplomas alongside black eyes, and refusing to franchise because "you don't want to lose the essence of what it is."