Fortis MMA's Sayif Saud mulling coaching future as team approaches 100th UFC win
Coaches are among the most unheralded people in the MMA space, and although Fortis MMA’s Sayif Saud has received recognition for his work, there comes a point where success fails to offset personal sacrifice.
That is a crossroad Saud is grappling with as he enters the 20th year of his coaching journey in 2025, and is on the cusp of a massive personal goal he set out for himself at the start.
After picking up his first coaching win in the corner of Sean Spencer against Yuri Villefort at UFC Fight Night 28 in September 2013, Saud has gone on to rack up 97 total victories under the UFC banner. Fortis MMA is now home to notables such as former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno (who brought Saud his first UFC title victory), Geoff Neal, Macy Chiasson, Ryan Spann and many more.
The Dallas-based Fortis MMA has grown into everything Saud hoped and dreamed for it to be, but it has come at a cost. There’s a massive time commitment to not only train athletes in the gym, but to travel almost weekly and be by their sides through fight week, weight cuts, and of course, the fights themselves. Now, as he nears a monumental milestone of team wins, Saud is mulling what his remaining time in the sport is going to look like as the value of his personal life becomes a greater priority.
“I always said that 100 UFC wins and I was going to be done,” Saud told MMA Junkie. “One hundred UFC wins, win a title – I would like to win a title back and get it one more time for (Moreno) – but 100 wins and this will be 20 years. Next year will be 20 years. 2005 is when I started. I moved to Albuquerque in 2006, then came to Dallas in 2009, and now in 2025, it will be 20 years in MMA. And it’s been great, man. It’s been an incredible run, but it’s definitely coming towards the end.
“I look forward to being home and kind of spending time with my kids. I don’t really realize how nice it is to be home and just be around my family, be around my kids and be around them and see them and hug them and kiss them. Just be around them more as they’re getting older. I’m getting into a different period in my life. I’m 44 and getting to the next generation of guys, we’re going to hopefully put that 100 up on the board.”
Saud may hit the 100 wins mark in the first few months of 2025. The team opens its year with Diego Ferreira taking on Grant Dawson at UFC 311 on Jan. 18, Chiasson faces Ketlen Vieira at UFC Fight Night 252 on Feb. 22, and Spann clashes with Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Fight Night 254 on March 15.
All of those matchups have individual divisional importance, and a 3-0 sweep would bring Saud to the 100 mark. Everything is becoming real now, and it creates questions about how he could transition out of running such a successful facility.
For Saud, some of those questions still need answers, but his desire is to keep the future of Fortis MMA in-house.
“Spann is always like, ‘Coach, I’m going to be the champ and I’m going to buy the gym,'” Saud said. “He’s so loveable. I’m like, ‘All right, let’s do that.’ Then he told me, ‘I want to get you that 100th win.’ He’s fighting in March so he’s like, ‘I want to be the guy.’ My goal was for these guys to take over the gym. I don’t think they’re ready for that yet. But for them to get a little bit older and take over the gym and they take it over and they raise the new crop, then it’s like a legacy. The sensei passes it down to the next sensei then the next sensei. It keeps going.
“Our gym is so organic. I started it. Every fighter is from there. It’s really different. We have more (Dana White’s) Contender (Series) wins than anyone else. Now I think maybe more UFC wins in the last five, six years (than anyone). It’s definitely up there and it all came from that one place. It’s really unique, and I would like to see that continue. I would like to see one of them take the gym over. I could pop in once in a while. I could still come work out in the morning.”
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Although the various career paths of his fighters makes it difficult to know exactly when he would walk away from coaching, Saud said the signs for his departure are getting stronger and more difficult to ignore.
He thinks his knowledge and ability as a coach are as strong as ever, but so are his instincts as a father.
“I don’t even scream anymore – I’m too old for that sh*t,” Saud said. “I’ve evolved. I’ve changed and the sport changes and you change and I feel like I’m probably the best I’ve ever been, but it’s not about that. It’s about the time away from my family. When is enough, enough? I’ve missed (my kids) whole childhood. My daughter is about to be 14. She’s so good at volleyball and they’re really excelling. My wife is always taking them everywhere and doing everything by herself. It’s really just like, at what point do you keep sacrificing those memories for your kids?
“I don’t need anything. I’d rather be with my kids more and see my kids. When you’re young you want to prove yourself in the spotlight. I feel really blessed to have been able to do that and had amazing experiences in the UFC. What an amazing journey – all of it. Having a gym. Starting it in my mind and having it come to fruition and winning Team of the Year and Gym of the Year and all this stuff. It’s been great. I feel really blessed, but we’ll see. Maybe 20 years. Maybe this is the last year.”