Armen Gulyan sums up the first six months of the Lion Heart Academy in Yerevan

Armen Gulyan, the head coach of the Lion Heart mixed martial arts academy, has summed up the first six months of the project’s work in Yerevan.

The academy, which officially opened on November 22, has quickly become one of the notable centers for the development of combat sports in Armenia. According to Gulyan, more than 500 athletes have gone through the academy’s system in half a year, while the team has completed thousands of hours of training, competed in dozens of tournaments and achieved serious results across different disciplines.

Over the past six months, representatives of Lion Heart have held 26 professional MMA bouts and recorded 21 victories. In addition, the academy’s athletes have also performed successfully in other combat sports: they posted a 3-0 record in professional grappling, 5-0 in bare-knuckle fighting, 4-0 in freestyle wrestling, 2-0 in Muay Thai and 3-0 in kickboxing.

The team also achieved significant success at the amateur level. During this period, the academy’s athletes won 57 gold, 27 silver and 29 bronze medals.

Representatives of Lion Heart became winners and medalists at Armenian championships in MMA, pankration, sambo, combat sambo, grappling, Muay Thai, boxing and Kyokushinkai karate. The academy’s athletes also successfully competed at international tournaments in jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai, as well as at European sambo championships.

A great deal of work over these six months was carried out not only in the cage and in the ring. The academy organized seminars and certifications for athletes, cutmen, judges and referees. In addition, the Armenian MMA Association — AMMAA — was launched, the international ARMAT FIGHT SHOW league was created, and AFS tournaments were held in Etchmiadzin and at Tashir Arena in Yerevan.

The Lion Heart Academy was created as a large-scale international project aimed at developing MMA and martial arts in Armenia, as well as training high-level athletes. The founders of the project have emphasized that the academy is not just a gym, but a social and sports center where athletes of different ages and levels can train — from children to professionals.

The academy offers training in MMA, boxing, freestyle wrestling, grappling, Muay Thai, karate and physical conditioning. The project brings together coaches and fighters from different countries and aims to form a new generation of champions who will represent Armenia on the international stage.

Armen Gulyan is the head coach of the academy. Lion Heart continues to develop Armenian combat sports in several directions at once — from children’s and amateur sports to the professional level.