UMMAF is very excited to announce the newest addition to our Coaches Committee! World renowned coach Chris Luttrell brings his talents and insight to UMMAF! So who is Chris?

Well, he’s the man who talked Greg Jackson into doing MMA in the first place.

“I had met Greg Jackson’s top student at a judo club, and he said why don’t we go and roll? I went in and met Greg and hit it off with Greg, and I said, well Greg you need to meet Mike. So I introduced those two and right away we kind of figured out we wanted to do the MMA thing.” says Chris.

After talking with Jackson and learning about the principles of Gaidojutsu, a martial art founded by Jackson which loosely translates to “technique of the streets”, Luttrell quickly came to the conclusion that Jackson and Winkeljohn needed to meet. Both had seen the future of combat sports in the form of mixed martial arts and had begun training their students to master multiple skills and arts. Where Jackson’s strong suit was submission grappling, Winkeljohn was the master of standup (kickboxing, boxing, Muay Thai), and Luttrell completed the trifecta with his American wrestling and Judo background. Together they came up with a belt system for Gaidojutsu, and in 2000 Luttrell was the first Gaidojutsu black belt to come out of Jackson’s.

For the last 15 years, Luttrell has been teaching MMA, coaching and cornering each student with equal attention, whether it be the big names in the UFC like Frank Mir, Johnny “Bones” Jones and Carlos “Natural Born Killer” Condit, professional fighters for smaller promotions like Shark Fights or Evolution, amateur fighters just getting into the sport, or perhaps one of his favorites, boys and girls from his kids’ class.

An experienced hand at multi-tasking, Luttrell continues to teach, coach, and corner fighters all over the United States and other countries around the world (Japan, Russia, Australia, to name a few) including coaching the USA wrestling team in Sweden. He is inundated with requests for cornering, but if there is any way he can make it, he WILL be there, with no preference given based on fame or experience. In fact, he tends to prefer the smaller promotions where “you see people just putting their hearts and souls into the sport.” He is frequently asked to put together entire camps for fighters, such as Carlos Condit for his UFC 143 appearance, and if he is able, he agrees, usually consulting with Jackson and Winkeljohn, as well as many other gifted coaches and instructors at both gyms to put together the best camp for each individual. Luttrell was a coach for “Suga” Rashad Evans during Evans’ TUF Season 2 appearance and Luttrell has also worked with several fighters from Mean1 and has cornered them at their appearance at Evolution 2.

Coach Chris Luttrell is a member of the Albuquerque Police Department Gang Unit, mentor and role model, and family man. Graduating from Manzano High School (winning State three times 1980-82) he went on to obtain his Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from UNM. In 1995, he became a Reserve Deputy for Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office where he stayed until 2000, where upon he went over to New Mexico State Police full time. He served the state in that capacity until 2007, when he moved over to Albuquerque Police Department where he has been ever since, and a little over a year ago he became a member of the APD Gang Unit and now he is opening a new gym in Albuquerque where anyone can train; including top fighters from around the nation.

This hometown hero balances a tough and dangerous job in public service, teaching, coaching and cornering, and on top of all that, he is a husband and father of four children who hold his highest priority. “After my family, there are two things I love: my job and MMA. I’m so blessed! I work with the best, most highly-trained police department in the Southwest, and train the best fighters at Luttrell’s MMA. I love what I do!”

Awards
Texas Vale Tudo Champion 1995
Arizona Grappling Champion 1994
Grablefest Champion 1997
Three time State wrestling champ
First Black belt in Gaidojutsu

Notable fighters trained and coached by Chris Luttrell

Claudia Gadelha
John Dodson
Rashad Evans
Carlos Condit
Jon Jones
Frank Mir
Tim Kennedy
Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski
Brian Stann
Diego Sanchez
Holly Holm
Rustam Khabilov