Trainer Ray Longo creates winners, famous or not
By MARK LA MONICA | Newsday
Before orchestrating the two greatest upsets in UFC history, trainer Ray Longo cultivated success stories — the kind he thrives on being a part of, but rarely touts.
Before Matt Serra and Chris Weidman registered those improbable championship knockouts, Lee Dolowich just tried to avoid vomiting in the ring.
Dolowich was a teenager who wandered into a gym in the back of an auto detailing shop in Mineola, N.Y., more than 20 years ago. His parents divorced. He lost his way. He identified with no one and nothing.
That day he met Longo, who gave him purpose and confidence. It shaped the course of his life. “Every day I live, everything I do, I trace back to him teaching me,” said Dolowich, now 40 and living in California. “Ray inspired me to do things way beyond what I thought I could ever do in life.”
Dolowich fought six amateur Muay Thai bouts in the early 1990s, but never turned pro. Now he has a degree in physical therapy and is a few months shy of earning his medical degree in psychiatry. But he never forgot the things he learned from Longo.
“I’d walk across the country to talk about Ray,” Dolowich said. “I had no identity until he told me I fought with heart.”
Life as a Ray Longo-trained fighter goes far beyond the jabs and elbows, the kicks and knees. Behind every punch is a connection, a bond, a deep-rooted concern for the person throwing that punch.
“At one point, everyone walked through those doors wanting to learn how to fight,” said Eric Hyer, a former champion kickboxer who once trained under and now coaches with Longo. “What we all got was someone to teach us how to fight, but also to teach us how to be successful.”
Those two monumental upsets in UFC history share a common thread: Longo. He trained Serra, the only man to knock out Georges St-Pierre. He trains Weidman, who knocked out Anderson Silva, considered the greatest fighter of all time. Weidman, from Baldwin, will defend his middleweight title against Silva Saturday in Las Vegas.
Not bad for a kid from with an accounting degree from St. John’s who grew up attracted to the martial arts and the principles of Jeet Kune Do, a fighting philosophy put forth by Bruce Lee.
Longo, 55, connects with people, whether they are professional mixed martial artists or people who go into other careers. “There are a lot of good coaches out there that know a lot of technique and teach their students well,” Weidman said. “What Ray brings to the table is he gets to know his students, becomes close with them, knows when to push them, when to pull them back. He has no ego.”
Just a few words from the man with the jet black hair, piercing baby blue eyes and gravelly voice with the unmistakable New York accent can change a fighter’s entire outlook. Knowing which words to use and when to use them is the real trick. That’s Longo’s gift.
“He’s got a unique ability to, in the corner, to fire up guys and motivate guys,” said UFC commentator Joe Rogan, who also has a black belt and was a national champion in tae kwon do. “He’s also a guy that fighters love. They love and respect him, so when he’s in the corner telling you what to do, you want to make him happy.”
Longo runs a mom-and-pop shop of a gym, and he does it all on a handshake.
“Never had a contract with Matt, don’t have one today and never will. The same thing with Chris,” Longo said. “If Matt never paid me, I’m not changing a thing. That wouldn’t have meant anything. That’s not what I was doing it for. I was doing it because I liked the guy. I wanted to see him succeed. It’s nice watching other people succeed and you have something to do with it. Then the very essence, by extension, you succeeded. What’s better than that?”
