Undefeated UFC middleweight Andre Petroski takes his talents to the Cage Fury Fighting Championships on Saturday

When it comes to fight factories, the team of Daniel Gracie and Jon Marquez continue to produce some of the best professional and amateur talent repping Philadelphia.

It’s not a knock on other gyms across the city, it’s just some of the best mixed martial artists representing the city hail from this hybrid Philly gym. The team currently lays claim to four undefeated fighters in the UFC.

“We can put these guys in a bare-knuckle boxing match and they’d all be ready to fight,” said Gracie, owner-operator and lead trainer at Kensington’s Daniel Gracie MMA. “We prepare all of our fighters for anything.”

There’s something to be said for that last part as Gracie-Marquez MMA will feature over 11 fighters over two nights of Cage Fury Fighting Championship MMA and grappling matches at 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia.

Andre Petroski is one of those fighters who will compete in a Fury grappling exhibition Saturday night against fellow middleweight Erik Haydak. Petroski, who has a 3-0 UFC record, knows CFFC well, competing on CFFC cards since he was an amateur. While still rigorous, grappling exhibitions focus less on the pound side of ground and pound, utilizing more Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling.

Ahead of his match, Petroski explained the appeal of CFFC bouts, life as an undefeated UFC middleweight, who he wants to fight next in the UFC, and being a part of Philly fighters on the rise, and staying put in Philly camps.

On the allure of Cage Fury grappling exhibitions: “It’s a good opportunity for fighters in between camps. We might only fight, if you’re lucky, three or four times a year. So there’s some downtime in between those fights. These grappling matches are perfect because it’s not as brutal on your body. And honestly, it’s still a way for us to make some money in between.”

On Cage Fury as an organization: “These grappling events get a lot of notoriety [in the fight world]. You know, [CFFC CEO Robert Haydak] and the CFFC overall have done a really good job of marketing it. The UFC has gotten behind it, and so they’ve been able to get some big-name competitors, some big-name fighters on their grappling cards.”

On the competition inside Gracie-Marquez MMA: “There are just so many good competitors in the gym that if you’re not doing the right things and you’re not focused, you’re going to get a beating. To me, that’s the greatest motivator. If I’m not putting in 100% in training and I have a bad day and one of these guys walk all over me, that [just] eats at me for the rest of the day. We are all trying to one-up each other and I think that’s the key that keeps us really, really focused.”

On who he wants next in the UFC: “I’ve been calling out [Gerald] Meerschart and he’s called me out. That’s what I want, I want a memorable fight. He’s got like 35 [wins] with like 28 submissions, right? He’s got the most middleweight submissions in the history of the UFC. But I like to think of myself as a damn good submission artist too. I want to test myself to someone against someone who obviously is up there with being the best. So that’s the fight I’m hoping for.”

On repping and fighting out of Philadelphia: “I’m grateful and I’m proud to be a par of this first wave of fighters who are doing big things and are happy with not going to one of these mega camps. There’s no reason for us to leave to go to these mega camps in Florida. I can stay right here with my people around my family and get the work that I need. I feel like our [Gracie-Marquez MMA] team is kind of like the pioneers of the first MMA fighters that stayed and established a mega camp here in our hometown. A lot of guys like Eddie [Alvarez] and Paul [Felder] have started here but left for larger camps. I think this group and this team is doing our part to change that.”