{"id":299908,"date":"2025-11-22T15:56:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T15:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/299908\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T15:56:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T15:56:20","slug":"international-mma-academy-lion-heart-opens-in-yerevan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/299908\/","title":{"rendered":"International MMA Academy \u201cLion Heart\u201d Opens in Yerevan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, on November 22, Yerevan hosted the official grand opening of the \u201cLion Heart<\/a>\u201d mixed martial arts academy \u2014 an ambitious international project aimed at developing MMA<\/a>\u00a0and martial arts in Armenia and preparing world-class athletes for the global stage.<\/p>\n

On November 24, the academy will open its doors to the public and begin full-scale operations.<\/p>\n

\"\u0410\u043a\u0430\u0434\u0435\u043c\u0438\u044f<\/p>\n

A New Social & Sports Center<\/p>\n

\u201cLion Heart\u201d is more than just a gym. According to the founders, the academy is designed as a social-sports center where athletes of all ages \u2014 from children to seasoned professionals \u2014 can grow physically, mentally, and morally.<\/p>\n

The project brings together coaches and fighters from different countries, with the goal of forming a new generation of champions who will represent Armenia around the world.<\/p>\n

Facilities and Disciplines<\/p>\n

The academy offers state-of-the-art facilities that meet top international standards:

\n\u2022 professional equipment,

\n\u2022 zones for different martial arts and physical conditioning,

\n\u2022 comfortable locker rooms,

\n\u2022 full infrastructure for an intensive training schedule.<\/p>\n

Available disciplines include:<\/p>\n

\"MMA<\/p>\n

Coaching Staff<\/p>\n

The academy has assembled one of the strongest coaching teams in the region:<\/p>\n


\n\t <\/p>\n

Nver Torosyan \u2014 Muay Thai<\/p>\n


\n\t
\n\t <\/p>\n

Vardan Aroyan \u2014 Freestyle wrestling<\/p>\n


\n\t
\n\t <\/p>\n

Erik Khamzoyan \u2014 Grappling<\/p>\n


\n\t
\n\t <\/p>\n

Mkhitar Barseghyan \u2014 MMA & freestyle (renowned MMA fighter, ACA star)<\/p>\n


\n\t
\n\t <\/p>\n

Tigran Petrosyan \u2014 MMA & conditioning<\/p>\n


\n\t
\n\t <\/p>\n

Armen Petrosyan \u2014 Karate<\/p>\n


\n\t
\n\t <\/p>\n

Andranik Grigoryan \u2014 Boxing<\/p>\n


\n\t
\n\t <\/p>\n

David Tumasian \u2014 Grappling<\/p>\n


\n\t <\/p>\n

Head Coach: Armen Gulyan (MMA)<\/p>\n

Scholarships in Memory of Gerasim Manukyan<\/p>\n

Head coach Armen Gulyan announced that the academy will grant scholarships to the most promising fighters. These scholarships will be named after Gerasim Manukyan, an 18-year-old athlete of the club who died during the 2020 Artsakh war.<\/p>\n

The program is designed for young talents who demonstrate excellence in training and competition, giving them the opportunity to focus on their professional careers.<\/p>\n

Training at the academy will be completely free, but admission will be based on selection, discipline, and athletic motivation. The academy will offer 14 training directions in total.<\/p>\n

Tournaments and Training Camps<\/p>\n

The academy plans to organize:<\/p>\n

\u2022 amateur competitions to identify top prospects,

\n\u2022 professional fight events,

\n\u2022 regular training camps with international fighters.<\/p>\n

Right after the opening, major training camps involving professionals are already scheduled \u2014 a first step toward establishing Armenia as a new international hub for MMA.<\/p>\n

\u201cArmenia Will Become a New Center for Martial Arts\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Armen Gulyan, the project\u2019s mission is to build infrastructure that will allow Armenian fighters to stay and train at home without needing to leave the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are creating a gym that matches the best American and Russian facilities. Fighters from across the world are already showing interest in joining us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gulyan believes the academy will significantly reshape Armenia\u2019s martial arts ecosystem in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Developing the Industry at Home<\/p>\n

The academy will host Armenia\u2019s leading fighters. Many Armenian coaches and athletes currently working in Moscow plan to return to Yerevan to contribute to the development of the local sports industry and help form a new regional MMA hub.<\/p>\n

Address: Yerevan, Shengavit, Manandyan 33\/20

\nWebsite: lionheart.am<\/a>

\nTelegram: t.me\/LIONHEARTARM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cLion Heart\u201d is set to become one of the most influential martial arts projects in Armenia \u2014 already attracting attention from fighters worldwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today, on November 22, Yerevan hosted the official grand opening of the \u201cLion Heart\u201d mixed martial arts academy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-299908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}