Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tim Stafford. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tim, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I started Revolution Fight and Fitness when several coaches and myself were unhappy at a gym that had a poor culture with a lot of drama. We decided we would start a gym minus all of the things that we disliked about the situation we were all in. When we finally opened we had a great base of fighters that had joined us and when the word got out about the unified culture we established many more followed. The best part of our gym is that we have our professional fighters training right next to our beginners and our pro’s assist those beginners when they need it. It has helped us create the “family is team and team is family” culture that has helped us exceed our initial expectations.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started boxing in the Army from 1991 to 1995 and I feel in love with the sport. I took several years off after the military but I found Muay Thai and after several fights I was ready to go pro. My son was born so my fight career had to be placed on the back burner. Once he became older I was able to return to fighting. My last Muay Thai fight was when I was 40. I fought twice in the same night against an 18 year old and a 21 year old. I decided that that night would be my last fight since fighting twice in the same night against two guys that were younger than me with their combined ages. I figured I couldn’t top that so it would be a good time to stop. I returned to boxing but since I was over 40 I had to compete in what is know as masters division which is mandatory for amateurs over 40. I competed for several years which included a trip to the Ringside World Championship Tournament. I made it to the finals but lost a close decision against a very game opponent. At 48 years old I was offered a professional boxing match. I took it in order to end my career as a pro fighter. Even though I broke my hand during training I still fought. I lost but I was proud of being able to overcome and end my fight career with a combined record of 22-6. Now I focus on the young fighters we have in the gym. It has taken me to Dubai as a corner man for Montana Love, Dana White’s Contender Series with pro MMA fighter Logan Urban, and several local and regional pro and armature boxing, Muay Thai, and MMA fights.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Our gym, at the start, was a huge financial drain on me personally. In early 2019 we became profitable and met to decide how to pay out money to the coaches. Unfortunately, one of our coaches at the time decided to leave and he took many members with him so we found ourselves back in the red. Our coaching staff was stellar in recruiting new of members and in February 2020 we found ourselves profitable and meeting to decide how to divide the profits to the coaches. Then covid hit and we were forced to shutdown for several months. This was the time I seriously thought about giving up. Our members decided that they would continue to pay dues in order to keep our head above water. They collectively decided that The Rev was to important to have it go away. We couldn’t have survived without those decisions. The culture that we created made our members feel like they were part of something bigger than any one person. Now we are firing on all cylinders and show no sign of slowing. regardless how many hits we take, we always stand together and we contribute our success to that.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Our reputation in our industry rests solely on the hard work and dedication of our members. As of the end of October 2022 we have a collective winning record of 25 wins against 3 losses. When we go into fights our opponents are aware of who we are and our reputation of always putting in the best fighters in the region. This has also given us the attention that fighters from other gyms come over to us. This in turn has help us become the success story that we are.
Contact Info:
- Website: revolutionfightandfitness.com
- Instagram: revolutionfandf
- Facebook: therevolutionff