SINGAPORE: UFC Gym is “very eager” to re-enter the Singapore market and will “do our best” to provide concessions to customers impacted by the sudden closure of its franchise in the country, CEO Adam Sedlack told CNA on Friday (May 12).
“Singapore remains a very attractive market for the brand of UFC Gym and our train different approach,” he said.
Members of UFC Gym Singapore have filed reports with the police and the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) after the sudden closure of its sole outlet at CityLink Mall.
Its members were told in February that the gym would be closing temporarily for renovation. Members of the gym then found out that another tenant had taken over the space, with the fate of their memberships left hanging in the balance.
UFC Gym Singapore is a franchise of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion.
It opened its first Singapore outlet at CityLink Mall in March 2019, offering mixed martial arts classes and personal training. It later opened another outlet at City Square Mall.
The City Square Mall outlet closed in 2022 due to “challenging market conditions” and losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, it said previously.
UFC Gym Singapore said then that it could not refund unused portions of memberships or personal training services in cash, and would transfer memberships to the CityLink outlet instead.
“VERY DISAPPOINTED”: UFC GYM CEO
“I am very disappointed as it relates to the two gyms that closed with the UFC Gym name on the building,” said Mr Sedlack.
He said the two gyms in Singapore “initially showed promise and progress”, but COVID-19 was a “disaster for the fitness industry”.
UFC Gym headquarters provided many concessions to support and help the licensee through the pandemic, he added.
According to Mr Sedlack, UFC Gym Global is currently “collecting all of the facts” and is working with a franchise partner to help with market recovery.
“Parallel to that, we are doing our best to encourage the owner of the now terminated Master Territory Agreement (MTA) to properly resolve all liabilities in connection with local laws,” he said.
“Although the MTA is now terminated, the licensee must still properly offset all liabilities,” he added, noting that UFC and UFC Gym Global have no economic ownership of the two locations in Singapore.
The announcement in February about the renovation contained the email address of the gym’s managing director Barnabas Huang.
When contacted about the sudden closure, Mr Huang declined to comment, claiming that he was bound by a non-disclosure agreement, without elaborating.