How Two Navy Operators Built TEAMSMMA on Military Precision and Family Culture
Starring
Bobby "The Ghost" Winther is a professional MMA fighter with a 4-1 record who has competed professionally in Cage Warriors and Tuff-N-Uff, and is also an ADCC Open competitor. An active-duty Naval Special Warfare service member, he started training jiu-jitsu at 14 and co-founded TEAMSMMA alongside Danny Felix to create an autonomous training environment shaped by military precision and competitive drive.
Danny Felix is a lifelong martial artist who started training at age five, progressing through ninjitsu, taekwondo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu over a career spanning more than four decades. An active-duty Naval Special Warfare service member, he co-founded TEAMSMMA to bring elite-level combat training methodology to civilians, families, and competitive fighters in Chula Vista.
About the Gym
TEAMSMMA is a mixed martial arts gym located at 1172 Third Ave in Chula Vista, California, south of San Diego. Founded in 2025 by Danny Felix and Bobby Winther—both active-duty Naval Special Warfare service members—the gym offers programs for kids, adult beginners, amateur fighters, and professional competitors. Professional fighters teach daily classes from 7 AM through the evening. TEAMSMMA stands for Together Everybody Achieves More Success.
The facility features dual mat areas designed for simultaneous family training, a full strength and conditioning section, showers, and a coffee station. TEAMSMMA's curriculum draws heavily from military combatives, emphasizing positional dominance and techniques that work under realistic pressure. The gym also plans to open a human performance center with sports science, nutrition, and conditioning resources for its amateur and professional fighters.
📍 1172 Third Ave, Chula Vista, CA 91911
📞 (619) 762-9467
Summary
Danny Felix and Bobby Winther met in 2021 through Naval Special Warfare and bonded over their competitive nature and shared passion for martial arts. After years of teaching hand-to-hand combat in the military and training at other gyms, they opened TEAMSMMA in Chula Vista, California—a facility designed around a simple acronym: Together Everybody Achieves More Success. The episode captures a gym just seven months old, already running a structured pipeline from kids classes through amateur and professional competition.
What sets TEAMSMMA apart is how Felix and Winther translated military methodology into their curriculum—prioritizing top position, staying on your feet, and treating every technique as if a weapon could be in play. The episode features their parallel scheduling system, where parents and kids train simultaneously on dual mats, and a look at how pro fighter Winther (4-1 record, Cage Warriors veteran) applies tactical thinking to fight preparation. Alex's son Neo joins the kids striking class.
