Kru Robert Perez
"Kru Bob"
- Multi-time Texas MMA Trainer of the Year
- Head striking coach at 4oz Fight Club (Houston, TX)
- Striking coach for Derrick Lewis — UFC all-time knockout record holder
- Recognized Kru by the Sports Authority of Thailand
- Co-owner, Main Street Boxing and Muay Thai (Houston)
- 25+ years training UFC, Bellator & Strikeforce fighters
- Tapout Magazine columnist
The Man Behind the UFC’s Knockout King
When Derrick Lewis broke the UFC’s all-time knockout record, Kru Robert Perez was in his corner. He has been Lewis’s striking coach for over seven years, building the stand-up game that has made “The Black Beast” one of the most dangerous heavyweights in UFC history.
That relationship tells you what Perez does. He takes fighters with raw power and gives them a system. Not a style — a system. Footwork, timing, angles, setups, and the ability to read an opponent’s tendencies in real time.
From Houston to the UFC
Perez has been training fighters in Houston for nearly three decades. He is the head striking coach at 4oz Fight Club, a fighter’s gym he has been with since it opened in 2007. He also co-owns Main Street Boxing and Muay Thai in downtown Houston.
His Muay Thai credentials are formal. He holds the title of Kru, recognized by the Sports Authority of Thailand — the governing body that certifies Muay Thai instructors. He has been practicing Muay Thai since 1998 and has trained over 50 amateur and professional champions across the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce, Dream, and Glory.
The Texas MMA community has recognized his work repeatedly. He has won Texas MMA Trainer of the Year multiple times, and his coaching staff at 4oz Fight Club was named Texas MMA Trainers of the Year by Undefeated Magazine.
Beyond the gym, Perez has written for Tapout Magazine and MMA Worldwide, and serves as a fight analyst and commentator.
Teaching Philosophy: Deception and Intelligence
Perez’s coaching stands out because he teaches fighters to think, not just throw. His instruction constantly returns to deception, reading opponents, and creating openings through misdirection.
On clinch work: “We don’t want to reach out too much. You want to penetrate inside so now I have position here, and then I have my full plumb.”
On using patterns to set up strikes: “I believe in deception. Set him up with a jab. You really want to use this whenever you have your guy cornered against the ropes or on the fence.”
On ground and pound: “The whole concept is to make them worry about this side. Elbow once, elbow twice. Now punch.”
On training smart: “When you guys do inside fighting or clinch work, there’s a time and a place to go hard. But when we’re learning, we have to go light. If you go too hard, it completely takes away from the drill and from the technique.”
He also teaches fighters to read movement differently than most coaches. “Start understanding how to read your partner’s or your opponent’s chest. We don’t have the comfort that a boxer would have in MMA. Just because we can’t sit there and do this all day. We’ll catch a knee all day long.”
What You Get in Perez’s FightScience Courses
Perez teaches two comprehensive courses on FightScience:
Striker’s Bible — The complete MMA striking system. Stand-up fundamentals, clinch entries, counter-striking, combination building, defensive movement, spinning attacks, and the inside fighting game that made his fighters dangerous at every range.
Ground and Pound Bible — 59 technique videos covering striking from every dominant ground position. Mount, side control, back control, half guard, and the posture and positioning that make ground strikes finish fights.
Both courses are available in The Complete MMA Fighting System for $299.