Cristina Sempere

Cristina Sempere stands as a central figure in the Fightzone story — both as the wife of Marco Canha, co-founder of Fightzone London, and as a key leader in the gym's ongoing expansion. According to official Fightzone records, Cristina joined forces with Marco Canha and James Roach in October 2012, becoming an integral part of the Fightzone leadership team from that point forward. Her involvement reflects the deeply personal, family-driven nature of the Fightzone project, where professional ambition and personal investment are closely intertwined.

Originally from the Costa Blanca region of Spain, Cristina brings firsthand local knowledge and genuine personal roots to the gym's Spanish expansion. Her family home in the area gives the Costa Blanca project an authenticity that distinguishes it from a purely commercial venture. Alongside Marco Canha and James Roach, she serves as one of three principal figures driving the development forward. Her dual connection — to Fightzone's established London identity and to her Spanish homeland — positions her as the natural bridge between both locations.

Building the Largest Martial Arts Gym in Spain

Cristina Sempere has played a leading role in establishing Fightzone Costa Blanca as one of the most ambitious martial arts facilities in the country. The gym has grown into the largest martial arts gym in Spain by mat space, spanning 500 square meters (5,381 square feet) — a distinction that speaks directly to the scale of vision Cristina and her colleagues have pursued. The facility runs a timetable of more than 100 classes per week, offering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Grappling (no-gi), Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Wrestling across its schedule.

A Community-First Vision

The scope of the Costa Blanca location reflects Cristina's ambition to do more than open a second gym. Her stated goal is to recreate the tight-knit community atmosphere that defines the London base, transplanting that culture into the Costa Blanca setting. To that end, she has outlined specific priorities: building a strong competitor team, establishing a dedicated female team, and developing a thriving kids program. These goals reflect a holistic vision for what a martial arts community can be — one that serves competitors and recreational practitioners alike, across age groups and genders.

That inclusive philosophy is evident in the numbers. Both the London and Costa Blanca locations maintain a 50-50 male-to-female membership ratio, and the management and coaching staff represent a wide range of nationalities. From the gym floor to the leadership team, diversity functions as a structural feature of the Fightzone model rather than an afterthought.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed severe operational pressure on Fightzone, and around 2021 the management team faced a genuine threat to the gym's continued existence. Cristina was part of the leadership group that steered the organization through this period, and the way the crisis was managed reveals much about the values underpinning Fightzone. Survival came through a combination of support from loyal students, cooperation from landlords, and access to government financial assistance — a collective effort that reflected the community bonds the gym had built over the years.

Cristina's public acknowledgment of this difficult period demonstrates a transparency that aligns with the community-first identity Fightzone has cultivated. Rather than prompting retrenchment, weathering the pandemic ultimately strengthened the case for expansion. The decision to move forward with the Costa Blanca project in the aftermath of that crisis reflects deep confidence in the Fightzone model and in the member base that helped sustain it through one of the most challenging periods any gym operator could face.