Brett Cavanaugh, 41, owner of Apex Submission Academy in Mesa, Arizona, launched a GoFundMe campaign Tuesday seeking $185,000 from his existing membership base to fund what he describes as “the next chapter” of his for-profit martial arts business.
The campaign, titled “Help Apex Grow — Your Academy Needs You,” features a three-minute video of Cavanaugh standing in his current 2,400-square-foot facility explaining that the expansion will include a second mat space, a recovery lounge, a smoothie bar, and what he called a “content creation studio” — a corner with two ring lights and a podcast mic that nobody is currently asking for.
Membership at Apex currently runs $189 per month, a figure that rose from $159 in January when Cavanaugh added a mandatory “facility upgrade fee.” The upgrade at that time was a Bluetooth speaker. In February, a second fee of $11 per month was introduced and labeled the “climate adjustment surcharge,” which members were later informed referred to running the air conditioning in summer.
The GoFundMe reward tiers are as follows:
$25 — Name written on the “Founder’s Wall,” a whiteboard located near the bathroom that gets erased every six weeks.
$100 — Apex Submission Academy sticker pack and “early access” to the new class schedule, which is the same schedule.
$500 — One private lesson with Cavanaugh, normally listed at $150 but “valued at $500 for campaign purposes.”
$2,500 — “Inner Circle” membership, which Cavanaugh confirmed involves the same classes at the same times but with a laminated card.
$10,000 — Your name on a heavy bag, replaced annually.
As of press time, the campaign had raised $340 from three donors. Two were Cavanaugh’s parents. The third was an anonymous contribution of $15 that included the message: “This is for a lawyer so you can look up what an SBA loan is.”
The grappling community’s response was, by every measurable standard, brutal. One practitioner, a 34-year-old purple belt named Devin Marsala who trains at a competing academy in Tempe, called the campaign “the most polite shakedown I’ve ever witnessed,” and noted that under no recognizable definition of business ownership do customers fund expansions without receiving anything in return. “Offer equity,” Marsala said. “Offer a cut. Offer literally any structure that exists in any economy on earth. Otherwise it’s a tip jar with extra steps.”
Kristin Howe, a brown belt and small-business consultant who advises gym owners in three states, was more direct. “There is a federally backed loan program for exactly this scenario. It’s called the SBA 7(a). It exists. He could have applied for it from his phone. Instead he made a video in his gi.”
A fourth proposal, gaining traction across grappling circles since Tuesday evening, suggests that any donor contributing $10,000 or more should automatically receive a black belt, “since apparently we’re just making things up now.” Cavanaugh has not addressed this proposal directly, though sources close to Apex say he is “considering it as a stretch goal.”
Cavanaugh’s business is registered as a single-member LLC in Maricopa County. Public records show no co-owners, no investors, and no debt obligations beyond the lease on the current facility. His most recent Instagram post, uploaded six hours before the GoFundMe launch, shows him leaning against a new BMW X5 with the caption “Grinding never stops.” The post has since been deleted, replaced with a photo of him holding a clipboard and standing on the mat with the caption “Building something for YOU.”
When reached for comment, Cavanaugh said the negative response was coming from “people who don’t understand community” and that the expansion was “for them, not me.” He then asked if this article could include a link to the campaign. He also clarified that the smoothie bar would be “member-discounted,” meaning members would pay $11 for a smoothie instead of $13.
A spokesperson for First Arizona Trust Bank, contacted in connection with the story, confirmed that Cavanaugh has an active business checking account and has never inquired about a commercial loan product. “We have a small business team. He has our number. We have a branch four miles from his gym,” the spokesperson said. “He has chosen, instead, to make a video.”
Late Wednesday, Cavanaugh held what he described as a “vision town hall” at the academy. Approximately fourteen members attended, three of whom were his children. During the meeting, Cavanaugh unveiled architectural renderings of the proposed expansion, which several attendees noted appeared to have been generated using a free AI image tool, evidenced by the fact that one of the heavy bags had four straps and the smoothie bar was floating six inches off the ground.
The GoFundMe has since been updated to include a sixth reward tier: $50,000 for “Co-Founder” status. The accompanying description reads, in full: “No ownership stake. No equity. No legal claim to the business. Just vibes, and a t-shirt.”
At press time, the campaign had not received a $50,000 donation. It had, however, received a second $15 anonymous contribution with the message: “Use the lawyer money on the bank, not a lawyer.”