A-Rod buys UFC Gym Kendall with plans for more in Miami-Dade

Former Yankees shortstop Alex Rodriguez is beefing up his interests in the fitness industry.

A-Rod has purchased the UFC Gym Kendall as well as the development rights to create more UFC-branded gyms in Miami-Dade County, the Miami Herald reported. The professional baseball player, who retired last year, is also a real estate investor.

The Kendall gym, at 8851 Southwest 107th Avenue, features a 24-foot octagon, training and cardio machines, a bag room, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio and more. UFC has six locations in Florida and more then 100 in the United States and Canada.

The UFC Gym deal isn’t Rodriguez’s first foray into the fitness industry. He and 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov launched Energy in Mexico, a fitness concept with nine existing locations and more in the pipeline, according to the Herald.

The baseball player, who lives in Coral Gables and purchased a unit in at the Related Group’s GranParaiso, also owns A-Rod Corp. and Newport Property and Monument, the latter of which is a Midwest-Southeast real estate investment and management firm, the newspaper reported.

Rodriguez was sued in 2015 by his ex-brother-in-law over a real estate deal in Edgewater, which alleged that Rodriguez went behind his brother-in-law’s back and cut him out the profits. He is currently dating actress and fellow exercise enthusiast Jennifer Lopez. [Miami Herald] – Katherine Kallergis