Walk into any Mixed Martial Arts gym and you’ll see the standard weights and mats. An octagon and punching bags will be prominently featured along with plenty of fight gear.

But there are two things that separates the Wand Fight Team gym at 4631 Dean Martin Drive in Las Vegas, Nevada from all the others. One is the state-of-the-art hyperbaric tent (a pressurized oxygen chamber) with a price tag around $100,000.

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The other is head trainer Rafael Alejarra, who is invaluable to the Wand Fight Team.

“I didn’t pay for the hyperbaric tent, Wanderlei did,” joked Alejarra through interpreter Rodrigo Botti. “I’m not sure about other MMA gyms, but I know a couple of American football teams train with it.”

Wanderlei ‘The Axe Murderer’ Silva (32-9-1) will take any advantage he can get when he fights former middleweight champion Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin (24-4) at UFC 99: The Comeback June 13 from Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany. Franklin opened as a $1.40 favorite (bet $140 to win $100) over Silva, the ‘even’ money selection (bet $100 to win $100). This fight will take place at the catch weight of 195 pounds.

A hyperbaric tent is an airtight room with oxygen under pressure to create altitude training. In the past, numerous fighters such as champions as Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar De La Hoya would head for the mountains for altitude training. The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz bought De La Hoya’s training center up in Big Bear, California to prepare for fights at an elevation of 6,752 feet.

The hyperbaric tent at Wanderlei’s gym can go up to 9,000 feet, making it an ideal room to improve cardio without traveling hours to the top of a mountain. The room is big enough for a treadmill and stationary bike for conditioning.

“The hyperbolic tent is a new idea, it’s a very modern training method that not many people use because it’s very expensive,” stated Alejarra. “The price isn’t the only drawback for people, because it’s very complicated to know how to work the numbers.”

Another state-of-the-art feature at Wand Fight Team involves vibrating platforms, a technique that trains, strengthens and tones muscles with short bursts of vibrations. The device was originally developed by the Russian space program to combat muscle and bone density loss in zero gravity for long space flights.

“The vibrating platform was developed for Russian astronauts decades ago, but it is extremely beneficial for modern athletes,” said Alejarra. “The platform makes involuntary muscular contractions 50 times more effective than a regular workout.”

Ironically for the high-tech gadgetry associated with the Wand Fight Team, Alejarra became a youtube.com sensation by putting Wanderlei through an incredible snorkel training session. ‘The Axe Murderer’ is not a moniker given to just any fighter, and the popular Brazilian striker is known for his intensity.

“I push Wanderlei Silva to the edge every day in training, but he recovers so quickly because of his increased physical condition,” noted Alejarra. “It’s much easier for an athlete to recover from physical exertion when they are in peak physical condition.”

The snorkel training was picked up with a visit to Cuba, where fighters train with that method due to a lack of funds. Air intake is cut by roughly 60 percent when breathing through the nose is blocked, increasing muscle stress and lactic acid in the body.

“After Wanderlei fights, he goes to a different place to study,” said Alejarra. “One time he went to Cuba, and another time he traveled to Russia.”

Brad Young can be reached at byoung@vegasinsider.com.