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Trading Places: Dissecting TJ Dillashaw’s Decision to Leave Team Alpha Male

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TJ Dillashaw has left Team Alpha Male, opting to move to Denver, Colorado and become the focal point of the expanding and improving Elevation Fight Team, which has led to a great deal of debate and discussion about whether the reigning UFC bantamweight champion made a reasonable decision or decided to turn his back on the only fight team he had been a part of prior to this move.

Already boasting UFC competitors Cat Zingano, Neil Magny and Brandon Thatch amongst their ranks, the team also added welterweight contender Matt Brown and featherweight fan favourite Clay Guida to the squad this week, but there was far less discussion about the team Brown is leaving behind in Ohio because (a) he’s spent some time working with Elevation in Denver in the past and (b) he’s not a UFC champion, so no one seems to care quite as much.

Another factor for Dillashaw in making this decision – perhaps the biggest part – is that he’ll permanently be in close proximity to Duane “Bang” Ludwig. The two have an undeniable bond and it was under Ludwig’s guidance during his time as the head coach at Team Alpha Male that Dillashaw developed the striking style that produced his championship win over Renan Barao and two subsequent successful title defences. Prior to this move, the 135-pound champ has been making regular trips to the Rocky Mountains to continue working with Ludwig, whose time in Sacramento ended more than a year ago and has been nothing but contentious since.

In the wake of the news, Team Alpha Male founder and leader Urijah Faber has voiced his disappointment with Dillashaw’s decision, suggesting that he walked away from family in decamping to Denver full-time. It’s an understandable position for “The California Kid” to take as he recruited Dillashaw to the Sacramento-based fight team out of college and the elite unit of lighter weight fighters invariably contributed to the champion’s quick rise through the regional ranks and his overall success on the biggest stage in the sport.

People in the MMA community have lined up on both sides of this situation – some backing Faber’s position that you “dance with the one that brought you,” while others have applauded Dillashaw’s move. The exchange below between current UFC middleweight Josh Samman and retired fighter and current analyst Brian Stann illustrate the two positions well:

The interesting thing (perhaps only to me) in this situation is how different the discussion is with Dillashaw leaving a large, established camp than when fighters depart smaller, lesser-known gyms to join bigger squads in order to take the next step in their development.

For instance, few people batted an eye when upcoming headliner Dustin Poirier left Gladiator Academy and moved to South Florida to permanently train at American Top Team.

A young fighter with obvious upside, everyone applauded the move by Poirier, who was a big fish in a little pond working with former UFC fighter Tim Credeur at home in Louisiana and would get exposure to far more training partners and elite coaching in Coconut Creek. No one jumped up to lament Poirier leaving Credeur and the training partners he had behind because he was doing what he felt was best in order to take his career to the next level.

There were no columns about how Poirier was turning his back on the coach and team that guided him though the early part of his career and helped him get to the UFC. Maybe that was because Creuder was supportive of the move or because the consensus was that moving to a larger, more experienced team was the right step for Poirier’s development at the time.

Maybe it was because people didn’t know Gladiator Academy or know as much about them as they do Team Alpha Male, which has been one of the most visible and successful fight camps in the sport for a very long time.

Maybe it was because Poirier’s sole motive was to improve, while Dillashaw has stated that he’ll be compensated for training with this new team.

Maybe it’s just because people need to get upset about something all the time and this is the “take a stand and voice my outrage” announcement of the week.

Personally, I don’t see much difference between Dillashaw leaving Team Alpha Male to join the Elevation Fight Team and Poirier parting ways with Gladiator Academy to connect with American Top Team; they’re both moves that the fighters believe will have an impact on their respective careers. Poirier’s has clearly paid off thus far and we’ll find out soon enough if the change is good or bad for Dillashaw from a professional standpoint.

As much as I believe in the value of being surrounded by a great team and elite coaches, it’s not like Dillashaw is moving to Colorado to train with a bunch of scrubs. He’s going to be working in a state-of-the-art facility with excellent coaches and alongside several established, proven UFC competitors. While he won’t have the same collection of training partners in neighbouring weight divisions as he had in Sacramento, Dillashaw will get the opportunity to work with Ludwig and the core coaching staff at Elevation on a permanent basis, which is something he might value more.

We talk all the time about the narrow window of opportunity these fighters have to make money, achieve success and make the most of their time in the cage and this is Dillashaw doing what he feels is best in that regard.

Additionally, with all the talk of how these athletes have lost money as a result of the Reebok deal and declining sponsorship dollars, Dillashaw has found a way to earn additional revenue. Yes, it comes as a result of leaving the team he’s been with for the duration of his career, but it’s additional revenue and for a fighter that isn’t in the same tax bracket as some of his championship contemporaries or even bigger name stars, bringing home an additional income on top of his fight purses is a great move.

Lastly – and I haven’t seen this discussed much, but if it has been, please point me in the right direction – but couldn’t part of the frustration coming from Faber and Team Alpha Male be that the one and only guy from the gym to claim UFC gold has opted to leave in order to work with the coach he was highly influential in getting him to that point?

I mean, prior to Dillashaw beating Renan Barao, the narrative that followed the elite lighter weight camp was that they couldn’t get over the championship hump. His UFC 173 upset of the dominant Brazilian – who twice beat Faber – eliminated that narrative and now with Dillashaw exiting stage left, the Sacramento squad is back to being replete with outstanding fighters that have failed to claim UFC gold despite numerous attempts.

That has got to sting, especially when the guy splitting town is someone you went out and recruited to start.

Ultimately, it’s an individual choice and Dillashaw is doing what he thinks is best.

Not everyone agrees with it, but not everyone has to – it’s his call and his career and he’s the only one that will ultimately determine whether it was the right move or not.



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