Seeing current UFC mixed martial arts bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw and his former mentor Urijah Faber inside the octagon may not be impossible after all.
Last Tuesday, Dillashaw finally confirmed that he was indeed leaving Urijah Faber’s team for Elevation Fight Team, which is based in Colorado, Denver. The news first broke out when Globo.com released the Dillashaw’s statement but it was confirmed by MMAWeekly.com after.
“I will be spending my next full training camp with Elevation Fight Team as they’ve offered me an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up, with an incredible coaching staff and state-of-the-art facilities. I want to thank everyone for the continued support as this has not been a decision I’ve taken lightly,” Dillashaw said during the interview on MMAFighting.
As of the moment, there is now MMA fight with Faber being set-up; there’s no buzz about the fight happening as well. Dillashaw, on the other hand, is leaving California to move to Colorado and start the training with Elevation in preparation for his scheduled fight with former champ Dominick Cruz. Both fighters will headline UFC Fight Night 81 this coming January 17th to be held at TD Garden in Boston. This fight is also special because it will be the first time a UFC title fight will be the main fight of the Fight Night on FOX Sports 1.
Together with the Elevation Fight Team in Denver, Dillashaw’s preparation for the fight will be held in the MusclePharm facility. Elevation Fight Team has been the home of several top fighters in the industry like Cat Zingano, Nate Marquardt, Neil Magny, Brandon Thatch, and many other professional fighters.
With this great lineup of fighters, the team decided to step up their game and become a more organized in order to cater other great fighters. It was reported that the team will be supported by MusclePharm, a sports nutrition company, which then allows the team members to have access to the company’s 40,000-square-foot, top of the line training facility.
Aside from Dillashaw, several Team Alpha Male fighters are also looking into transferring to Elevation. In fact, UFC fighters Clay Guida and Matt Brown have recently joined Dillashaw in the Colorado-based team. There are even rumors that more TAM fighters are looking into following Dillashaw’s move as well.
Some say that the real reason behind the move has something to do with former MMA Team Alpha Male head coach Duane Ludwig and Team Alpha Male leader Urijah Faber. Dillashaw has been caught in the middle of this feud for quite sometime now, maybe that’s why he decided to choose what’s best for his career and finally have the time to prepare for the upcoming fight without any issues hanging over his head.
Dillashaw has juggling training hours between the California-based team and Ludwig Martial Arts before However, Elevation head coach Bowling released a statement that his camp for Cruz would be now full-time with Elevation.
“He told me last time he was here elk hunting that he was planning on doing 60-percent of his next camp with us and 30-40 with Alpha Male. I told him I thought it was a bad idea. I truly thought he needed to stop worrying about Duane and Urijah’s feelings, be selfish for once and not try to please two people who he was very loyal to. I’m thankful he chose our team and thankful he put his faith into us and our coaches,” Bowling said.
With all of the controversy surrounding this move that Dillashaw made, spectators have no choice but to wait and see what happens next.