As human beings, we tend to think of ourselves before anything else. New moms will gladly argue this train of thought, claiming the love they have for their infant far outweighs any self-serving interests they might have.
But that’s the oxytocin talking. Their brain has wired them to believe that this infant is the most important thing in their life, and they must be willing at all times to potentially sacrifice their safety and comfort for the well being of the child.
Young, childless, and adrenaline driven mixed martial artists don’t have to worry about such trifles; they’re able to be as selfish and egocentric as they so desire, without facing any real backlash.
In fact, in a sport like MMA that requires so much of a person’s time, energy, and attention, selfishness is almost a pre-requisite. How else can we expect someone to master the techniques of so many different disciplines if they’re concerned with how the dude next to them is doing?
This is part of the problem with UFC Bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw’s recent departure from Team Alpha Male (TAM) in Sacramento. For those who don’t know, Dillashaw recently announced he would be leaving the camp he’s called home for the last six years for the seemingly greener pastures of Colorado, specifically Elevation Fight Team out of Denver.
The decision was partly influenced by Dillashaw’s striking coach, Duane Ludwig, who runs a gym of his own in Colorado. After a much publicized rift between Ludwig and gym owner Urijah Faber, Dillashaw had been splitting his time between Sacramento and TAM, and Colorado and Ludwig.
Dillashaw won’t be going alone; he’ll be joined by fellow UFC pro’s like Matt Brown and Clay Guida at the new gym. But training partners seem to be the last reason Dillashaw is planning on making the move.
“Elevation Fight Team came to me and they want to pay me some good money to train with them,” Dillashaw said on the Stud Radio podcast last week. “They’re offering to pay me to train, instead of me paying to train. This sport is growing so much that that’s the way I feel like it should be.”
Responses to Dillashaw’s decision to leave TAM have been mixed. Those in his camp have publicly wished him well on his new journey, while others have lamented the choice as purely financially, and selfishly, motivated.
Cody Garbrandt, a former training partner of Dillashaw, had this to say on Monday’s MMA Hour, “It’s a grown-man decision. If we’re not good enough for you, then why come to the gym…I think he’s playing the victim.”
TAM founder, Urijah Faber, was equally disparaging, “he made a big boy decision. He walked away from the family that brought him up, the guys who were a big part of his success.”
Fighters leaving one gym for another is nothing new. When it became clear Jon Jones was the top dog at ds205lbs, Rashad Evans wasted no time leaving Greg Jackson’s camp in Albuquerque to found the Blackzilians.
“I wouldn’t call it weird, it’s just not fun,” Jackson said back in 2012, “I love Rashad… [But] it’s not [something] I enjoy at all.”
These hurt feelings are natural in a sport that, although individual in practice, requires a pantheon of coaches, sparring partners, and other trainers to prepare the athlete for a fight. It’s only natural that intense relationships are built during the training process.
That is, perhaps, the greatest dichotomy of modern MMA, especially when fighters of the same weight class train together. Dana White, an avid believer of the “this isn’t a team sport” notion can’t stand the idea that fighters would train alongside their potential competition. But his perspective is that of the promoter; he’s looking at matches to be made, not concerned with the internal backlash that comes when training partners have to fight.
And that’s what Dillashaw’s departure from TAM might just bring about. Zuffa has already planted the seed of a potential fight between Faber and “Killashaw”, both of whom had refuted the notion until just recently, and with Garbrandt still undefeated in the bantamweight division, it’s not crazy to imagine Dillashaw fighting a stable of his former teammates.
Either way, Team Alpha Male is doing just fine. With Chad Mendes, Joseph Benavidez, Paige Van Zant, Garbrandt, and Faber, TAM is still one of the premier MMA gyms in the world. And it’s natural to expect those fighters to have hurt feelings towards Dillashaw, because his decision to leave Sacramento was selfish. But better his teammates learn the lesson now, rather than later, that this is not a team sport.
It’s a lesson that Brian Stann took a while to learn, as he told Sirius XM Fight Club, “I think that T.J.’s making the right decision…first and foremost in this sport you’ve got to be selfish…it’s something that held me back a little bit in my career… [But] he’s got to do it, whether it hurts some friend’s feelings or not. His family and paying his bills… [Those] come first.”
