Earlier this week, long-time Team Alpha Male coach Justin Buchholz announced that he’d been dealt something of a demotion by team founder Urijah Faber. Speaking on the Stud Show podcast, a frustrated sounding Buchholz explained that he’ll no longer be serving as the team’s head coach, but as a striking coach.
According to Faber himself, however, Buchholz’s frustration might be a bit unfounded.
“Honestly it hasn’t been much of a change and I think that’s more of a personal viewpoint of Buchholz,” Faber said on the Slip n’ Dip Podcast (h/t MMAUno.com). “What we have been able to do is hire more coaches and thank goodness for Mountain Lion Aviation, it’s been awesome having them support us and we brought more guys on: Chris Holdsworth, Danny Castillo, coach Joey Rodriguez, myself and the existing coaches Fabio Prado and Justin Buchholz.”
“It was kinda his idea for him to step into more of a kickboxing role. I’d love for him to be as a head coach. There’s a lot of guys that he will be a lead coach for and there’s a lot of other guys that wont have him as a lead coach.”
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As Faber explains, the focus seems to be on hiring more head coaches, rather than demoting Buchholz.
“We have like, I dunno, I don’t know how many guys we have fighting in the UFC now, but from Sage Northcutt, Cynthia Calvillo, we just got like, dunno, a bunch of new guys coming in from all over the globe. It’s a time when we need a lot of hands on deck.”
“Head coach is still a position for him if he’s thinking more of a kickboxing role for himself.”
“Yeah it’s a little weird,” Faber concluded. “I don’t want to… I’ll talk to him after this [Cody Garbrandt] fight week and see what’s going on in his head, but it is what it is.”
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What do you make of the situation between Urijah Faber and Justin Buchholz at Team Alpha Male? Make your voice heard in the comments section!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 10/31/2017.