After a lengthy stint as Team Alpha Male’s head coach, and then a brief stint as Team Alpha Male’s loosely-defined Muay Thai coach, Justin Buchholz has cut ties with the Sacramento-based gym.

This news was confirmed by MMANytt.com, who spoke with Buchholz.

While Buchholz’s departure from Team Alpha Male is a fresh development, his relationship with the the gym and its founder Urijah Faber has been strained for some time.

“Honestly it hasn’t been much of a change,” Faber said on the Slip ‘n Dip podcast in November, shortly after Buchholz expressed disappointment with a perceived demotion from his head coach role. “I think that’s more of a personal viewpoint of Buchholz. 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.”

“I think Justin is maybe having a little trouble with having more guys in on practice, etc,” Faber continued. “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 guys that won’t have him as a lead coach. So it’s not necessarily like a shaking up, everything is pretty much the same.”

Are you surprised to learn that Justin Buchholz has cut ties with his long-time home in Team Alpha Male? Join the conversation in the comments section.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/27/2018.