The Team Alpha Male is one of the most prestigious mixed martial arts teams in the world. Its leader, Urijah Faber, is a UFC Hall of Fame member. Among their ranks as fighters are names like Cody Garbrandt, Chad Mendes, Josh Emmett, Paige VanZant, Cynthia Calvillo, or Sage Northcutt.
One of the responsible for their success is the former head coach Justin Buchholz. However, in October of last year, he stated that he is no longer the coach.
"I am no longer the coach of Team Alpha Male. I went to Alaska and when I came back, many things had changed. They have really changed since we moved to the new gym. We had a working system that I fought to implement and maintain, but now we use another."
Urijah explained to me that there are five head coaches. So I am no longer one. Now I only lead the Muay Thai program, so I could say that I am the head coach of Muay Thai. Now I am paid by the hour and by class.
But I am going to keep doing what I was doing. I will continue trying to win and build world champions."
Then, the team leader spoke about his teammate's new role in the gym.
Honestly, there hasn't been a big change, and I think it's Buchholz's personal point of view. We have been able to hire more coaches and we have also brought in more guys: Chris Holdsworth, Danny Castillo, coach Joey Rodriguez, myself, and the existing coaches Fabio Prado and Justin Buchholz.
"It was his idea to change roles. I would love for him to be the head coach. There are many guys for whom he will be the first coach, but there are others for whom he won't be. New guys from all over the world like Sage Northcutt or Cynthia Calvillo are coming. We need more coaches. But the position of head coach is still his if he wants it. I will talk to him after Cody Garbrandt's fight to see what's going on."
Now, BJPenn.com reports that Justin Buchholz has cut ties with the Sacramento-based gym. We don't know what this will mean for the team, but it will surely be a significant change as he is one of the reasons why the Team Alpha Male has reached where it has.
As for the coach, it is unclear if he will join another team soon. Surely many would be delighted to have his services.