Urijah Faber Refreshed By Coaching Change, Knows How TJ Dillashaw Can Defeat Renan Barao
No. 1-ranked UFC bantamweight Urijah Faber has had a wild 2014 thus far, from losing his second title fight against dominant champion Renan Barao, to beginning a search for a new coach for his Team Alpha Male, to now fighting The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) veteran Alex Caceres at UFC 175 on July 5.
With so much going on, “The California Kid” dropped by The MMA Hour to discuss “Bang’s” departure from the team to start his own gym:
“Duane did a great job running his practice and he was passionate about his stuff, but he was a little difficult to deal with here and there, so actually it’s kind of a breath of fresh air to have parted ways.
I feel like you gotta let a guy go where he wants to go. I’m relieved to have the opportunity to find someone that is more involved in thinking about the big picture for my team, you know this team that I’ve been building for 11 years.”
While longtime UFC welterweight Martin Kampmann was reported as taking over for Ludwig, Faber clarified that while “The Hitman” will be stopping by to help he and Chad Mendes with their upcoming camps, the search for a permanent head coach goes on:
“We’re still testing it out. I think Martin Kampmann is going to come in right away because I need someone to help run mine and Chad’s camps, so Martin is going to come in just temporarily; he’s got some other job offers, and see how he feels and how we feel with him.
It’s more of an immediate fix where we’ll pay him to come in for a training camp to be a coach, and then we’ll still continue to look. He may be a guy that we’re considering, but we’ve got a lot of interest. It’s really going to be a taking your time kind of deal.”
Faber was asked if he would be going to Ludwig’s new home base in Colorado to cross train, something that UFC 173 title challenger and Team Alpha Male member TJ Dillashaw has discussed a lot recently:
“No, I’m not. The reason I brought Duane in is to help build a long-term thing for our team. We’re going to continue to use the stuff we’ve learned from Duane as well. I myself will be at Team Alpha Male, and I suspect most of the guys will. It’s going to be hard to leave our camp. The one guy who’d said he was going to is TJ. Him and Duane have a good relationship. He’s a Team Alpha Male guy for life.”
Host Ariel Helwani mentioned that with his mentor leaving after UFC 173, Dillashaw’s title bout against streaking 135-pound champion Barao has a sort of feel-good story to it, but Faber said he’s only focused on one result:
“I like it. And the end of the story is: TJ Dillashaw, world champion.”
With the backstory established, talk moved on to Faber’s prediction for the fight. Dillashaw is currently a lopsided underdog this Saturday night (May 24, 2014) in Las Vegas, but Faber thinks he knows how “The Viper” can score the massive upset:
“Let me tell you this, TJ Dillashaw is the fastest improving guy in this sport in my opinion, and he’s been that way from the very beginning. I know that it’s a very tough fight; Barao is amazing, he ‘s a very dangerous guy. I think the biggest difference will be this: Barao is a bigger guy than TJ; I think TJ is going to be a bit faster.
TJ is really, really mean. I think TJ keeps his composure, he’s the better wrestler, he’s at this point the more technical striker. So If TJ is composed the whole time and is hard to hit, then he’s going to be the guy that wins the fight. If he gets too emotional and gets kind of crazy, then he’s gonna put himself in danger.”
It sounds like a fair assessment from “The California Kid,” who will look to get back into the win column on July 5. Is there any way he’ll one day fight his teammate Dillashaw for the belt, or is Barao just too good to let that scenario unfold?
Photo: Kyle Terada for USA TODAY Sports
