Duane Ludwig: We’ve Been Training For Barão Since I Came To Team Alpha Male

 

On Saturday night, T.J. Dillashaw put a holt to Team Alpha Male’s run without a UFC belt by knocking out Renan Barão to become the new world bantamweight champion.

The 28-year old used rapid footwork and pin-point striking to batter the former champion with ease. Dillashaw truly outclassed the Brazilian and let Team Alpha Males head coach Duane Ludwig end his time with the camp on a high.

There wasn’t many people who thought Dillashaw was capable of beating Barão but according to Ludwig, the 28-year old has been training for the Brazilian since he first became head at TAM:

“We’ve been training for Barao since I got there.” Ludwig said in a recent interview with BloodyElbow. “We’ve been training for this fight for a year and a half now. The sights were always set on him, because if we could beat him, we could beat anybody else in the division.”

That training paid of big time for the California native come his fight with Barão. Dillashaw used quick footwork to get in on the champion to do damage and out fast enough to avoid any big shots. Ludwig says that’s one of the main things they were working on while preparing for “The Baron”.

“We wanted to make sure that we weren’t being a stationary target in front of Barao, especially with him being so strong, so we switched stances frequently and took the opportunity of all the different angles it provided.”

All of Ludwig’s preparation paid off beautifully come fight time where it became obvious that the kickboxing specialist had been creating a monster in his time with Dillashaw.

“When they reached out to me, I don’t think they understood who they called. I don’t think they understood how committed I was and what I was capable of. I didn’t understand it myself. I didn’t realize how perfect our relationship was going to be.”

That perfect relationship isn’t going to be put on hold either now that Ludwig is leaving TAM to form his own gym in Colorado. The 35-year old says he will always make time for Dillashaw and others in his old camp.

“My goal is to get my gym established and running smoothly with instructors underneath me that would allow me the time to think about something like that.

Obviously I will always make the time for T.J. and Danny and a few others, but my business and family come first right now.”