Issue 127

April 2015

Firstly, fighting TJ Dillashaw for the UFC bantamweight belt isn’t something that appeals to me, but nothing is ever out of the question. I’ve been in the sport 11 years and it’s simply not an enticing fight for me. I do this sport because I love it, so I just don’t see the fight ever happening. 

URIJAH FABER

The Team Alpha Male leader on fighting teammates and MMA’s future

For it to happen, TJ would have to come to me and tell me that we should do it. If it were him pushing for it then maybe we’d see. TJ has a big fight with (Renan) Barao right now so until push comes to shove I don’t have a definite answer. It’s still far away from even becoming a conversation in my mind.

I don’t believe having two Team Alpha Male fighters compete against one another inside the Octagon is something that couldn’t happen. After all, we have some of the best guys in the world in the same weight classes. 

The difference here is I actually recruited TJ, built his whole career and he moved in with me at first. Whenever I hired a coach he’d be with me, so it’s a bit different. If some of the other guys were to fight we could make a case for that, but it’s different between him and me.

I knew TJ would beat Barao. In fact, I put money on it. We all know in the gym which guys are going to be big. TJ has been the guy from the get go and I’ve been telling him that for the past five years. I’ve been showing him checks I’ve been getting and talking to him about this and that. 

When I’ve had to bring a specialist coach in he’s always been right there with me to make sure he soaks it all in. He’s been groomed to be a champion: physically and mentally. I don’t know how many times he’s been talking about sponsors and I’ve said, “Don’t worry about sponsors right now because you’re going to be the champion, just wait.”

He’s had that mentality and all our guys have that mentality. The reality of it all sets in as we fight each other all the time. TJ’s success has boosted the entire gym. It’s upped everyone’s morale and belief. It makes everyone realize that what we’re doing creates success. We have Chad Mendes who was inches away from getting the belt at 145lb and Joseph Benavidez has been right there at 125lb. 

I have a history of being a world champion and now we have a tradition of being world champions. Lance Palmer won the WSOF 145lb championship at the end of last year and Chris Holdsworth won the TUF season 18 TV show, so we’re having a lot of success. But that’s just scratching the surface in terms of what’s to come.

We have some really tough guys coming through now. There’s Hector ‘Kid Alex’ Sandoval, who’s a 125lb’er. He’s been one of our top guys for a while. You guys have seen Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt – he just made his UFC debut. He’s a really tough kid. Then we’ve got Angelo Trevino who’s been with us since he was like 12 or 13, and he’s about to make his pro debut. He’s been one of the top amateurs in California for a long time and I think in the world. 

Joseph Morales just made his pro debut. He’s been with me since he was 10. Now he’s 21. It’s really crazy to see this next generation of talent come out. We’ve got guys that have been with us since they were like 10, 11, 12, who are now 21, 22, and 23. Those guys are going to have a good career and our team is just getting more impressive.

The sky’s the limit in terms of what they can all achieve. What we’re seeing now is what we’ve talked about for a long time: a first true generation of mixed martial artists who have trained this sport since before they were teenagers. 

Parents are putting their kids in this sport at a young age. They’re starting to think about MMA as a career path from a very young age. Their kids are starting to have idols who are professional fighters – not just baseball, basketball or football players. 

It’s going to change everything. You’ve seen it with guys like Conor McGregor and Cody Garbrandt. 

These guys breaking through now have been watching me compete for the past 10 years, and that’s f**king crazy. This generation is so good it’s insane and soon the sport will look very different than it does today.