5 ultimate betrayals in UFC history

#3 Dillashaw’s no Alpha Male

This article almost feels timely given the situation between TJ Dillashaw and his former team, Team Alpha Male (TAM) is at its most volatile. In this case, the betrayal also involved a coach, namely kickboxing savant Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig.

Essentially, the story began in late 2012. Team Alpha Male – a team made up largely of smaller, grappling-based fighters and formed by Urijah Faber – needed help on their striking game, so Faber brought in Ludwig to be the team’s new head coach.

The results were pretty instant – Faber and other TAM fighters such as Joseph Benavidez and Chad Mendes suddenly displayed massively improved kickboxing, but perhaps the greatest recipient of Ludwig’s teachings was prospect TJ Dillashaw.

Early 2014 saw Faber fail in an attempt to claim the UFC Bantamweight Title from champion Renan Barao, but where the leader of the Alpha Males failed, Dillashaw succeeded just a few months later, dethroning Barao with a Ludwig-styled striking masterclass.

The California native was on top of the world, but it was a world that quickly splintered apart. Apparently tired of working under the Alpha Male banner, Ludwig split with the team in late 2015 and went back to Colorado. And to make the split even bitterer, he took Dillashaw with him.

Since then, word has come from Team Alpha Male that Dillashaw was a “terrible” training partner who set out to injure sparring partners, and Faber has stated that he felt betrayed by Dillashaw leaving the team to side with Ludwig.

With Dillashaw losing his title to Dominick Cruz – who in turn lost it to Team Alpha Male’s Cody Garbrandt – we should see the situation finally end at UFC 217, and Garbrandt seems to be gunning for the man who seemingly betrayed his mentor and his teammates.