What a week it has been for TJ Dillashaw. The UFC champ officially left Team Alpha Male, the place where he began his career, in order to join Elevation Fight Team in Colorado and in doing so be closer to Duane Ludwig. He also revealed that he will be getting paid to do so too.
In leaving Alpha Male it has strained relations with Urijah Faber, the man who brought him in to the team from the beginning, and things have been on edge since. Before both men said they would rather not fight each other but now it seems both are open to the idea.
While Dillashaw and Faber have been going through all this there has been a man lurking in the shadows looking over his crystal ball laughing. In case you don’t know who I am talking about it is the one and only Conor McGregor. The Irishman said on one of the early episodes of TUF to Faber that TJ Dillashaw was a ‘snake in the grass’.
Now TJ has bit back at McGregor during an appearance in The MMA Hour earlier this week saying that McGregor turned his back on his country.
“If I’m a traitor, I feel like [McGregor]’s an even bigger traitor to his country,” he said (via MMAFighting.com). “He went to Ireland, and he’s a big country man, and then he lives in the United States now. He moved to Las Vegas. Why? It’s better for his career. It’s business. And so, I put it so everyone understands, I’m just trying to stay on top and I want to become the best MMA fighter possible and I need coaches to do so.”
Alan’s Angle: Dillashaw is clutching at straws here it seems. McGregor has spent a lot of time in America now because the job demands it. All the media obligations can’t be done from the opposite side of the Atlantic. The main thing though that Dillashaw should look at is how McGregor structured his camp for UFC 189. He brought over his training partners and coaches to Vegas with him. He didn’t join any of the many gyms over in town, he did the camp with his team.
On the other hand Dillashaw left his team and Urijah Faber, the man who brought him into the sport, who played a big part in getting onto TUF and who brought in coaches like Duane Ludwig who helped him win the title.
You can understand why Dillashaw left. He likes working with Ludwig and he is getting paid to train. But with a decision like this you just have to take the criticism you get as people aren’t wrong to think of his actions here in a negative light..