Bang: I’d corner Dillashaw vs. Faber

New UFC featherweight champion T.J. Dillashaw is on record as saying he would teammate fight Team Alpha Male founder Urijah Faber.

“If they were to make it worth our while then I imagine we would,” said Dillashaw recently. “But you know it’s a business and we’ll have to go through that tunnel when it comes.”

In a recent interview on MMAJunkie Radio, coach Duane “Bang” Ludwig, who recently left as head coach at Alpha Male, said he would be happy to coach Dillashaw in that fight.

I will offer my services; I’m always going to be there for the guys, said Ludwig as transcribed by MMAJunkie. But right now, I’m not scheduled to help them train or be in the corner.

I’m not really leaving Team Alpha Male. I’m going to go open up my business in Colorado. The team is going to get a new head coach, and I’m going to go open up my academy, and it’s definitely open doors for all the Team Alpha Male guys, and especially T.J.

I’m going to come and help out for the fighter camps, but my business will come firs. But I’ll definitely always make time for T.J. and a couple of the guys. We have a special bond, and it’s not something I will ever let go.

While Ludwig is opposed to taking future coaching jobs that would align him against Team Alpha Male, he would make an exception if Dillashaw were asked to fight its patriarch, Urijah Faber.

T.J.’s my boy, Ludwig today told MMAjunkie Radio. I would (coach T.J. against Urijah).

This is one of the things about T.J. and Faber. They fight once or twice a week in the gym. Why not get paid for it?

However, Ludwig offered high praise for Faber as well.

I’m talking to you right now because of Urijah Faber, Ludwig said. He’s the guy who put together this team; he’s the guy who called me to come out and help him coach.

I wouldn’t be in this position without him, nor would T.J. T.J. didn’t walk into Ultimate Fitness. Urijah went out and recruited him; he recruited Chad Mendes, also. So it’s not like they were homegrown champions. He’s a mastermind himself. He has a great eye for talent.

In an interview with BE’s Steph Daniels, Ludwig discussed Saturday’s title fight.

Steph Daniels: I noticed a lot of rapid stance changes. Was this something you specifically worked on?

Duane Ludwig: That was our way of making sure to keep the opponent off balance and guessing. Dominic Cruz is very good at that, as well. 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.

SD: Danny Castillo mentioned that he would also like to benefit in the future from your coaching and that you were not just a coach, or even a friend, but that you had become a member of the family.

DL: He’s one of the guys I will always make trips out there for or he can come out here. Any of the guys from that camp that need me, I’ll always be there for them. All of them. It’s not like I’m leaving the team, I’m just opening my business out here, like an extension of the team.

I’ll say this, for me, it’s not only about business and money. I genuinely care for my guys…[long pause, emotion], that would be hard for me to go to another team. I could never coach anyone else against a single member of Alpha Male. I just couldn’t do it.

I’ve had some good offers, one really good offer, I mean it was a crazy good offer, but they aren’t in Colorado, so that became a bit of an issue. I know I’ll probably end up with a fight team years down the road after I get over the separation from the TAM guys, but I don’t see it happening for at least a couple years.

The crazy offer that was sent my way was presented in a way that pretty much said, ‘Think of this like a football coach going to another team’ but it’s not like that for me. I can’t just jump right into something like that. It’s not how I view the team dynamic at all.

Read entire interview…