MMA Access: Bang and He Is Gone – Duane Ludwig Leaving Team Alpha Male

Bang and He Is Gone – Duane Ludwig Leaving Team Alpha Male

By Christopher Jester

 

Duane “Bang” Ludwig and Team Alpha Male seemed like a perfect match when paired up a year ago. When he became the head coach of one of the top camps, his experience was evident in the astonishing victories for certain Alpha Male fighters such as Chad Mendes, Urijah Faber, and more. So, it came just as a big surprise when the former UFC fighter Ludwig and Team Alpha Male decided to split ways.

Ludwig not only seemed ideal for the job, but he seemed to galvanize a team when they were at a crossroads. The wrestling-heavy Team Alpha Male discovered new found abilities in their striking. The man to hold the fastest knockout in UFC, Duane Ludwig, assisted in building a high finishing rate for the camp’s fighters. But not only that, some of the more prolific fighters became top contenders in their respective divisions. Urijah Faber received a shot at Renan Barao’s bantamweight title. Chad Mendes is still likely one fight away from gaining a featherweight title shot and TJ Dillashaw is a legitimate threat in the 135lb division. This may not have been all of Ludwig’s work, but it was apparent that this partnership paid dividends for the revitalization of some of these fighter’s careers.

Ludwig told PunchdrunkGamer.com “My time Teaching BANG Muay Thai to the world class athletes at Team Alpha Male has been an amazing experience”.

After spending many years of his life involved in with his own fighting career and others, Ludwig has decided to work for himself. His goal to split from Team Alpha Male was inspired by wanting to start a business via coaching. The success with Team Alpha Male was alone enough to build a healthy resume as a coach. Simply put: Ludwig inspired for something more and his new career as a coach is exactly what he wanted.

Although, Ludwig is leaving Team Alpha Male he will still coach alongside the team and its other coaches until May 24th. However, though in a recent interview with MMAJunkie.com, Ludwig revealed that a private conversation with Urijah Faber turned this separation a bit ugly. Ludwig’s intention was to step down as the coach as soon as they found a new head coach, as he had no aims to split during fight camps.

Despite those revelations, Ludwig told PunchDrunkGamer.com “That the only thing he had to say on the subject was that Urijah Faber is a cool guy”.

Instead of waiting to fill the vacancy before they parted ways though, Faber announced the separation publicly. The Team Alpha Male website now has an ad seeking a head coach to fill the soon-to-be empty position. While Ludwig and Faber may have different philosophies on the changing of coaches, Team Alpha Male is still a renowned training camp. As successful as they were before Ludwig, we have to assume that they will continue their winning ways.

It just seem that this partnership was a bit too short-lived and the fruition’s of the investment only paid half of the possible worth. Although Ludwig has decided to part ways, he still holds a major amount of respect for the fighters out of the Sacramento camp. He hopes to have some of the same fighters come to his own gym once he gets it off the ground. However, Ludwig’s most important notion is to develop more time with his family back home in Colorado. No one can take away the nobleness from Ludwig but one can’t help but wonder what else could have been if “Bang” had a little bit longer to hone the fighter’s skills at Team Alpha Male.

In speaking with PunchDrunkGamer.com, Ludwig added “My new training facility will be located in Arvada, Colorado but I am not opening a fighter based gym specifically for a fight team only. I am planning to open a family style martial arts academy that is open to everyone, including fighters”.

 
So Colorado residents, get your gloves and hand pads ready for the return of some kickass training!
 

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