If many of you thought TJ Dillashaw moving from Team Alpha Male to Duane Ludwig’s Elevation Fight Team in Colorado would be the end of the big moves in the complicated world of fight camps, then this weekend proved you dead wrong. First came the news that top new UFC prospect Sage Northcutt would be heading north to Tristar Gym for a trial run. Northcutt up to this point has trained at the smaller Gracie Barra Katy gym in Texas, and it should be a massive improvement for him in terms of coaching experience and elite training partners. He’ll be joined by former Strikeforce welterweight champion Tarec Saffiedine. Saffiedine normally has trained out of Dan Henderson’s Team Quest gym in Temecula, but the injury plagued Belgian was knocked out by Tristar fighter Rory MacDonald and that likely fueled his desire to train there. Then of course, there was news that top UFC welterweight contender Matt Brown and UFC featherweight Clay Guida will be joining Dillashaw at Ludwig’s Elevation Fight Team. They will join Dillashaw alongside top UFC fighters like Neil Magny, Cat Zingano and Brandon Thatch among others. Guida has bounced around gyms between his Chicago home base, Team Alpha Male and Jackson Winklejohn’s in Abuquerque, but perhaps Ludwig can get “The Carpenter” back to his energizer bunny-esque ways. It now appears that Ludwig’s gym is becoming a key destination for top UFC contenders. It’ll be interesting to see how the team continues to grow over the next few months and whether or not they can keep up the momentum.
