Justin Buchholz Blasts Urijah Faber & TAM Coaches Following Cody Garbrandt’s Third Straight Loss

Following Cody Garbrandt’s third consecutive defeat at UFC 235, there’s been a lot of talk about “No Love” and his future. But, according to his former coach, Justin Buchholz, the coaching staff at Team Alpha Male should be taking heat for the former champ’s recent struggles.

Garbrandt faced Pedro Munhoz at the recent event, and during a vicious and wild striking exchange in round one, he was finished off. It marked the third straight time Garbrandt has been stopped, and it dropped the bantamweight’s record to 11-3.

Well, since then, Buchholz appeared on The TSN MMA Show. The veteran fighter and coach was one of the driving forces behind Garbrandt’s championship rise in the UFC, before he departed Team Alpha Male. During the interview, Buchholz had this to say about TAM’s coaching staff and the team’s founder, Urijah Faber (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“They make a situation that is kind of simple, way too simple,” Buchholz said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, he decided to throw caution to the wind.’ Well where was that guy, where was the guy who threw caution to the wind, kill or be killed, I’m just gonna go run across the cage holding my right hand out with my hands down, where was that guy when he fought Dominick Cruz?

“. . . It’s not kill or be killed. It’s win this fight. Get the W. It just pisses me off when people say, ‘Oh he just got emotional. He just decided to do this.’ That’s all from training! That’s all from the camp. That’s all from the cues you receive from your coach.”

“If you think of it like football, it’s like the owner of the team got jealous of the head coach and then showed up on the field and started coaching instead of sitting back and kicking his feet up saying, ‘I started the team, I own the team, everything you do makes my shine brighter’” Buchholz said while talking about Faber. “But some people can’t understand that because they can’t see past their own ego…”

Sure, some folks will argue that Buchholz is just angry/bitter about his split with TAM and that he’s assigning blame where it shouldn’t be. Further, it’s worth noting that two of Garbrandt’s losses came against T.J. Dillashaw, who is one of the best, pound-for-pound fighters on the planet.

But, there’s no denying that Garbrandt’s stock has dropped and that his brawling approach against Munhoz raised eyebrows. “No Love” has claimed that was due to an accidental headbutt he took. 

All that aside, it will be really interesting to see if Garbrandt rebounds and gets back in the title shot hunt.