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Urijah Faber uncertain about Paige VanZant's future with Team Alpha Male
UFC strawweight star Paige VanZant recently relocated to Oregon and began training with former middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen and his team, a move that raised a lot of questions about the status of her relationship with Team Alpha Male.
VanZant has been a big part of the Sacramento-based gym for several years, including the majority of her UFC career, although she has trained at other facilities in the past.
The recent move to Oregon, where part of VanZant's family lives, had many people wondering if she split with Team Alpha Male completely or would be returning in the future when she books her next fight.
Team Alpha Male founder Urijah Faber says he can't even be certain about what VanZant will do next, but he would definitely welcome her back to the team for anything she needs now or in the future.
“Yeah, I just talked to Paige this morning. We’re not exactly sure what Paige is planning on doing for her fight camps," Faber told Submission Radio. "You know, she’s always welcome here and I may go out there and help her. She did move to Oregon where she’s from originally, I mean, that’s where her family’s from and everything. She bought a house and that’s her home place. And Lance Palmer, he’s a guy who comes and trains with us who’s going to be commuting. He’s moved back to Ohio but he’s doing his camps out with us.
"But I’m not sure what she’s planning on doing. I’ve been helping her make sure that wherever she goes she gets training in, and Chael Sonnen has been helping her get set up out there with some training. So we’re not exactly sure what she’s going to do about her camps. We have a lot of people that come and do the camps with us and she’s welcome, but I don’t think she’s made a decision necessarily on that.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oWzqeqCWJo
Faber added that he would have no issue if VanZant decided to add Sonnen's Oregon-based team to her training schedule ahead of a fight because she wouldn't be the first member of Team Alpha Male to work with other fighters or head coaches.
Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has worked with Team Jackson-Winkeljohn striking coach Brandon Gibson in the past and prior to his retirement, former UFC lightweight Danny Castillo trained with Nick and Nate Diaz at their facility not too far from where Team Alpha Male calls home.
“I’d be fine with it. To be honest, she’s had so much on her plate from the 'Dancing with the Stars' ordeal to all of her obligations. She really would be in camp for six, seven weeks at the most for a steady stay on things, so we’re kind of use to that with her. And like I said, she’s always welcome, but we have a great relationship," Faber said. "However she needs my assistance, whether it’s to come out and train with her or to have her come train here or to hook her up with someone else wherever she’s going, she has that ability to lean on me for that.
"So she’s more than welcome obviously and it’s just kind of up to her.”
