The Sacramento, California based gym Team Alpha Male is a highly acclaimed training camp for world class mixed martial artists. The gym was founded by UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber and continues to cultivate top level talent, including multiple high class title holders. Now it would appear that the gym may soon have four different teammates within the top ten of the UFC’s featherweight division, creating an interesting dynamic for the training camp.
Darren Elkins and Josh Emmett are both ranked within the top ten of the UFC’s featherweight division, with two time title contender Chad Mendes soon returning from his suspension. Beyond that, Andre Fili is picking up steam with an impressive winning streak that is allowing the fighter to climb to the upper levels of the division.
All in all, Team Alpha Male warriors may soon populate 40 percent of the UFC featherweight top ten rankings. With that in mind, Josh Emmett recently decided to sit down with MMA Weekly to offer his thoughts on the matter.
Speaking to MMA Weekly, Emmett said:
“I’ve been here since 2005 when Urijah [Faber] opened his gym. I was there when everybody was in the WEC and I was their main training partner. I was there when Danny Castillo made his UFC debut against Joe Stevenson, I was his main training partner. When Chad Mendes made his debut and fought [Jose] Aldo, I was his main training partner.
“I’ve been here so long and I’ve seen everybody get to where they’re at and it’s a great team. I’m truly blessed that the best team in the world is in my backyard.”
Emmett then revealed that he and Chad Mendes have discussed the possibility of facing each other inside the octagon.
“Chad and I were just talking about this. It’s a good problem to have but it kind of sucks because there’s going to be four of us in the top 10 and I’m not going to fight one of my teammates. But Chad and I were talking and it was funny because he was like ‘hey if it’s for a title, we’re fighting’ and I know. I totally understand that.
“If maybe I become champion and Chad comes back as the No. 1 contender, maybe you’ll see Emmett vs. Mendes. We’ll be training partners the whole damn time. He knows everything I do, I know everything he does. To me I think it would suck, but it could happen down the road.”
“It’s a good problem to have but when you actually think about that, I’d never want to fight a teammate. We’ve just have to talk about it and make sure the money is right.”
