Advertisement

Flyweight Joseph Benavidez looking to escape MMA purgatory

LAS VEGAS — UFC flyweight Joseph Benavidez is stuck in a holding pattern.

Joseph Benavidez hasn't figured out Demetrious Johnson yet.
Joseph Benavidez hasn't figured out Demetrious Johnson yet.

At 31, Benavidez is atop the flyweight pecking order. With 27 career bouts to his credit, Benavidez is a true veteran of the sport. Unfortunately four of those 27 fights resulted in losses against Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson.

Benavidez sits as one of the best fighters in the world who cannot seem to beat two of the greatest champions to ever fight.

“I love the purgatory of MMA,” Benavidez said in a sarcastic tone Wednesday from inside the MGM Grand, “it’s the best.”

He is on a four-fight win streak, and a victory over Zach Makovsky at UFC Fight Night on Saturday should theoretically put him in line for a third fight with Johnson and the UFC flyweight title. Given the circumstances, however, it’s anyone’s guess.

The scene is a familiar one for Benavidez, a veteran of 19 UFC/WEC fights, but lately, things have been anything but recognizable.

Over the last month, Benavidez has been using his GPS with more frequency. His rental car has been traveling unfamiliar roads. His house, an occasional Airbnb spot, is far from the cozy accommodations he’s become accustomed to. After nearly a decade training with his original gym, Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Benavidez finds himself in the frigid mountain air of Denver.

The reasoning behind this is well documented by now. Benavidez, and Alpha Male castoff T.J. Dillashaw both became comfortable with former Team Alpha Male head striking coach Duane Ludwig during his brief tenure with the team. Ludwig eventually fell out of favor with Team Alpha Male founder Urijah Faber over money issues, and left, forming his own gym “Bang Muay Thai” in Denver.

Dillashaw, then UFC bantamweight champion, formally left Team Alpha Male for Colorado a few months later, souring Faber in the process.

Benavidez removes himself from the drama as much as possible, though. He remains close to all parties involved. He doesn’t speak to T.J. and Duane about Urijah and vice versa: “I stay out of it.”

He is Team Alpha Male through and through. They’ve been together 10 years and they are his “family.” In reality, Benavidez roaming around a new city isn’t a surprise. Yes, Alpha Male has remained his home base, but Benavidez has always looked to outside training, working with the likes of Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn in Albuquerque.

“I hope everyone from now on who gets a new coach, a new team, is questioned as much as we are,” Benavidez said. “We did the same exact thing before: not a peep about it. I would post a picture me training somewhere else, and people would be like, cool, good luck in your next fight. Now, it’s crazy.”

Ludwig’s tenure at Team Alpha Male was a resounding success while it lasted. In consecutive years, Team Alpha Male and Ludwig took home both Gym of the Year and Coach of the Year awards at the annual World MMA Awards. And it’s easy to see why Benavidez and Dillashaw are looking to build on those good vibes, “I think the rest of the team felt the same way, like, ‘Oh s***. Well, we miss that coaching. That was a great time in our career.’

“You get a coach that you feel super good with, like Duane, then all of a sudden you don’t have that anymore, but you still want that feeling, so you do what is best for you.”

So, what is best for a fighter who just can’t manage conquering two of the greatest champions the sport has ever seen? How does one remain passionate?

There’s no easy answer, and it’s an even more uncomfortable question to ask. But being uncomfortable is what leads to great progress, and this is what brought Benavidez to Colorado in the first place.

(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)

“It gives you that new passion we’re talking about,” he said. “I’ve been out of my comfort zone recently and felt like I was doing something new and crazy, inventive and fresh everyday. That’s how you continue your passion and find inspiration; getting new ideas, getting new looks and new visions. Those are ways to evolve and stay passionate.”

His passion is stoked by the possibility of a third fight with Johnson, too — don’t be mistaken. It’s just not something he can ask for in every interview, because, well, he knows what the fans (and UFC) would think.

Instead, Benavidez focuses on the things he can directly control. He has a new wife back in Las Vegas (the UFC’s Megan Olivi) and the promise of a secure, happy future is on the horizon. His need to seek out the best training possible while constantly evolving is pushing his passion.

The drama between Ludwig, Dillashaw and Faber is in his rear-view. It’s an unfortunate situation, to be sure, and Benavidez admits things feel “a little different.” But family is family, and that will never change.

It would be understandable if Benavidez lost faith in the idea of a team concept in an individual-centric sport like MMA. After all, if a group of brothers like Team Alpha Male can face such hardships, a fighter has got to ask at some point: is it all worth it?

“I will always believe in the team aspect,” he said. “This is a lonely sport, the more family, the more laughs, and the more fun you can have, the better. At the end of the day, though, it’s one man’s journey to try and be the best in the world. This just happens to be the webs that come out of it; the teams, the friends, the relationships formed.”

And just like a once-pristine web weathered over time, Joe Benavidez still sticks. And that’s bad news for anyone stepping inside the Octagon with him.