The gym made famous by former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, Team Death Clutch, is no more, former teammate Pat Barry said on “UFC Tonight” Tuesday (via MMA Weekly).
No more Death Clutch; no more big guys. Now I’m full time at the Academy with Greg Nelson in Minneapolis. He’s phenomenal, great at everything. I was already a part of the Academy, but I was training with Marty and Cole and now that they’re gone, I’m full-time, 100-percent part of the Academy, Greg Nelson’s gym in Minneapolis.
Death Clutch, a Minnesota-based gym, took a serious hit in December when Lesnar retired immediately after a TKO loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141.
This was Lesnar’s comeback fight after a second bout with the colon disease diverticulitis. He decided the illness had rendered him unable to compete at the highest level anymore after the definitive loss.
Lesnar made his return to the WWE in April, where he has been touted as a submission specialist “breaking” various opponents arms with a kimura from his guard. He has not competed in WWE since its SummerSlam pay-per-view in August.
Despite the departure of the UFC’s biggest draw, the team soldiered on largely on the strength of then-Bellator heavyweight champion Cole Konrad.
However, Konrad retired from MMA last month (via MMAjunkie.com), in order to become a financial trader at a Minnesota-based firm that supplies ingredients to the feed, pet food, food processing and chemical industries.
Konrad will specialize in trading milk products, MMA Junkie reported. He retired with a perfect 9-0 record, though he never competed under the Zuffa banner.
Barry and Death Clutch head coach Marty Morgan were then left as the only full-time members of the time and Morgan decided to leave.
Barry then decided to train at The Academy, previously known as the Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy, due to his respect for Nelson and the convenience.
Nelson’s biggest claim to fame is arguably coaching Sean Sherk to win the UFC lightweight championship in October 2006.
“Hype or Die” was previously a member of Duke Roufus’ camp in Milwaukee, Wisc., but moved out to Minnesota permanently to train with Death Clutch, primarily working as one of Lesnar’s sparring partners.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com