TUF winner and now Team Alpha Male head grappling coach Chris Holdsworth has an update on his road to recovery from concussion related symptoms.
Sometimes a career can end in an instant. Or, at the very least, be put on hold indefinitely. The latter appears to be where former TUF 18 champ Chris Holdsworth is standing, even if he’s not willing to say he’s retired yet. The Team Alpha Male standout recently took a position as the camp’s head BJJ coach. It’s a move he told ESPN that was inspired in part by Dominick Cruz’s recent long battle with injury, and the champ’s advice that focusing on something other than just trying to get back in the cage helped get him heal up.
“It became one of those things: Do I want to keep waiting on the sideline and not get anything going for my life or my future and just hope I start feeling better, or do I want to be proactive and do things I enjoy and help others? It was an easy decision.”
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“I talked to Sean [Shelby], and he said, ‘Man, why aren’t you teaching jiu-jitsu right now?’ His biggest thing is just like mine. There’s no rush, and my health is No. 1.
“It’s like what happened to [UFC bantamweight champion] Dominick Cruz. He was out for three years with injuries, so he started focusing on commentating. I read an interview where he said the time he healed the most was when he didn’t focus on fighting, and I think that hit hard with me. Like, man, that’s right. I knew I had to change my mindset and focus on coaching.”
So, fans hoping to see Holdsworth return in the near future aren’t getting a lot of good news about the chances of it happening. But, he’s still in the gym, still training at a high level, and still keeping the option open. After this year, who knows, maybe he’ll be right back in the thick of things at 135.