Fighters and their fights rightfully dominate the MMA news cycle.
It’s not often their coaches make headlines unless they’re being interviewed during fight week about the game plan for one of their fighters. But when one of the top coaches in the sport leaves the gym they’ve been affiliated with for years, it’s certainly newsworthy.
Veteran MMA coach Robert Follis parted ways with Xtreme Couture, the Las Vegas-based MMA gym owned by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, on Monday. He notified Bleacher Report by phone Tuesday.
Follis ran daily MMA and grappling classes for the professional fighters at the gym along with serving as head coach for some of its top fighters like Kevin Lee, Bryan Caraway and Tim Elliott, as well as former women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate.
Follis was with the gym for just over four years. Prior to his time at Xtreme Couture, he was the head coach and co-owner of Team Quest in Portland, Oregon.
“I’d like to thank Randy [Couture] for bringing me on when the gym was going through some struggles. Having the opportunity to build it back up to a world-class level has been one of the great experiences of my professional career,” Follis said in a statement to Bleacher Report. “At the time there was not a Brazilian jiu-jitsu program in place for non-fighters to come in for, so to see it take off and flourish was a great accomplishment. I’m really excited about some big possibilities that are currently sitting in front of me and I’m looking forward to watching these things unfold soon. I’m so grateful to everyone that partnered with me over the years to get the gym and the Brazilian jiu-jitsu program to where it is.”
Given Follis’ track record thus far, he’ll no doubt find success in whatever venture he chooses next.
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