While Austin Hubbard has been long associated with the Elevation Fight Team out of Aurora, Colorado, his longtime home has been a bit further away from the mountains. Born in Sterling, Illinois, Hubbard had many of his first fight camps quite a bit closer to home. Leading into his UFC 307 bout, he made the move to head back to where it all started.
“I have done my entire camp out of Valle Flow [Striking Academy] and it’s been great,” he said. “I’m originally from the area and I live in Dixon, Illinois, which is about an hour and a half drive to and from practice for me.”
While it was a difficult decision to move away from the team that helped him rise to this level, he likes the work that he’s getting in his new (old) home. In addition, the move was absolutely necessary given his recent life changes.
“It’s quite the drive for me, but before I moved to Colorado, this is where I’m from. I moved back from Colorado about a year and a half ago,” Hubbard said. “And my wife and I just had a baby – she’s four months old now. When I moved back, previously I would still go out to Colorado and do eight weeks out there, or seven weeks or whatever it was – do my camp still there. Having the baby, it just wasn’t doable. I just didn’t feel like I could leave her.”
Although he’s liking his new training situation, he does still want to do work with his previous coaches. However, given his budding family, he’s not sure how much will be feasible in the future.
“I’m sure I’ll go out to Colorado still, here and there, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to swing a whole fight camp,” he said. “We’re just not in a position to bring the whole family out there for eight weeks.”
We’ll see the fruits of his new labors in his upcoming bout at UFC 307. He faces Alexander Hernandez on the prelims of UFC 307. The card begins at 6:30 pm EST on ESPN+.
You can hear the entire interview below at 2:13.
