R. Follis (right) poses with student M. Tate (left) (Photo: MieshaTate Instagram Reproduction)
MMA coach Robert Follis was found dead last weekend. Responsible for training several big names in the sport, such as former champions Miesha Tate and Randy Couture, as well as Kevin Lee e Dan Henderson, Follis was honored through social media by several of his former pupils. The cause of death was not disclosed, but according to North American journalists, Follis committed suicide.
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The coach worked in two of the biggest camps in the history of the sport, starting his career at Team Quest, with Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland, Nate Quarry, among others, and then following the former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion to Las Vegas, where he was one of the main trainers at Xtreme Couture. There, Follis trained Kevin Lee, Miesha Tate, among others, but left his position on the team this month.
“Robert was a mentor, friend, trainer, teacher and martial arts philosopher to many of us. It is with great regret that I write this tribute to him. Death is like the sun. There is no escaping it. It enters every part of our lives, but there is no point in staring at it for too long. This becomes challenging when someone you know and love ends their own life. This is the position Robert has been in since his brother died two years ago, and it's where we are now. It's easy to get carried away by the urgency of living the limited time we have in our lives (…) Robert was a hero to many and heroes have the entire Earth as their graves (…)”, wrote Randy Couture through his social networks.
Another to mourn Follis' death was Dana White. The UFC president revealed that he met the coach at the UFC Performance Institute a week ago and they greeted each other from afar. The leader stated that he would have liked to stop to talk to him if he had known it would be the last time he would see him.
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