Your friend may be dropping you for self preservation.
Often people are advised to get folks out of their lives that could harm their sobriety. If your friend knows you very well he probably knew you would get together with this new guy once he warned you and you didn't react.
Now your friend has to get clear of what he sees as the drama and pain that he feels is sure to come. Those can be real triggers for relapse.
He was aggressive and had conflicts with everyone standing in his way.
You can't blame that behavior on alcohol. That's a whole different ball game. Punching folks out because of work conflicts is a violent felony offense. Dealing with that kind of "aggression" is waaaay outside of the realm of getting sober.