What’s the story?
Cody Garbrandt made a mockery of Dominick Cruz and won the title bout against him at UFC 207, becoming the new bantamweight champion. It was a performance which will be talked about for a long time to come.
After this victory, there seems to be a debate going on about whom Garbrandt should face next for his title defence. He could either give Cruz an immediate rematch or fight his ex-training partner T.J Dillashaw.
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At UFC 207, T.J Dillashaw impressed everyone with a towering performance, where he dominated his opponent John Lineker throughout the fight. Dillashaw stands out to face his ex-training partner for the bantamweight title.
In case you didn’t know...
Cody Garbrandt (11-0-0) became the first person to win the belt from Dominick Cruz (22-2-0) in the UFC. Earlier in 2014, Cruz had to give up his title due to an injury. The same year T.J Dillashaw (14-3-0) defeated Renan Barao (35-4-0) at UFC 173 to become the bantamweight champion.
Dominick Cruz defeated Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night 81 to claim his title back.
Garbrandt and Dillashaw used to train together at Team Alpha Male, which was founded by Urijah Faber in 2004. Faber had recruited Dillashaw straight out of high school. There is some bitterness between Garbrandt and Dillashaw for Dillashaw having left the team with Duane Ludwig.
The heart of the matter
The harsh feelings are still there. In a recent episode of UFC Unfiltered, Garbrandt had this to say about his ex-teammate:
“He sold out. He’s a sellout. He sold his friends, everybody that got him there. He forgot who got him to where he was at. Saw a little bit of money and f***ing ran. Ran away.”
On the statement that Dillashaw made him cry during practice, Garbrandt responded:
“I don’t mind whooping T.J’s ass. He was a cancer to our team. I’ll spare everyone 60 bucks to buy the pay-per-view and put out the video of me knocking his ass out when I was 1-0. 1-0.
That motherf***er never made me cry. I wasn’t the one looking at the ceiling, being on my back looking at the ceiling, knocked out.”
What next?
Right now the next title contender is yet to be decided.
Cody Garbrandt has shown a keen interest in fighting Cruz for the rematch but has not disregarded Dillashaw either. Garbrandt will probably sit with Dana White and his management team and decide on what will be the best fight for him next.
Sportskeeda’s Take
The fight between Cody Garbrandt and T.J Dillashaw has a great storyline to it. It will be the fight between ex-teammates. Both of them started from the same camp. Dillashaw left the team when he became the champion while Garbrandt stayed back and now is the current bantamweight champion.
Garbrandt is loyal to his Team Alpha Male and his mentor Urijah Faber. He still feels that Dillashaw has been unfaithful to the team. So whenever the champion and Dillashaw meet inside the cage, Garbrandt will utilise the chance to exact payback and to teach him a thing or two about loyalty.
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