What’s the story:
UFC 207 was projected as an event which featured Ronda’s comeback but ended with a new rising star in the making when Cody “No Love” Garbrandt shook the world by decimating Dominick Cruz for the UFC Bantamweight Championship.
Fluidic, versatile, intense and powerful are terms associated with Cody after his display that night. He beat the best in the business and did so convincingly. Co-incidently, TJ Dillashaw, a former champion himself was up against John Lineker on the same night and ended with a convincing victory.
However, now that Cody Garbrandt has won the championship and knowing that TJ Dillashaw was his former teammate, we can expect things to heat up as TJ had ended his relationship with Team Alpha Male on a bitter note.
In case you didn’t know...
TJ Dillashaw was a member of Team Alpha Male and used to train with the likes of Urijah Faber, Garbrandt etc. until he left them for the Elevation Fight team at Colorado to train under former Team Alpha Male coach Duane Ludwig.
It almost felt like getting stabbed in the back for Team Alpha Male and their relationship with TJ Dillashaw has grown sour ever since.
The Heart of the Matter:
In the recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Cody made his disdain for TJ felt and landed a barrage of insults at his former teammate. Garbrandt was frank enough to share what went wrong with TJ and how we would love to set up a clash with him and beat him with a KO.
Also read: UFC News: John Lineker suffers broken jaw at the hands of TJ Dillashaw
He was quoted as saying:
“I would get satisfaction from whoopin’ his ass, that’s for sure. Just for what he did to the team. 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 of money and f**kin’ ran. Ran away. But there was me always there, the uncrowned champ. I was the uncrowned champ when he was there.”
Cody also went on to say that TJ was never a real champion and that Cruz was the undefeated champion till he beat him.
What's next?
Cody and his management team want to now sit with Dana White and Sean Shelby to discuss what lies next for the Champion. Cody is eyeing clashes against the likes of Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor in a super fight and is also willing to have a rematch with Cruz.
However, the most interesting and plausible fight going ahead seems to be the one with TJ.
Sportskeeda’s Take:
Dana White loves to see hatred and trash talk between fighters and their camps. Those tend to generate interest in the match-up and result in more PPV buys. If we have learned anything from the new owners of the UFC, it’s that the numbers drive them more than anything else when it comes to making fights happen.
A championship match between Cody “No Love” Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw, therefore, seems to definitely be the one in the making.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
