What's the story?
Cody Garbrandt, during an interview with FOX Sports, talked about his rematch with Dominic Cruz, who he defeated at UFC 207. Garbrandt said that he already agreed to a rematch with Cruz, just to prove that his win at UFC 207 wasn't a fluke.
“I offered him the rematch and I’m surprised that he’s not wanting the rematch, For being the dominant champion, he doesn’t want the rematch. So I’m kind of surprised that I broke him in there.”
“I don’t know if he’ll ever come back to fighting”
In case you didn't know
Cody Garbrandt faced Dominick Curz at UFC 207, in what everyone considered to be a shocker of a match. Garbrandt defeated Cruz via decision after five rounds. Garbrandt confessed that he wanted to defeat Curz via knockout and this rematch against Cruz, will give him the opportunity to do so.
Cruz who was antagonising Garbrandt every step of the way before the day of the bout, congratulated him and offered no excuses for his defeat calling him the better man on the day.
The heart of the matter
It's a well-known fact in the UFC that Cruz and Team Alpha Male share a heated rivalry. After returning from a three-year layoff at UFC 178, Cruz defeated Takeya Mizugaki and rekindled his rivalry with the fight camp.
Cruz then defeated, TJ Dillashaw and his greatest rival, the now-retired MMA fighter, Urijah Faber.
Cody Garbrandt, holding an undefeated streak, challenged Cruz for his title next. Many thought it was a foregone conclusion that Dominick Cruz would win the fight, but Cody shocked the world by outclassing the former champion.
What’s next?
According to F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer, the next opponent for Garbrandt has to be TJ Dillashaw. There is a nice bit of backstory to exploit in the build-up to the fight as infamously, Dillashaw left Team Alpha Male to go to Elevation Fight Team. No official word on Garbrandt’s next opponent has been revealed by the UFC, however.
Sportskeeda’s take
On the basis of how good their match was at UFC 207, Cruz definitely should return for the rematch if Garbrandt’s ready to offer it. The video below shows the post-fight interview featuring Cody Garbrandt, after beating Dominick Cruz at UFC 207:
The video below shows highlights from Cody Garbrandt’s match against Dominick Cruz at UFC 207:
