What’s the story?
At UFC 207, apart from Rousey’s defeat, we also witnessed Cody Garbrandt dethrone “The Dominator” Dominick Cruz and become the new UFC bantamweight champion. Garbrandt won the belt in a five round fight via unanimous decision.
Garbrandt set the pace from the first round. He mocked, taunted and dominated “The Dominator” the entire fight and looked like he was having fun inside the octagon and enjoyed the fight, the same could not be said about Cruz, who seemed out of his elements.
Garbrandt’s coach Justin Buchholz appears to be leaning towards a rematch with Cruz, instead of T.J. Dillashaw, as it would be better for business. The rematch between Garbrandt and Cruz is definitely going to generate a lot of hype and publicity, especially after the first fight between them turned out to be excellent.
In case you didn’t know...
This was Dominick Cruz’s second defeat in his MMA career (22-2-0), his first loss came in a WEC featherweight title bout against Urijah Faber back in 2007. Cody Garbrandt, the current bantamweight champion, is still undefeated in his pro-MMA career (11-0-0) with 9 of his 11 wins coming by KO.
Garbrandt and Dillashaw both used to train together at Team Alpha Male. There is still some animosity between the two on how Dillashaw left the team.
In January 2016, at UFC Fight Night 81, Cruz defeated Dillashaw to regain his bantamweight title which he was stripped off due to injury. Cruz was the first ever UFC Bantamweight champion and he lost his title for the first time inside the Octagon in UFC against the current champion Cody Garbrandt.
The heart of the matter
After Garbrandt defeated Cruz in style, there has been a lot of speculation on who should be the next opponent to face the champion for his title.
When asked whether Cruz should be given a rematch or T.J. Dillashaw deserves the first go at the title to face his former teammate, Coach Buchholz, while talking to MMAJunkie Radio, said:
“I watched T.J.’s fight a couple of times and it’s kind of up to Cody. He’s the champion. He just dominated the guy who has a win over T.J. in his last outing, who’s been on top for the last 10 years.
And I would like to see Cruz back in there. But the T.J. fight, everyone’s saying he deserves the shot, and that’s fine with me too.”
What next?
Dominick Cruz has dominated this division for 10 years and prior to this, had never lost a match inside the UFC Octagon. He deserves to get a shot to win back his title and jump to the top again. Cody looks interested in giving Cruz an immediate rematch as well.
On the other hand, T.J. Dillashaw showcased a clinical victory over John Lineker and believes that the title shot should be his. Many people are in agreement with Dillashaw’s claim. He is not someone who the champion could overlook.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Whether the rematch (Garbrandt vs Cruz) or the fight between the former teammates (Garbrandt vs Dillashaw) happens to be the main card, it will draw a huge crowd and media attention. Both of them deserve the title shot, and it will all come down to whom Cody Garbrandt wants to face first.
The real winner here will be the fans who will witness another exciting fight. With Garbrandt headlining both possible events, everyone is expected to be on the edge of their seats.
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