What’s the story?
The former Team Alpha Male member T.J. Dillashaw has been involved in a war of words with former teammate and champion, Cody Garbrandt. There have always been hostilities between the former champion and Team Alpha Male since he left the Gym to train at Elevation Fight Team.
According to Mmamania.com, Dillashaw has refuted the TAM member’s claims of knocking him out in training. In a recent interview given on “The MMA Hour”, he was quoted stating the following:
“Don’t get me wrong, Cody is a tough kid. But, it’s funny for him to start talking about him knocking me out before. For one, I’ve never been knocked out. The closest was when John Dodson clipped me at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Finale. And he keeps talking about that he has footage on it, and it’s hilarious because he’s digging himself a hole because if you have footage on it then put it out. It has not happened.”
In case you didn’t know...
Dillashaw had an ugly split from TAM after he switched the popular fight team for Elevation Fight Team. Since then there has been an all-out verbal war between the two sides. Team Alpha Male member Garbrandt had claimed that he had once knocked out Dillashaw in training. “No Love” had also claimed that he knocked out the former 135 pound kingpin when he had an MMA record of just 1-0.
The heart of the matter
“No Love” and Dillashaw were both on UFC 207 main card last month. Both of them had impressive performances against their respective opponents. Dillashaw had called out the winner of the Cruz-Garbrandt fight which “No Love” later won. Considering that Dillashaw is apparently the next in line for a title shot against him and also the hostility there is between T.J. and TAM. It’s not a shock that both these fighters have been trading barbs.
What next?
With his dominant performance against top contender John Linekar, Dillashaw might have secured himself a title shot for the 135 pounds gold. A rematch against Dominick Cruz might be a more logical fight to make for both the fighters. However, a fight between the current champion and Dillashaw will surely happen in the future.
Sportskeeda’s Take
It was widely anticipated that Dillashaw would eventually face TAM leader, Urijah Faber. Though, with Faber’s retirement and Garbrandt winning the UFC Bantamweight title, there are more chances of a fight happening with the latter. A Garbrandt-Dillashaw showdown should make a highly interesting and entertaining fight to watch for the fans of the sport. It would also provide answers that does Cody have the power to put Dillashaw to sleep or did he make false claims.
