There is perhaps no other fight at 135 pounds more enticing than a contest between champion T.J. Dillashaw and Urijah Faber. But should they fight?
I reached out to fellow B/R MMA Featured Columnist Hunter Homistek to get his take.
We come down on opposite sides of the coin but both understand the pitfalls of the bout. Who do you side with? Take a gander at why they should and shouldn’t step into the Octagon against one another to compete for the biggest prize in mixed martial arts.
Hunter Homistek – “…it could very well be the toughest test of Dillashaw‘s young stint as king”
T.J. Dillashaw should fight Urijah Faber.
I understand the worries. They might hug a lot. They might not go for the kill. It’s going to hurt somebody’s feelings. And on and on…
There’s a part of me that totally understands not wanting to fight your brother. These guys grind every day together, and their friendship runs deeps. The respect runs deeper.
Throw over $100,000 on the table alongside the shiny UFC belt, though, and things change a bit.
Ultimately, the UFC is a sport, and in sport, sometimes you just have to “sack up” (as Josh Koscheck so eloquently put it on The Ultimate Fighter) and do something you don’t want to do.
How many times do you see two fighters step into the UFC Octagon spewing hate and vitriol at each other then leave hugging and smiling?
A lot of the pre-fight banter is fabricated, sure, but gaining a deeper respect and appreciation for your foe through battle is a real thing. While Dillashaw and Faber already respect each other, there’s no reason they can’t strengthen this bond in front of thousands of fans inside the cage.
Now, let’s look to the darker side a bit for a second. (Note: This is an opinion piece, friends. The following points are, in essence, conspiracy theories. Take it easy before you go reporting any of this as fact. That said, check it out.)
What if Dillashaw and Faber secretly want to fight? We know Faber runs Team Alpha Male, and we know he’s never captured UFC gold despite challenging for the belt 83 three times.
Dillashaw won the belt on his first try against a guy in Renan Barao who defeated Faber twice. Shedding all respect and friendship for a second, that had to bug Faber the competitor. A guy he took in, a guy he trained, a guy he brought to the big show, stepped in and did what he couldn’t do on his first try in dramatic fashion. That stings.
Factor Duane “Bang” Ludwig into the equation. Dillashaw loves Ludwig. The current champ took his skills to a different level under Bang’s instruction, eventually capturing the bantamweight title almost exclusively through his Bang Muay Thai.
Faber, on the other hand, does not like Mr. Ludwig. He’s said the former Team Alpha Male coach “rub[s] [him] the wrong way,” and it’s widely speculated that tension between Faber and Ludwig necessitated the coach’s move to Colorado.
That in mind, wouldn’t it feel good for Faber to get the last laugh by taking out Bang’s star pupil?
When you take everything else away, Dillashaw and Faber are two of the best 135-pound fighters in the world today. This is a legitimate matchup between two tested, proven, well-rounded fighters, and it could very well be the toughest test of Dillashaw‘s young stint as king.
I would never ask them to fight in any other scenario, but when the title is on the line and the promotion is thin on challengers, there’s only one thing I can say: Sack up.
Nathan McCarter – “Count me out”
I was inclined to agree with you, Hunter, all the way up until this past weekend’s fight between Donald Cerrone and Benson Henderson. It took me off the fence and placed me on the side of not wanting to see this fight. At least, not right now.
It’s not the first time we have seen this from a fight between friends, but the anticipated bout was a glorified sparring session. I don’t want to see that for five rounds.
It’s possible that the title belt changes things. Faber lacks a UFC strap for his legacy, and Dillashaw will not want to relinquish it so easily. And perhaps there are some lingering storylines—such as Duane Ludwig’s departure from Team Alpha Male—that could surface for a good build. However, what are the odds this turns into a barnburner, back-and-forth fight?
Friends hold back. They don’t want to hurt one another no matter how much they want to win. It’s instinctual.
The two have repeatedly said they don’t want that fight. Faber has already said as much in 2015. Might money change their opinion? Sure, but how big could this fight be? Neither Faber nor Dillashaw have been big draws on pay-per-view. Faber does well on cable TV, but no one will make bank from that alone.
With the bantamweight division being so thin and top contenders going down with injuries, we may need to see this matchup. But it should be a last resort. That is why I was happy to see the UFC book the Dillashaw-Barao rematch for UFC 186. It is a ready-made title tilt, and it gives the division time to find another contender not named Faber should Dillashaw retain.
If Barao retains, rematches with both Faber and Dillashaw make sense. But as for a Dillashaw-Faber title bout, I have to decline.
I think it is a very compelling fight on paper, but when push comes to shove, I worry that it will fall flat on its face because they will hold back. I don’t want to see that, and for that reason, I hope we don’t get to see a potential Faber vs. Dillashaw bout headline a card in 2015. Count me out.
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