While T.J. Dillashaw admits his former Team Alpha Male (TAM) stablemate Cody Garbrandt is a good mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, “Viper” does have one point of criticism for Cody.
He’s one dimensional.
While speaking on The MMA Hour, T.J. stated that If he had to describe Cody’s style of fighting, he would compare it to Wanderlei Silva’s aggressive style in which he rushes his opponents with one hook after another.
While that earned “The Axe Murderer” some highlight reel knockouts and Cody a few of his own (like this one), Dillashaw says it’s not the best gameplan against top-caliber opponents.
“He’s always been good. He’s fast, he hits hard, but I think he’s a little one dimensional. He’s a good fighter, he’s got good wrestling. But if you watch his style, all he really gots is that he bum rushes you with hooks, you know? Kind of like the Wanderlei-style. He’s good, he’s athletic. I knew he was going to make his way up the ranks in UFC and he’s doing a good job.”
As for how Dillashaw thinks Cody would do in a fight against current bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, he doesn’t give his former training partner much of a shot since it won’t take much to come up with a gameplan to defeat him.
“I think Dominick has too much movement for him, he’s too well-rounded. Cody would be too easy to gameplan for. Like I said, he has to run at you and throw hands. Every combo you see him hit is him throwing overhands, hooks or sprinting at you. It’s not the most technical, but it’s very athletic and fast. Cruz would be too smart for him, too many angles and outpoint him.”
T.J. says he has no issues ever fighting Garbrandt should their paths cross in the future. He does, however, find it odd that Cody all of a sudden has somewhat of a beef toward him for leaving TAM, when “No Love” had preliminary plans in motion to bolt to Colorado with him.
And he has the text messages to prove it.
At the end of the day, T.J. says Garbrandt is simply badmouthing him to try to build his own name up, and is easily influenced by other members of TAM since he’s still only 24 years of age.
That said, a showdown between the two former gym mates could be in the future if they continue winning, as Cody is booked to take on Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 202 on Aug. 20, 2016, while Dillashaw will face Raphael Assuncao at UFC 200 on July 9, also in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Anyone care to predict a potential matchup between Garbrandt and Dillashaw?