UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has set his goals very high as he believes he can be the one to stop Demetrious Johnson from breaking Anderson Silva’s longstanding UFC title defense record. The key to all of that is for him to drop weight in order to accept the fight, which is willing to do.
Johnson (25-2-1) is the only flyweight champion in UFC history and will attempt to match Silva’s record of 10 consecutive defenses when he faces Wilson Reis at UFC on FOX 24 next month. If Johnson can win that fight, then he would have to win one more fight to set a new record. However, Garbrandt (11-0) believes he can prevent that from happening.
Despite being the champion at bantamweight, Garbrandt is more interested in fight Johnson if he can successfully defend his belt against T.J. Dillashaw (14-3) in the summer.
“I’d rather go down (a weight class) before I go up,” Garbrandt said in an interview with Onnit CEO Aubrey Marcus. “Demetrious has a fight with Wilson Reis in the not too distant future that’s coming up. He’ll tie Anderson Silva’s record, then his next fight would be the all-time record. He’s going for the huge record. Make him earn it (by fighting me).”
Garbrandt is coaching against Dillashaw on the upcoming “The Ultimate Fighter 25” series, but after that, he thinks that he has several options including expressing interest in showdowns with UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo and UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor. However, those fights are not realistic, but a fight with Johnson is a possible fight that can be booked.
“Obviously T.J. is first and foremost – I’m focused on him – but you have to think about other things,” Garbrandt said. “Conor’s not fighting, Aldo and (Max) Holloway are fighting (at UFC 212 in June), so that ties up (everyone but) Demetrious, and he’s pound-for-pound best, incredible fighter, great human. I like him a lot and his family, but for me it’s a legacy I set out to build. Friendships are friendships, but it’s business at the end of the day, and I think it could go on as a huge fight, especially for that division because it’s kind of lackluster a lot.”
“I’m young, 25, so if I go down (in weight) now, the time is now for that fight (with Johnson) to be on the rise,” Garbrandt said. “I really think that should be (the next fight) – after the T.J. fight of course. … I’ll wait and see if Dominick comes back, but if not I’m going to go after ‘DJ.’”
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