Cody Garbrandt wants a shot at Demetrious Johnson’s flyweight belt after beating TJ Dillashaw

Add Cody Garbrandt to the ever growing list of UFC champions looking to hold multiple division belts at the same time.

New UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt currently has his hands full with an important first title defense against former teammate and ‘snake in the grass’ TJ Dillashaw. While an official fight date between the two hasn’t been locked in by the UFC, they’ve already gotten into scuffles, with footage from their recent coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter: “Redemption” showing Garbrandt with his hand around TJ’s neck.

After that fight finally happens, Garbrandt has some big ideas about what comes next. On the most recent episode of the Aubrey Marcus podcast, Cody revealed his desire to cut down to 125 and challenge Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson for his flyweight belt.

“I can beat that dude for sure,” Garbrandt said (via MMA Fighting). “I can go to ‘25. Obviously, it’s TJ [Dillashaw] first and foremost. I’m solely focused on him, but you gotta think of other – Conor’s out. Conor’s not fighting. Aldo and Holloway are fighting, so that ties up [the featherweight division]. Now, Demetrious, he’s the pound-for-pound best – justifiably so, an incredible fighter, great human. I like him a lot. And his family. But for me, it’s a legacy that I set out to build. Friendships are friendships but it’s business at the end of the day and I think that I can go on as a huge fight, especially for that division. It’s kind of lackluster a lot.”

Heaven forbid we have a UFC champion looking to stay put in their division and taking on all challengers. And unlike many others that have a less specific timeline in mind, Garbrandt wants to do all this ASAP.

“I’d rather go down before I go up,” Cody continued. “Demetrious has a fight with Wilson Reis in the not-too-distant future. That’s coming up, so he’ll tie Anderson Silva’s record. Then his next fight will be the all-time record. So he has all that. . . I’d make him earn it. I think that’s something that I need to do. I’m young, 25, so rather than cut when I’m older, try to go down, go now. The time is now for me with that fight. I really think that should be – after the TJ fight of course – if Dominick [Cruz], I think he’s not coming. I’ll wait and see if Dominick wants to come back. If not, I’m willing to go after Demetrious. That’s the fight that’s next in my mind after TJ.”

What do you think, Maniacs? Excited at the prospect of Cody Garbrandt hoovering up all the lower weight UFC belts? Or are you sick of the new normal where everyone is chasing the biggest fight, no matter how little sense it makes for the UFC in the long run?

Add Cody Garbrandt to the ever growing list of UFC champions looking to hold multiple division belts at the same time.

New UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt currently has his hands full with an important first title defense against former teammate and ‘snake in the grass’ TJ Dillashaw. While an official fight date between the two hasn’t been locked in by the UFC, they’ve already gotten into scuffles, with footage from their recent coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter: “Redemption” showing Garbrandt with his hand around TJ’s neck.

After that fight finally happens, Garbrandt has some big ideas about what comes next. On the most recent episode of the Aubrey Marcus podcast, Cody revealed his desire to cut down to 125 and challenge Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson for his flyweight belt.

“I can beat that dude for sure,” Garbrandt said (via MMA Fighting). “I can go to ‘25. Obviously, it’s TJ [Dillashaw] first and foremost. I’m solely focused on him, but you gotta think of other – Conor’s out. Conor’s not fighting. Aldo and Holloway are fighting, so that ties up [the featherweight division]. Now, Demetrious, he’s the pound-for-pound best – justifiably so, an incredible fighter, great human. I like him a lot. And his family. But for me, it’s a legacy that I set out to build. Friendships are friendships but it’s business at the end of the day and I think that I can go on as a huge fight, especially for that division. It’s kind of lackluster a lot.”

Heaven forbid we have a UFC champion looking to stay put in their division and taking on all challengers. And unlike many others that have a less specific timeline in mind, Garbrandt wants to do all this ASAP.

“I’d rather go down before I go up,” Cody continued. “Demetrious has a fight with Wilson Reis in the not-too-distant future. That’s coming up, so he’ll tie Anderson Silva’s record. Then his next fight will be the all-time record. So he has all that. . . I’d make him earn it. I think that’s something that I need to do. I’m young, 25, so rather than cut when I’m older, try to go down, go now. The time is now for me with that fight. I really think that should be – after the TJ fight of course – if Dominick [Cruz], I think he’s not coming. I’ll wait and see if Dominick wants to come back. If not, I’m willing to go after Demetrious. That’s the fight that’s next in my mind after TJ.”

What do you think, Maniacs? Excited at the prospect of Cody Garbrandt hoovering up all the lower weight UFC belts? Or are you sick of the new normal where everyone is chasing the biggest fight, no matter how little sense it makes for the UFC in the long run?