The UFC has a potential problem on their hands. UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is set to defend his title against TJ Dillashaw on July 8th, but the fight is in jeopardy as Garbrandt is dealing with a back injury. Garbrandt told Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting on Friday that he’s flying to Germany on Saturday to undergo a second procedure on his back in two months and is unsure he’ll be able to fight in July.
The promotion announced on Friday that the title fight was set to take place at UFC 213 in Las Vegas. However, with that event set to take place in less than two months and with Garbrandt dealing with the back injury, the fight is up in the air. Once news broke of the Garbrandt’s injury, Dillashaw has begun campaigning for a fight against UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. Some see that as a super fight. There’s only one problem with that possible fight. Johnson isn’t all that interested in the fight.
“There’s other challengers in the division with more wins and on a winning streak,” Johnson said. “This wouldn’t be a super-fight because TJ is not a champion. He’s just a 135er coming down to 125 to skip the line that other flyweight competitors have worked hard to climb. Now, if he was a champion, there’d be something there.”
Johnson went on record by noting that he has been approached about fighting someone else next but did not reveal who the opponent is. According to Helwani, the promotion is looking to return to Seattle, which is near where Johnson lives. The UFC would hold an event in the city in August, and that could be a nice setting for Johnson’s potential record-breaking eleventh title defense. Keep in mind that those plans have not been finalized just yet.
The UFC has to put their plans on hold for August due to them having to deal with what has become a troubling trend, which is that for the third year in the row, International Fight Week, which is a huge week for the promotion, has proven to be a headache for the company. Regarding UFC 213, the UFC attempted to book Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre and then Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson, but both of those fights fell through. Thus, the reason that they bumped up Garbrandt vs. Dillashaw to the headlining act, which might not even happen.
Dillashaw responded to Johnson’s comment with the following statement:
“First off, I believe Joseph Benavidez is the rightful contender. Since he is out with an injury and it looks like I’m out of a fight as well, timing is presenting the opportunity to fight the best pound-for-pound and stop him from breaking records. He needs to understand that this will be his biggest fight possible to make the most money, since he was so worried about making money after his last fight. I have tons of respect for DJ as a fighter and a person. I’m not trying to talk trash, I just want to fight the best. Let’s glove up and make us some serious money. No one wants to see him fight someone he’s beaten or never heard of to break the record. He’s the pound-for-pound king so let’s make this interesting.”
On a closing note, Dillashaw made it clear that he is willing to drop down to 125 pounds if presented with the opportunity.
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