T.J. Dillashaw doesn’t understand why Urijah Faber continues to bash him.
Former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw isn’t happy. His former teammate Urijah Faber is getting the next shot at new champion Dominick Cruz, despite Dillashaw’s insistence that he deserves a rematch. As a guest on The MMA Hour today, Dillashaw also discussed how his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter with Faber and Conor McGregor seemed like a setup to him (via MMA Fighting):
“I felt like him bringing me on to The Ultimate Fighter was a trap.”
“[It was] a way for him and Conor to bash on me for going to a different gym,” Dillashaw said. “[Faber] bashing me is a way to stay relevant, so the media had something to talk about other than his horrible fights.”
Of course, he’s referring to McGregor calling him a “little snake in the grass” to Faber, saying that he couldn’t trust him. This was a reference to Dillashaw traveling to train with Duane Ludwig, the former Team Alpha Male coach who didn’t get along with Faber. Dillashaw subsequently went to Elevation full time, and Faber has stoked the fires for a fight between the two since then.
Dillashaw can’t figure out why Faber continues to bash him though:
“This is very uncharacteristic of him,” Dillashaw said. “I’ve never seen him like this, especially to ruin a friendship over me liking a coach. Guys cross train all the time. That’s what Alpha Male’s known for, guys have open doors to come in all the time. They don’t call any of those guys traitors.”
Faber fights Cruz in the co-main event of UFC 199 in June. Dillashaw doesn’t have a fight booked yet, but Ludwig told Bloody Elbow that a fight with Raphael Assuncao would make the most sense.