Back in 2015, Conor McGregor labeled former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw a “snake in the grass” and predicted that “Viper” would turn on Urijah Faber and the whole Team Alpha Male (TAM) camp down the road.
A few years later, TJ and the Sacramento-based fight team had an ugly separation, with both sides slinging dirt at one another after Dillashaw opted to leave the team to form his own in Colorado, leaving Conor with a big “I told you so” smirk on his face.
At the time of Conor’s comment, he and Urijah Faber were opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), and everything was right as rain with TAM, including Cody’s friendship with TJ. Taking offense to Conor running his mouth about Dillashaw and Faber’s refusal to see “Viper’s” true motives, “No Love” got in a brief tussle with “Notorious,” proving that his loyalty was deep for his team.
Fast forward four years later, and McGregor is applauding Garbrandt for willing to go to war for his team.
Respect Cody!
The loyalty you showed for Urijah and your team on that faithful day in the TUF gym will forever stand out to me!
Enjoy this moment and these returned victories to you!
Clean and Unbeaten! https://t.co/c15qkvthOF— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) April 9, 2019
“Respect Cody! The loyalty you showed for Urijah and your team on that faithful day in the TUF gym will forever stand out to me!” wrote Conor on Twitter. “Enjoy this moment and these returned victories to you! Clean and Unbeaten!”
Willing to let bygones be bygones, Garbrandt showed some love back to Conor.
“Loyalty we both understand, I hope the family is well,” he wrote.
Of course, Conor’s comments are a result of the news that Dillashaw was suspended two years for testing positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) after his knockout loss to Flyweight champion Henry Cejudo at UFC on ESPN+1 in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Jan. 19, 2019.
Like “Mystic Mac” — who knows a thing or two about loyalty to friends — predicting Dillashaw would turn his back on TAM, Garbrandt had been screaming at the top of his lungs for over a year now that Dillashaw was dabbling with EPO.
With the news of TJ failing multiple United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA)-administered tests, it does give “No Love” some sort of satisfaction of saying he was right all along.
That said, much to the chagrin of Conor and Cody, it won’t do anything as far as reversing the two knockout losses Garbrandt suffered to TJ, as all of Dillashaw’s tests for those bouts came back clean.