Cody Garbrandt may have suffered two devastating knockout losses at the hands of his former training partner, T.J. Dillashaw (watch them here and here), but “No Love” still feels there is unfinished business between the pair.
After Dillashaw revealed that the shoulder injury he suffered during his title fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280 was a recurring one that bothered him throughout fight camp, Garbrandt tore into his former friend after “Viper” claimed he defeated him with that same injury years prior.
This dude is a bitch. 10 days before our first fight the UFC flew me to Las Vegas to get epidural shots in my back because I couldn’t even walk I didn’t make any excuses or cry about it after I lost this cheating bastard. Me vs tj book that shit epo can’t save you anymore. https://t.co/vXFMwf0ybG
— Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove) October 30, 2022
“This dude is a bitch. 10 days before our first fight the UFC flew me to Las Vegas to get epidural shots in my back because I couldn’t even walk I didn’t make any excuses or cry about it after I lost this cheating bastard. Me vs TJ book that shit epo can’t save you anymore,” Garbrandt replied.
Garbrandt then proceeded to engage in back-and-forth with a fan online debating the advantage EPO gave Dillashaw.
He couldn’t even walk to the corner on his own after the first round look up what epo can do for you. https://t.co/08w6YrqS0b
— Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove) October 30, 2022
And that’s why I asked for invasive testing during those camps. That I would even pay for it on my own but they didn’t even acknowledge it. https://t.co/JxGayhjRfF
— Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove) October 30, 2022
Following his loss to Sterling (recap here), Dillashaw revealed that he would once again be benched for at least one year as a result of looming shoulder surgery.
“Another year,” Dillashaw told ESPN. “Nine months until I can start training rough and tough, and then making sure everything is healed up. I’ve had shoulder surgery before and I’d say another year maybe to compete. Either a year to compete, or a year to get back to a training camp.”
Dillashaw was already coming off a lengthy layoff after he suffered a knee injury during his fight against Cory Sandhagen. Of course, prior to that, he had served a two-year suspension for failing multiple drug tests.
As for Garbrandt, he dropped down to the Flyweight division to face Kai Kara-France in Dec. 2021, but his new venture didn’t pan out so well, losing to the Kiwi via first round knockout. The loss moved his record to 1-5 in his last six fights, which includes the pair of knockout defeats to Dillashaw.