Cody Garbrandt is set to defend the UFC bantamweight title for the first time against former champion TJ Dillashaw at UFC 213 on July 8th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Former champion Dominick Cruz is keeping his eye on the fight from the sidelines as he likely face the winner of the fight. The history between
Cody Garbrandt is set to defend the UFC bantamweight title for the first time against former champion TJ Dillashaw at UFC 213 on July 8th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Former champion Dominick Cruz is keeping his eye on the fight from the sidelines as he likely face the winner of the fight.
The history between Dillashaw and Team Alpha Male has been well documented, but it has also made it easy to create a narrative leading up to fight night. The fact that the two sides are filmed on TUF 25 adds to it and draws interest. According to Cruz, Dillashaw’s beef with his former team could be mentally draining and be his downfall come fight night.
“I think stylistically, TJ has the technique and the tools to beat a guy like Cody,” Cruz said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting). “He kicks fluently, he mixes his punches and kicks. Cody has the edge in the power in the pocket, but TJ can make up the pocket work with kicks, movement, and angles, and he’s kicking a little bit more than I did against Cody, so I think that will play to his advantage. But as for the mental game, I think the fact that TJ is facing that whole camp, not just Cody Garbrandt, I think that’s really wearing on TJ. I think it’s going to keep wearing on him. I think the mental is what gets him beat against Cody.”
It’s well known that Dillashaw left Team Alpha Male to train full-time with Duane Ludwig in Colorado, which made his ex-teammates upset and called him out by saying that he is a “snake in the grass” as Conor McGregor had previously put it. Cruz blames the team’s founder, Urijah Faber, for the situation.
“It hurt his ego that his guy would go somewhere else and train with somebody that TJ thinks is better than Faber, and it hurt him that Ludwig was getting all this shine while he was at Faber’s camp, because that’s Faber’s camp. So that all being said, TJ isn’t just fighting Cody,” Cruz said. “He’s fighting that entire camp. He’s fighting Danny Castillo. He’s fighting Faber. He’s fighting Cody. He’s fighting all his old coaches. He’s fighting all his old friends and family members.”
“I think that mental strain and the loneliness that he’s feeling on that show and over this period of time is wearing on him, and I think that the mental aspects of that are what gets him beat against Cody, not the technical aspects that TJ has.”
TJ Dillashaw is a former UFC bantamweight champion and is still regarded as one of the top contenders to the belt.
But he doesn’t believe Dominick Cruz wants any part of a rematch.
Earlier this year, Cruz bested Dillashaw to regain the title he never lost. Several injuries left Cruz on the sidelines and the UFC was forced to strip him of the belt.
Now that he’s back, Cruz has targeted bouts with Jose Aldo, Demetrious Johnson and even Cody Garbrandt over a rematch with Dillashaw.
“You know, it’s funny – so as soon as Cruz was calling out (Urijah) Faber and didn’t want to fight me, I understood. Whatever. That happened. And then as soon as that fight was over, Cruz is talking about how he wants to do a super fight against Aldo,” said Dillashaw, during a recent interview with Submission Radio. “Well Aldo wants (Conor) McGregor, so that’s not going to happen. Then he was saying he wants to do a super fight against Demetrious. But Demetrious was hurt and already had a fight lined up, so he couldn’t do that either. So if he couldn’t run away from the weight class and not fight me, what’s he gonna do? Jump to No. 8? Would he rather fight the No. 8 ranked guy instead of fighting the guy he should fight? He doesn’t want to fight me, man.
“He knows how tough that first fight was, he knows that I have a legitimate chance at kicking his ass and he just doesn’t want that to happen. He wants to try to make as much money as he can, while he can and stay on top. But I’m motivated now more than ever to get my belt back and he knows that, man. I’m coming for it. So I think that’s the biggest thing that worries me the most. He’s going to do as much trash talk as he can to try and entice people to want this Garbrandt fight so that he can try to stay on top, because he knows he’s going to be able to take Garbrandt apart as well too. That guy is a little bit too flat footed for Cruz. Cruz knows what he’s doing. He’s smart, man. He gets under people’s skin, he picks the fights that he wants. I mean, he just got to fight Urijah Faber, made him look like a fool, and he knew that fight was going to go that way when he should have been fighting me instead.”
Dillashaw added that he plans to sit on the sidelines and wait for Cruz unless the UFC would create an interim belt for him to compete for.
“The only way I’m gonna take another fight is if it is for the interim title cause Cruz can’t come back,” he said. “If Cruz is healthy, that’s the only fight I want. If for some reason they’re going to give up an interim belt, then yeah, I mean, I’ll fight and I don’t care who it is. The thing is, I just want me belt back.”
TJ Dillashaw is a former UFC bantamweight champion and is still regarded as one of the top contenders to the belt.
But he doesn’t believe Dominick Cruz wants any part of a rematch.
Earlier this year, Cruz bested Dillashaw to regain the title he never lost. Several injuries left Cruz on the sidelines and the UFC was forced to strip him of the belt.
Now that he’s back, Cruz has targeted bouts with Jose Aldo, Demetrious Johnson and even Cody Garbrandt over a rematch with Dillashaw.
“You know, it’s funny – so as soon as Cruz was calling out (Urijah) Faber and didn’t want to fight me, I understood. Whatever. That happened. And then as soon as that fight was over, Cruz is talking about how he wants to do a super fight against Aldo,” said Dillashaw, during a recent interview with Submission Radio. “Well Aldo wants (Conor) McGregor, so that’s not going to happen. Then he was saying he wants to do a super fight against Demetrious. But Demetrious was hurt and already had a fight lined up, so he couldn’t do that either. So if he couldn’t run away from the weight class and not fight me, what’s he gonna do? Jump to No. 8? Would he rather fight the No. 8 ranked guy instead of fighting the guy he should fight? He doesn’t want to fight me, man.
“He knows how tough that first fight was, he knows that I have a legitimate chance at kicking his ass and he just doesn’t want that to happen. He wants to try to make as much money as he can, while he can and stay on top. But I’m motivated now more than ever to get my belt back and he knows that, man. I’m coming for it. So I think that’s the biggest thing that worries me the most. He’s going to do as much trash talk as he can to try and entice people to want this Garbrandt fight so that he can try to stay on top, because he knows he’s going to be able to take Garbrandt apart as well too. That guy is a little bit too flat footed for Cruz. Cruz knows what he’s doing. He’s smart, man. He gets under people’s skin, he picks the fights that he wants. I mean, he just got to fight Urijah Faber, made him look like a fool, and he knew that fight was going to go that way when he should have been fighting me instead.”
Dillashaw added that he plans to sit on the sidelines and wait for Cruz unless the UFC would create an interim belt for him to compete for.
“The only way I’m gonna take another fight is if it is for the interim title cause Cruz can’t come back,” he said. “If Cruz is healthy, that’s the only fight I want. If for some reason they’re going to give up an interim belt, then yeah, I mean, I’ll fight and I don’t care who it is. The thing is, I just want me belt back.”
