Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw | UFC Betting Sites

Six Disturbing Reasons No One Seems To Care About UFC 217

Back when Georges St-Pierre was welterweight champion of the world, he was a proven box office and pay-per-view draw, especially when it came to the Canadian MMA market. But heading into his middleweight title bout versus Michael Bisping in the main event of November 4’s UFC 217 after four years of semi-retirement, it has begun to […]

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Back when Georges St-Pierre was welterweight champion of the world, he was a proven box office and pay-per-view draw, especially when it came to the Canadian MMA market.

But heading into his middleweight title bout versus Michael Bisping in the main event of November 4’s UFC 217 after four years of semi-retirement, it has begun to appear he might not be the draw he once was, the star new owners Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG) expect (or more so, need) him to be.

That and many more reasons behind it seem to be holding back UFC 217, which, with three high-level title fights, was thought to be quite possibly the UFC’s finest major offering of the year in terms of quality fights. Based on ticket sales and overall buzz in the MMA world, that just isn’t the case, and it’s coming at a time when the UFC needs a big PPV hit most.

Take a look at the six concerning reasons no one seems to care about UFC 217:

6. A Middleweight Title Fight No One Asked For

Fans certainly didn’t ask for St-Pierre to return at middleweight while getting an immediate title fight in doing so.

It goes without saying that Bisping’s fellow middleweights aren’t fans of the fight either. There were definitely better and more just options for the champion’s next fight, namely Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza, but new interim champ Robert Whittaker knocked them both off in April and July, respectively, only to suffer a serious knee injury while defeating Romero.

That worked out quite well for “The Count.” Bisping has taken it easy since winning the belt, defending the strap once against then No. 14-ranked Dan Henderson.

It may seem to fans that Bisping is hijacking the division with needless title defenses while managing to dodge the dangerous contenders in Whittaker, Romero, Souza, Rockhold, and Weidman.

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Cody Garbrandt & Urijah Faber Claim TJ Dillashaw Intentionally Hurt Teammates In Sparring

The bad blood that has UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and Urijah Faber on one side while former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw is on the other. To say that when Garbrandt won the bantamweight title at UFC 207, it set up a rivalry fight for one of the hottest feuds in MMA of the past […]

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They both coached the 25th season of The Ultimate Fighter in order to build interest in their title fight at UFC 213 this summer. However, that bout never took place due to the fact that an injury forced Garbrandt out of the bout. After waiting a little bit, the UFC has rebooked the fight for UFC 217 this November, and with that fight only two months away, the feud is heating back up.

Garbrandt and Faber recently appeared on the most recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. During the podcast, both men stating that Dillashaw is well known as a “dirty” fighter in sparring and that he would intentionally try to injure his teammates.

“T.J. was never the best teammate,” said Faber (transcript courtest of MMA Fighting. “He would try to hurt people. He’s a very competitive guy and he has a temper. Cheap shots at the bell, in boxing he’d knee you,” Garbrandt added. “Dirty s**t. Just dumb s**t.”

“There’s no secret about T.J.” continued Faber. “We talked about it when he was still on the team that he had to be reeled in a little bit. He’s got a temper. [That’s why we called him] Killashaw, Dillashank. It was his thing.”

According to the men, Dillashaw wasn’t just a hot head, but also dangerous and a liability to his sparring partners. To say that this is a strong statement would be an understatement. According to Garbrandt, Dillashaw is the one to blame for the long absence of Chris Holdsworth from active competition.

“The super-competitiveness – I’m competitive,” Garbrandt said. “I don’t want to lose. I’m fighting tooth and nail not to get taken down or win that round. It’s just [the dirty stuff] at the end of the bell, knees – that’s why Chris [Holdsworth] is out. He kneed him in the back of the head. Concussions. That’s the truth.

“It was him and T.J. going. I remember distinctively, Duane [Ludwig, former TAM striking coach and current Dillashaw coach] used to come up to Chris and be like ‘Hey, Grasshopper, T.J.’s fighting, can you take it easy on him?’ Chris is a killer, dude. Chris is f**king him up. Everybody [else too]. Chris is an animal. And I guess Chris choked him out and T.J. got up and f**king kneed him in the back of the head when he was down. “It happened twice in practice like that,” Faber added.

Make no mistake about it, even with their beef, Garbrandt still has a great deal of respect for Dillashaw as a fighter.

“I don’t respect him as a person but it doesn’t mean I don’t respect him as a fighter. The guy is skillful, he’s mean as f**k, and he’s gonna bring a fight that’s gonna be what I love. I love a challenge and with T.J., I know him like the back of my hand. . .

“He’s a bad motherf**ker. He was ranked in the pound-for-pound top-ten before. He’s a killer. I’m gonna catapult my career with him.”

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Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw Confirmed For UFC 217

Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw once again have a date for their highly anticipated bantamweight title fight. On today’s (Aug. 17, 2017) edition of UFC Tonight, it was announced that Garbrandt will put his 135-pound title on the line against former teammate turned bitter rival Dillashaw at UFC 217, which is set to take place […]

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Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw once again have a date for their highly anticipated bantamweight title fight.

On today’s (Aug. 17, 2017) edition of UFC Tonight, it was announced that Garbrandt will put his 135-pound title on the line against former teammate turned bitter rival Dillashaw at UFC 217, which is set to take place on Nov. 4, 2017 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The UFC later confirmed the fight on their Instagram account:

It’s finally coming down!!! @Cody_NoLove vs @TJDillashaw at #UFC217 ???????? Sept. 15

A post shared by ufc (@ufc) on Aug 16, 2017 at 9:17pm PDT

Garbrandt is coming off of a brilliant one-sided decision victory over Dominick Cruz at UFC 207 last December, but he hasn’t competed since. He was scheduled to meet Dillashaw at UFC 213 last month, but he was forced to withdraw due to a back injury. The Team Alpha Male staple possesses a perfect 11-0 professional record, with 9 of those victories coming by way of stoppage.

Dillashaw, on the other hand, lost the bantamweight title to Cruz via split-decision in January 2016, but he has since bounced back with back-to-back victories over the likes of Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker.

After Garbrandt withdrew from their scheduled bout last month, Dillashaw campaigned for a flyweight title fight with Demetrious Johnson, but he will indeed remain at 135 pounds.

UFC 217 is currently set to be headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Michael Bisping and returning former longtime welterweight titleholder Georges St. Pierre.

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TJ Dillashaw Calls Demetrious Johnson Fight ‘Consolation Prize’

Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw is expected to challenge current titleholder and bitter rival Cody Garbrandt in the coming months, but the duo was originally set to meet at UFC 213 last month in Las Vegas. A back injury suffered by Garbrandt, however, forced the fight to be put on hold. Once it was […]

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Once it was clear that “No Love” was unable to compete, Dillashaw began campaigning for a flyweight title fight with dominant champion Demetrious Johnson, but “Mighty Mouse” never appeared to be interested in the fight.

According to Dillashaw, who recently spoke with MMAJunkie, Johnson is ‘too worried’ about breaking the record for the most consecutive title defenses, which he’ll attempt to do at UFC 215 next month against Ray Borg:

“This is the fight I ultimately wanted,” Dillashaw said, referring to his fight with Garbrandt. “That was kind of like going for a consolation prize. If I couldn’t get my belt at (135), I want a belt. And I felt like it was a big, hyped-up fight I could’ve pushed with Demetrious. Unfortunately, he did not want that. Unfortunately, he’s too cerebral of a fighter.”

“He knows that’s not a good fight for him and wouldn’t accept it,” Dillashaw continued. “He’s real worried about this record he needs to break. Go ahead and let him do that, I guess.”

In the end, Dillashaw will get the fight he truly wanted, as him and Garbrandt are expected to face-off at UFC 217 on Nov. 4, 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Dillashaw, however, admits that ‘he’s ready tomorrow’:

“Fingers crossed nothing happens. I’m ready tomorrow, man,” Dillashaw said. “I’ve been staying in the gym. That’s what I love to do. I feel lazy when I’m not in the gym. So, yeah, I’m ready to go at 217. And just the fact to be able to fight in Madison Square Garden seems like a huge event.”

Are you excited to see Dillashaw finally meet Garbrandt, or would you have preferred to see him paired against “Mighty Mouse”?

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Coach Expects TJ Dillashaw To Be Two Division Champion

Former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw was scheduled to take on reigning champion and bitter rival Cody Garbrandt in the main event of July 8’s UFC 213 in Las Vegas, Nevada, but “No Love” was forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering back issues. When news broke indicating that Garbrandt was unable to compete, Dillashaw […]

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When news broke indicating that Garbrandt was unable to compete, Dillashaw proposed an intriguing idea that involved him dropping down to 125 pounds to take on dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. UFC President Dana White liked the idea as well and even went as far to say that the UFC is targeting the bout for August.

“Mighty Mouse” hasn’t showed much interest in the bout, but Duane Ludwig, Dillashaw’s head coach, feels as if there’s no better time for the ex-champion to drop down in weight:

“If there’s any time for TJ to drop down to 125, the sooner the better,” Ludwig recently told BJ Penn Radio . “He won’t be able to make ’25 as the years go on and he matures and gets bigger. If there’s any time to do it, it’s now.”

Ludwig also revealed that Dillashaw is working with a new strength and conditioning coach in order to get his weight down, while adding in that he expects his star pupil to become a two division world champion:

“He’s working with Sam Calavitta, who is a really good strength and conditioning coach who also has the dieting down,” Ludwig said. “So it’s working out well that we do fight Demetrious. We split up the camp to a month later [in August] and have more time to work with Sam Calavitta and get the weight down, get nice and strong at belt weight, get the belt, pop back up to 135 and get that belt either later in the year or next year.”

Dillashaw’s next fight has not yet been finalized, but who would you like to see him face next?

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Demetrious Johnson Denies He’s Fighting TJ Dillashaw In August

Last night (May 23, 2017), ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported that bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, who’s been dealing with back issues, was officially off UFC 213 and that his scheduled fight with ex-titleholder and bitter rival TJ Dillashaw had been scrapped. Okamoto also reported that the UFC was planning to have Dillashaw move down in weight […]

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Last night (May 23, 2017), ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported that bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, who’s been dealing with back issues, was officially off UFC 213 and that his scheduled fight with ex-titleholder and bitter rival TJ Dillashaw had been scrapped. Okamoto also reported that the UFC was planning to have Dillashaw move down in weight to challenge dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in August.

“Mighty Mouse”, however, took to his official Twitter account shortly thereafter to deny this claim, saying that he’s waiting for his contract to take on No. 3-ranked Ray Borg:

Just so the world know I haven’t agreed to anything still waiting on my contract to fight @tazmexufc not @TJDillashaw if he wants a title

— Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouseUFC) May 24, 2017

Shot he can come to flyweight and get a win then get his turn

— Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouseUFC) May 24, 2017

Borg, who’s won back-to-back fights over Louis Smolka and Jussier Formiga was indeed originally going to be Johnson’s next opponent, but after Garbrandt-Dillashaw fell through, the UFC was presented with a new and likely more lucrative idea.

From a financial standpoint, Dillashaw certainly represents a bigger fight for Johnson, but he also represents one of the most difficult opponents the UFC could book “Mighty Mouse” against. Johnson’s next fight also holds major implications, as he’ll look to defend his 125-pound strap for a record setting 11th consecutive time. With his third round destruction of Wilson Reis at UFC on FOX 24 this past April, “Mighty Mouse” tied Anderson Silva’s all-time title defense record at 10.

Would you like to see Johnson take on Dillashaw next, or does Johnson’s desire to take on a deserving flyweight contender make more sense?

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