Cody Garbrandt branded toughest threat to Merab Dvalishvili in title fight: ‘He’s so f*cking fast’
Former undisputed UFC bantamweight titleholder. Cody Garbrandt has been branded the biggest threat to the title reign of current kingpin, Merab Dvalishvili — by former two-fight rival and fellow ex-champion, T.J. Dillashaw.
Garbrandt, who has been sidelined since UFC 300 last year, most recently saw his impressive two-fight winning run halted in a one-sided, eventual second round rear-naked choke submission loss against former flyweight titleholder, Deiveson Figueiredo.
Prior to that, Ohio veteran, Cody Garbrandt had turned in a pair of back-to-back wins over both Trevin Jones, and then Brian Kelleher — finishing the latter with a thunderous first round knockout win at UFC 296.
As for Dvalishvili, the Georgian fan-favorite successfully defended the bantamweight crown for the first time at UFC 311 earlier this month, handing the streaking, Umar Nurmagomedov his first-ever professional loss in a hard-fought unanimous decision win in the night’s co-main event.
Cody Garbrandt backed as massive threat to Merab Dvalishvili
And himself linked with a stunning comeback from retirement to take on champion, Dvalishvili in a return to competition, Angels Camp veteran, Dillashaw has actually claimed former training partner turned bitter enemy, Cody Garbrandt is the champion’s current toughest test.
“I’d like to see (Cody) Garbrandt fight him (Merab Dvalishvili) eventually,” T.J. Dillashaw said during an interview on the JAXXON Podcast. “once Garbrandt gets a couple of wins back under his belt. Like Garbrandt can wrestle, dude. Like I train with Garbrandt a lot. He’s so f*cking fast. He’s like a cat on his feet.
“He’s hard to take down. And as soon as he gets his confidence back, he hits like a truck,” T.J. Dillashaw explained. “He’s faster than I think. He could do really good if he can get a run going and get believing in himself and like he could be a threat.”
During his promotional run, Garbrandt scooped the undisputed bantamweight title with a stunning upset win over Dominick Cruz back in 2016, and has turned in other notable wins over the likes of Raphael Assuncao, Marcus Brimage, Thomas Almeida, and Takeya Mizugaki.
