TJ Dillashaw Seeks Redemption From Team Alpha Male Against Garbrandt
TJ Dillashaw is ready to get his shot at Cody Garbrandt.
The two former teammates’ relationship took a spill following Dillashaw’s departure from Team Alpha Male (TAM), opting to follow former TAM head-coach Duane Ludwig to Colorado. After the former bantamweight champion’s departure some bad blood between Dillashaw and TAM founder Urijah Faber began to take the mixed martial arts (MMA) newswire by storm.
After dropping his title to Dominick Cruz back in January of 2016 Dillashaw has once again found himself in the title picture as he sits at the No. 1-ranked position in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings. Fate will have it, however, that the champion he challenges this time around won’t be Cruz, but instead former TAM teammate Cody Garbrandt.
The pair will collide for the UFC’s bantamweight throne at UFC 213 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 8, 2017. In the lead-up to their bout the two adversaries have been coaching opposite one another on the 25th season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF 25).
Dillashaw recently did an interview with UFC.com (via MMA Mania) to promote the show, and claimed that the season will show Garbrandt’s true colors to the MMA world:
“You definitely learn some new things about his character and who he is,” Dillashaw said. “In my mind, he’s not a very good person — he’s about himself and very selfish, and that also comes across in training. I saw a lot of new things that I’m going to be able to use to my advantage in this training camp and in our fight.
“I don’t feel like he shows anybody any respect,” he continued. “He’s got a chip on his shoulder and I can’t wait to make him pay for it.”
Aside from attempting to regain the bantamweight title and put an abrupt end to ‘No Love’s’ short reign as 135-pound champ, Dillashaw also sees his fight against Garbrandt as an opportunity at redemption against TAM who he feel’s ‘burned’ him:
“I think the redemption theme for me is redemption against my old team (Team Alpha Male), the guys that have kind of burned me, the guys that stabbed me in the back a little bit,” he said. “My redemption is proving them all wrong, showing that I did make the right choice in my life and telling my story.
“Everything’s been in the public eye so much about me moving and following (coach) Duane (Ludwig) out to Colorado,” Dillashaw continued. “But, I don’t feel like the true story has ever been told.”
You can check out the season premiere of TUF 25, appropriately titled TUF: “Redemption”, tonight (Wed. April 19, 2017) at 10 P.M. ET on FS1.
