TJ Dillashaw on fighting Cody Garbrandt: I’m in his head

Late last month, in the main event of UFC 207, Cody Garbrandt defeated Dominick Cruz with a unanimous decision, winning the UFC bantamweight title as he did. Earlier that same night, former bantamweight king TJ Dillashaw scored a big win of his own, defeating the highly regarded John Lineker by decision.

With his UFC 207 win, Dillashaw seemed to guarantee himself the next shot at Garbrandt – who he used to train with a team Alpha Male. Shortly after the card, however, Garbrandt began to call for a “money fight” with Jose Aldo, unconcerned about leaving Dillashaw out in the cold.

On a recent episode of You’re Welcome with Chael Sonnen, Dillashaw weighed in on Garbrandt’s callout of Aldo, and implored that he should get the next fight with the champ instead.

“For him, fighting Aldo would be a win, because he can fight a top guy and not have to put his belt on the line against me,” Dillashaw said. “He knows putting [the belt] on the line against me is a very tough fight. We’ve practiced a lot together, and he knows how good of a fighter I am. He knows he doesn’t want that fight, so what can you do?”

“We trained for at least a couple of years I think. It’s never all about the practices, but if we scored it, I’d definitely be the majority winner there. I would win 75 percent of the time. That’s the way I see it.”

Dillashaw also touched on Garbrandt’s apparent willingness to give Cruz an immediate rematch.

“He set it up perfectly after that fight [with Cruz] when he said, ‘Come get me TJ Dillashaw,’ and then 40 minutes later he’s sitting in the press conference talking about how he wants to give Cruz a rematch. He’s going to do whatever he can to avoid it, but it’s inevitable, man. It’s in the hype machine already–I’ve pumped it, and he’s pumped it up. We have the story, and it’s going to be an awesome fight.”

Despite Garbrandt’s calls for bouts with other fights, Dillashaw is confident he’ll get the fight, and confident he’ll win.

“There’s no way around it. This is going to be an awesome fight, and I’m going to get my belt back against Cody Garbrandt.”

“I know I’m in his head – not only am I in his head, but I’m a better fighter. I’m more well-rounded and I’ve got more dangerous weapons. He’s got a hard right hand and he’s fast, but I’m going to push him and I’m going to break him.”

Who do you think comes out on top in a TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt fight? Sound off, PENN Nation!