Bad blood is an overused term used to hype up a rivalry in sports. However, on Saturday evening, the term fits well to describe the relationship between UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw.
Teammates, sparring partners and close friends. If you rewind just a couple of years, you’d find the bantamweights in the famed Team Alpha Male gym in Sacramento, California. The gym founded by hall of famer Urijah Faber back in 2004 and has played host to an array of fighting talent including Chad Mendes and Cynthia Calvillo.
Dillashaw announced that he was leaving Team Alpha Male in October 2015, but the cracks began to show before that point after coach Duane Ludwig left the gym in 2014. The former champion had split his fight camps between the Sacramento facility and Duane Ludwig for his fights with Joe Soto and Renan Barao.
Conor McGregor was quick to label TJ Dillashaw as a ‘snake in the grass’ during the filming of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Season 22 just months prior to his departure. A member of Team Alpha Male jumped to Dillashaw’s defence, who later turned out to be Cody Garbrandt.
Dillashaw lost his bantamweight crown to Dominick Cruz in January 2016, who went on to also defeat Urijah Faber. His next challenger would be the third consecutive Team Alpha Male alumni in Cody Garbrandt.
Garbrandt produced one of the best performances from a title challenger, putting on a stunning display of striking, confidence and showboating and became only the second man to defeat Dominick Cruz.
Just weeks after the fight, his first defence was confirmed with Garbrandt and Dillashaw set to face off as coaches on the Ultimate Fighter before being scheduled to meet at UFC 213 in July.
A back injury forced the unbeaten champion out of the bout, with it later being rescheduled for the stacked card at Madison Square Garden. The Ultimate Fighter showed the true hatred between both men with Garbrandt gripping Dillashaw round the throat and both fighters coming to blows throughout the series.
After almost a year of back and forth on social media, the pair will finally meet inside the octagon with the winner taking home the ultimate prize in mixed martial arts. It is simply a fight neither man could imagine losing and I wouldn’t expect any niceties before or after the bell.
To stir the pot even further, Cody Garbrandt released footage this week showing a fighter getting knocked down alleging that this was himself and Dillashaw in a sparring session in previous years.
Both fighters should have each other pretty figured out with the amount of time they have both trained together, but which man can adapt to the situation? Garbrandt looked so dominant against Cruz that you’d struggle to pick against him.
Can Dillashaw retain the bantamweight crown in the greatest of fashions? We will find out when the octagon door is closed on Saturday evening and these two enemies do battle.
