Cody Garbrandt eyes future fight with “Mighty Mouse,” boxing match with Conor McGregor

On November 4, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 217, UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will attempt to defend his title against his arch rival TJ Dillashaw. While Garbrandt is focused on this monumental showdown with Dillashaw, he is also already looking forward to the future, where he believes lucrative showdowns with champions from other weight classes could exist. In particular, he’s interested in scraps with flyweight champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and lightweight champ Conor McGregor.

“I’ll go in there and knock Conor the f— out in boxing,” Garbrandt told ESPN this week. “Let’s be honest. There’s no difference in a southpaw [McGregor’s fighting stance] or orthodox. That guy could come out and fight on his hands for all I give a f—. I would knock him out, and that’s it.”

“I’ve got TJ ahead of me. He’s a great adversary to level up on. I’m excited to go in there and take out J., and whoever else — ‘Mighty Mouse’ [Johnson], Conor. You can give me top boxers, Adrien Broner, Mikey Garcia. I would love to get in the ring with them.”

Garbrandt then shared his preferred order for these possible blockbuster fights.

“I think the fight to make after I demolish TJ, is to go down to 125 pounds [to fight Johnson] and become a two-weight world champion,” Garbrandt said. “That would be for my career and my legacy — and for him too. He needs a big fight.

“Cruz and T.J. can fight for an interim [bantamweight] title,” he continued. “I’ll go down to 125, and then beat up the winner of that [interim title fight]. That’s how I see it playing out.”

Do you think Cody Garbrandt gets by TJ Dillashaw at UFC 217? How do you think he’d far against Conor McGregor and Demetrious Johnson?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 10/19/2017.