TJ Dillashaw: “Garbrandt is a liar, I’ve never been KO’d in practice”

Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw recently sat down with MMAFighting where he discussed the current landscape of the 135-pound division.

The way Dillashaw sees it, the winner of his rematch with Raphael Assuncao at UFC 200 should be next in line for a shot at current title holder Dominick Cruz.

“The way I see it, I definitely think whoever wins this fight gets a title shot. Me and Assuncao, which is going to be me after July 9. I should definitely be getting that title shot, at least that’s the way I see it,” Dillashaw said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

“The weight class is very good. Very, very stacked guys. I’m excited about it. It’s exciting to have a weight class at 135 that’s just going to be well known. Hopefully these guys are going to be money makers soon. The more and more stacked it’s going to get, the more challenging it’s going to become, the greater fights are going to be there and we’ll start getting paid more.”

One of the divisions rising contenders is former teammate Cody Carbrandt, who is coming off an impressive KO victory over the formerly undefeated Thomas Almeida. While TJ acknowledges that “No Love” has some legit skills, he doesn’t feel his former teammate is ready for Cruz:

“He’s always been good,” Dillashaw admitted. “He’s fast, he hits hard. I think he’s kinda a little one dimensional. He’s a good fighter, he’s got good wrestling, but if you watch his style, all he’s really got, he bum rushes you with hooks. Kinda like the Wanderlei [Silva] style, Wanderlei punches. He’s good, he’s athletic.”

He continued:

“I think Dominick’s got too much movement for him. He’s too well rounded,” he argued. “Cody’d be too easy to game plan for. Like I said, he has to run at you and throw hands. Every combo you see him hit is pretty much starting overhands or hooks, sprinting at you. It’s not the most technical, but it’s very athletic and fast. But I think Cruz would be too smart for him, cut too many angles and outpoint him.”

As for Cody’s claim that he KO’d Dillashaw in practice back in their days at Team Alpha Male:

“I got no bad blood with the guy,” Dillashaw said. “I think he talks a little bit of crap and he likes to lie a little bit. He supposedly has said that he’s knocked me out in practice, which is a complete lie because I’ve never been knocked out in practice, especially by him.”

Who do you think would win in a fight between former teammates Cody and TJ? Sound off PENN Nation!