TJ Dillashaw förlorade titeln i bantamvikt tidigare i år, men redan nu kan han vara på väg att få en titelmatch. Han är dock inte ensam om att vilja ha en chans på titeln, men Dillashaw anser sig vara den lämpligaste kandidaten.
På UFC 200 går returmatchen mellan TJ Dillashaw (12-3) och Raphael Assuncao (23-4). Första mötet vann Assuncao och vinnaren av det andra kan troligtvis få gå titelmatch härnäst.
Enligt MMA Fighting säger Dillashaw att en titelchans vore det enda rätta. Han påpekar även att bantamvikten är en växande division.
”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.
The weight class is very good. I’m excited about it. 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.”
En av divisionens senaste stjärnor är den obesegrade knockoutmaskinen Cody Garbrandt (9-0), som själv tror sig kunna knocka den nuvarande mästaren, Dominick Cruz (22-1). Garbrandts forna träningskamrat Dillashaw är dock inte lika övertygad.
”Cody has always been good. 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. I knew he was going to make his way up the ranks in the UFC.
But if you watch his style, all he’s really got is that he bum rushes you with hooks. I think Dominick’s got too much movement for him. He’s too well rounded. Cody’d be too easy to game plan for. 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.”
Dillashaw lämnade gymmet Team Alpha Male för ett tag sedan, där Garbrandt fortfarande tränar. Trots kritiken menar Dillashaw att det inte finns något ont blod mellan dem.
”I got no bad blood with the guy. I think he talks a little bit of crap and he likes to lie a little bit. The whole deal with me moving out here and him talking crap about it was kinda crazy, because he was one of the first guys talking about moving out here with me. Then some bad mouthing happens on me and he instantly switches his mind and says he’s ’Alpha Male-bred’ and that’s the place he’s going to stay.
He’s young. He’s easily influenced. He’ll bad mouth here and there, but I think it’s just to sell his name.”
Det låter nästan som att Dillashaw vill få till en match mot Garbrandt i framtiden. Vem tror ni vinner en sådan match?
