Earlier this year, Cody Garbrandt offered a breakdown of why it was not until 2019 that T.J. Dillashaw got busted for EPO usage. Dillashaw makes his return shortly at UFC Vegas 32 when he takes on Cory Sandhagen in the main event.
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[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: January 31, 2021, 1:05 PM]
Cody Garbrandt believes that T.J. Dillashaw needs to conquer the man in the mirror before he worries about who his next UFC opponent will be.
Former teammates Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw have not seen eye to eye on many things in the time since Dillashaw exited the Team Alpha Male gym in 2015. The buildups to both fights between the two were contentious to say the least, with Dillashaw getting the last word when Bruce Buffer announced him the victor on both occasions. But this isn’t where the story ends. Because after Dillashaw tested positive for EPO in 2019, this changed the narrative of his entire MMA career for some.
Cody Garbrandt is not among these people because he has claimed to be aware of Dillashaw’s EPO use far before the positive tests. In fact, prior to their second clash at UFC 227, Cody Garbrandt disclosed to the world at the UFC 25th Anniversary press conference in 2018 precisely what Dillashaw was taking (EPO).
Despite the suspension and the public stigma that comes with being labeled a drug cheat, Dillashaw has maintained that the positive test that led to his suspension was the only time he has taken EPO or any other performance-enhancing drug. He claims that he only did it to help him cut weight down to 125, a division he had never competed in before. So when Cody Garbrandt was asked in a recent interview who Dillashaw should face in his first fight back from suspension, he gave an unexpected and quite blunt response.
“I think T.J. has got to be honest with himself. If T.J. comes out, apologizes, and takes blame for what he did, then that’s a step in the right direction,” Garbrand told The Schmo. “He still hasn’t fully came and said that he did EPO. Oh, some kind of bullshit about how he cut weight. Like, you don’t just stumble upon EPO the first time in your career when you’re cutting down to 125.”
Cody Garbrandt Explains How Dillashaw Got Caught
In an interview just prior to his suspension being lifted, T.J. Dillashaw asked his critics the question of: If I have been cheating all along, why is this the first time I’ve been caught? In other words, why wouldn’t he continue the exact same system that led him to get away with it? Cody Garbrandt would answer this question for Dillashaw in detail.
“The reason why he got popped is because he had it down to a T at 135 pounds,” Garbrandt said. “Now, you go and you’re doing different supplements, you’re doing different training, you’re cutting to ’25, you might not know what it takes to get out of your system because you’re cutting the extra 10 pounds, and that’s how he got busted. Because he didn’t have it mathematically or scientifically, whoever his doctor or team that was administering his EPO usage or himself…because T.J.’s a pretty smart individual. And that’s where he messed up.
“So I think the first fight with T.J. is just admitting to himself, to the UFC, to everybody that he’s been doing it.”
What are your thoughts on Cody Garbrandt’s comments on his former teammate turned rival T.J. Dillashaw?
