Cody Garbrandt feels the damage has been done.
Garbrandt met Dominick Cruz in an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight title bout back in Dec. 2016. “No Love” defeated “The Dominator” in a unanimous decision win. It was considered by many to be a star-making performance from Garbrandt.
Cruz hadn’t lost a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bout since his submission loss to Urijah Faber back in March 2007. Cruz has only lost to Faber, the founder of Team Alpha Male, and Garbrandt, who is a member of Faber’s camp.
The rivalry has no end in sight, as Cruz has plans on waiting for his title opportunity. Garbrandt is making his first 135-pound title defense against former champion T.J. Dillashaw. Garbrandt has “No Love” for Dillashaw either, as he left Team Alpha Male for Elevation Fight Team.
While Garbrandt is focused on facing Dillashaw in July as well as coaching against him on season 25 of The Ultimate Fighter, Garbrandt knows Cruz is still vying to get his title back.
During a media day session (via MMAFighting.com), Garbrandt gave respect to “The Dominator” for his reign as bantamweight champion. While he gave credit where it’s due, Garbrandt doesn’t believe Cruz will ever return to form:
“I was very surprised with Dominick, all the sh*t talking he did. What he said he was gonna do to me, he wasn’t able to do that, so I was just waiting for him to get the rematch. Give him the rematch, give him the respect for being the most dominant bantamweight fighter in the world. If I talked a lot of sh*t and kid comes and beats me up like that, I’d at least try again, because I have a fighter’s heart. I feel like Dominick doesn’t [have a fighter’s heart]. I think I broke Dominick in that fight and truly don’t think Dominick will be the same.”
