Cody Garbrandt says he never saw T.J. Dillashaw as a real champion.
When Dominick Cruz was forced to vacate the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight title, Renan Barao went on a tear with the gold. Dillashaw ended up finishing Barao and ended his streak. Dillashaw had two successful title defenses before dropping the gold to Cruz.
Garbrandt told Flo Combat that Dillashaw just kept the belt warm for Cruz:
“[TJ] had his time to be the interim champion. He walked around with a fake belt. He was never a real champion. He never won a real world [championship]. The guy’s a loser and he wants to sit there and say that he won the fight with Dominick Cruz. No he didn’t. Maybe it was a close fight, but he didn’t win the fight. He’s delusional. He’s had a silver spoon in his mouth so he feels entitled to everything in his life.”
He went on to say that Dillashaw will need to pull out all the stops to get past him.
“I’m hitting my stride. I’m more confident, more experienced than a lot of people give me credit for. A lot of people gave me credit after the Cruz fight, but I knew all along that I had those bigger fights or the more skilled or dangerous fighters if you want to call them in front of me. I only rise to the occasion. So TJ…bring out the best in me because it’s going to be a level that you’re not going to be able to rise to. He’s hit his peak.”
Garbrandt will defend his bantamweight title against Dillashaw at UFC 217 on Nov. 4.
