Long before UFC 227 there was a lot of clamor that T.J Dillashaw was probably the best bantamweight champion to hold the title. His quintessential fight against Cody Garbrandt saw him re-assert his position as the perfect contender for bantamweight gold, with media and fans religiously believing in his caliber for the division.
However, despite huge number of people regarding him as bantamweight’s demi-god, there is one man who dares to discredit his supremacy. And this is no one other than , who has already defeated the “best” bantamweight champion in their solo encounter on January 17, 2016. The 33-year-old Dominick Cruz dispatched a disgraceful loss to his British counterpart rival via split decision and thus dares to question his supremacy in the bantamweight realm.
While talking in Ariel Halwani’s MMA Show on Monday, the former bantamweight champion said,
“The problem is that I beat him already. You can’t be the best until you beat the guy that beat you. It’s just common sense. Everybody in the world knows that including him.”
The brawl between Cruz and Dillashaw put an end to the latter’s reign in the division while giving Cruz a second chance to don the belt.
Cruz held the accolade for the first time in 2010. He was twice successful in defending his belt; however, owning to his injuries he had to leave his title, escaping the limelight for three years.
After trampling upon Dillashaw’s weak defense, he next fought against Urijah Faber, being successful in his defense. Later he moved to lock horns with Cody Garbrandt, but the brawl brought along disappointment, making him lose his title in December 2016. But, the belt wasn’t intended to stay with Garbrandt for long as his clash at UFC 217 with Dillashaw caused him a second-round knockout passing on the belt to “Killashaw.”
To read about T.J Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt rivlary, click here.
On Saturday night, Dillashaw and Garbrandt clashed for the second time as UFC’s 227 main card, and Dillashaw successfully defended his title, as he managed to finish Garbrandt in the first part of the fight.
To read about T.J Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt fight result and analysis, click here.
Meanwhile, Cruz has recovered from his injuries and has a gotten a go ahead to fight again. It seems that the former champion has his eyes set on the bantamweight gold and it would be interesting to see the two collide. The fight is quite important in determining who really deserves to be called the bantamweight champion.
