January 28, 2025 9:20 pm ET
T.J. Dillashaw has an unpopular opinion on UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili’s hardest combat.
Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) retained his bantamweight title when he outlasted Umar Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) by unanimous resolution within the UFC 311 co-main occasion.
Former champion Dillashaw sees Dvalishvili ruling over the 135-pound division for some time. Nevertheless, he did surprisingly choose former foe Cody Garbrandt (14-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) as probably the champion’s sternest check – regardless of “No Love” having misplaced three of his previous 5.
“I wish to see Garbrandt combat him finally as soon as Garbrandt will get a few wins again below his belt,” Dillashaw mentioned on the “JAXXON PODCAST.” “Garbrandt can wrestle, dude. After I educated with Garbrandt loads, he’s so f*cking quick. “He’s like a cat on his toes. He’s laborious to take down, and as quickly as he will get his confidence again, he hits like a truck, he’s quicker than – I feel he might do actually good if he can get a run going, believing in himself, he may very well be a risk.”
Dillashaw, who completed Garbrandt in back-to-back title fights, explains the reasoning behind his choose and what it’s going to take to dethrone Dvalishvili.
“You’ve bought to seek out somebody who’s bought the wrestling,” Dillashaw continued. “Why Umar is such a risk is as a result of Umar can wrestle. To beat Merab, you’ve bought to wrestle as a result of you understand he’s going to shoot, he’s going to shoot, he’s going to shoot, and then you definitely bought to have the ability to outstrike him. He’s bought good hanging abilities, however he’s not like a striker. So, that’s why I say somebody like Garbrandt.”
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