Skip to content

Dillashaw: UFC says I get Demetrious Johnson if Garbrandt is out

Kyle Terada / USA TODAY

Should Cody Garbrandt be unavailable, TJ Dillashaw has already set the wheels in motion for another big fight.

Dillashaw told ESPN's Brett Okamoto that he's confident Garbrandt won't show up for his scheduled defense of the bantamweight title at UFC 213 on July 8. The champion is currently in Germany undergoing treatment for back issues and if he is forced to withdraw, Dillashaw has assurances from the UFC that he will be allowed to challenge Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title at a later date.

"I was told that if Cody is out of the fight, which I am 99 percent sure he is, I will be fighting (Johnson) in August," Dillashaw said. "I texted (UFC president) Dana White three days ago to ask what the deal was. He told me Cody had one more day of injections (in Germany) and then we'd find out what was going on."

The UFC has not issued any official statements regarding Garbrandt's health, but Dillashaw sees the potential withdrawal as part of a series of events placing him and Johnson on a collision course.

A former champion at 135 pounds, Dillashaw believes he can drop down a weight class with adjustments to his diet and workouts. It's a move he's willing to make now that his good friend Joseph Benavidez - a longtime contender at 125 pounds - has been sidelined with a torn ACL.

Dillashaw also believes he presents the best possible challenge for Johnson, who is looking to break the UFC record for most consecutive championship defenses at 11 in his next fight.

"Everything has just come together on this," Dillashaw said. "Meeting a coach who can safely get me to the weight, Joseph's situation being out for a while, Demetrious trying to break the record of all-time title defenses - I want to be in big money fights and this is one of them.

"Here's your chance to go down as the greatest of all time. I feel if he goes another way, you have to put an asterisk next to his name. I don't feel like he'd be stepping up the way he should if he wants to be the greatest of all time."

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox