UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and former titleholder TJ Dillashaw have history. The two are former training partners and members of Urijah Faber-founded Team Alpha Male. When former Team Alpha Male head coach Duane Ludwig left the team, Dillashaw departed with him.
The two are now opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption, and the tension couldn’t be higher. In the first episode, the two had a physical altercation. Often times reality television is hardly reality, but the animosity between the former teammates couldn’t be more real.
“Cody is a very loyal, hardcore Team Alpha Male guy, and he feels like TJ betrayed the team,” said UFC president Dana White during the TUF 25 debut episode on Wednesday.
“The way TJ left Team Alpha Male was just straight sellout. I mean, lied to his team, to the people that helped him,” said Garbrandt. “Faber has given him money, shelter, yet he was scheming and plotting on the backend for what he’s calling his ‘sponsorship money.’ At the same time, we were questioning him on it; TJ, either you’re with us or not. TJ’s a snake and a sellout.”
Their beef comes down to Dillashaw’s decision to leave his former team. He felt Ludwig was a better fit, but that decision sparked a rivalry.
“My situation with TJ, he was an old teammate and old training partner,” said Garbrandt. “I never liked the guy. That was because I thought it was his competitive nature. But as time went on, I got to know TJ as a person. It wasn’t the case. It was just that he’s a d—head.”
