New champ Cody Garbrandt says 'run it back' with Dominick Cruz, who punts to T.J. Dillashaw

LAS VEGAS – There came a moment in the third round of Cody Garbrandt’s fight with Dominick Cruz where everything shifted.

Cruz, he told MMAjunkie, had been responding to his in-cage trash talk during the first two rounds of their co-headliner at Friday’s UFC 207. But when he asked the bloodied champ a question – “Are you having fun?” – he received no response.

“I knew right there it was my fight,” Garbrandt said at the post-event press conference at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which hosted the pay-per-view event.

That was just one reason why Garbrandt (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) perhaps didn’t push as hard as he could to finish Cruz (22-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC), even after dropping the champ three times. And it’s one reason he wants to take a different course than he plotted immediately after a unanimous decision that put the belt around his waist.

“You know what? I had so much fun in there,” Garbrandt said. “Dominick’s been arguably the best bantamweight in the world. Let’s run that (expletive) back. Let’s give him an immediate rematch, so he can go off to the next chapter of his career.”

Moments after getting the strap, Garbrandt struck a decidedly different tone. He took up the callout of ex-champ T.J. Dillashaw, his former teammate at the Team Alpha Male gym who had called out Cruz one bout earlier on the card after a decision over John Lineker.

“I would like to give Dominick a rematch, but it’s ultimately up to the UFC,” Garbrandt continued at the post-fight news conference. “But I’m the champion now. I’m the baddest dude in my division, so I call the shots.”

If that’s the shot Garbrandt calls, he could have a slight issue: Cruz is ready to pass the contender’s torch to Dillashaw, whom he beat earlier this year to take the bantamweight title a second time.

“T.J. wants next, I have no problem with that,” Cruz said prior to Garbrandt’s appearance on the dais. “The guy’s very good himself. We’ve had our exchange of words, and I wouldn’t take back one thing that I’ve said about anybody in the division.”

It’s hard to imagine Cruz would hold that stance if he knew Garbrandt wanted a second go-around, but stranger things have happened. And it’s not immediately known what the fallout from UFC 207 will be as far as injuries, so the availability of contenders might be an issue.

Garbrandt later clarified that he has no problem making Dillashaw his first target after winning the belt just 11 fights into his professional career.

“I’m the baddest dude in the world, so bring ’em all,” Garbrandt said. “I already knew what I did to Dillashaw when I was 1-0. I was green, getting my ears wet, and I was just a fighter at heart. I’ve been the uncrowned champion, even when Dillashaw was on the team. Now I’ve got this, so anybody in my division can try to take it from me.”

If it’s Cruz, the invitation is to re-take it. Garbrandt showed up the long-dominant champ with superior movement and punching power that stopped him in his tracks. The final scores of the bout were 48-46 twice and 48-47.

“It played out exactly I thought it was going to,” Garbrandt said. “Dominick is a great champion; he’s arguably one of the best bantamweights to ever grace the octagon. It was a pleasure going out there testing my mettle. I had a lot of what-ifs, and I think I solved every one of them.”

And even though he might have added another highlight reel to his collection, Garbrandt preferred to savor his win.

“He was hurt a lot; I could have jumped on him, took his back, and knocked him out,” he said. “But he’s tough. He’s here for a reason. It’s Dominick Cruz. I knew he’s tough. He’s got a big old head, so I knew he could absorb a lot of punishment.”

Afterward, the two shook hands and hugged, a decided departure from a pre-fight buildup of trash talk. Even though he relished his duties on Friday night, Garbrandt said he always had respect for Cruz and praised his efforts.

“If he went out there and whooped my ass, I would have shaken his hand and his coaches and did the same,” he said. “Humble in victory and humble in defeat. He made me a better person and a better fighter. I generally don’t like the guy; he said a lot of ill words. I said I was going to make him eat every single thing. It was a great fight.”

For complete coverage of UFC 207, check out the UFC Events section of the site.