T.J. Dillashaw says thanks to new UFC champ Cody Garbrandt: 'Now I'm going to get a title shot'

LAS VEGAS – Shortly after taking the UFC’s 135-pound title from Dominick Cruz in Friday’s UFC 207 co-headliner, Cody Garbrandt issued a not-so-subtle callout: “T.J. Dillashaw, come find me, mother(expletive).”

Fresh off his own dominant UFC 207 victory over John Lineker (29-8 MMA, 10-3 UFC), former champ Dillashaw (14-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) was right there listening to Garbrandt (11-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC). And while the invitation wasn’t exactly cordial, he’s nothing but thankful for his former Team Alpha Male stablemate’s words so far.

“I don’t have hard feelings,” Dillashaw said after the pay-per-view event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “I’m sure it’s going to be played up big time for all the drama and stuff. No hard feelings. Maybe a little bit with the unnecessary trash-talk when I’m not even fighting him.

“But, all I can say is thank you because now I’m going to get a title shot. For sure, with the drama leading up to this is – thank you.”

The ex-champ’s confidence in his No. 1 contender spot was backed up by UFC President Dana White, who – in spite of Garbrandt’s later change in tune – said Dillashaw is the most likely challenger.

“T.J. Dillashaw said that, if he doesn’t get the shot, then this whole thing is rigged,” White joked during the FS1 post-event show. “So I think I’m going to give the rematch to Dominick Cruz just to make him right.

“Dillashaw made it look easy against a very tough guy, a scary guy that can knock you out at any moment. And Dillashaw is a total conspiracy theorist and says nutty stuff all the time, but yes, he’s probably next in line.”

White was referring to Dillashaw’s post-fight comments about how not getting a title shot would mean “this (expletive) is rigged” – a speech that the ex-champ later explained was simply a strategy to ensure a title shot regardless of the co-headliner’s outcome.

“I did what I thought I had to do: to talk about Cruz (22-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) to try to line that up if he did win,” Dillashaw said. “I figured if Cody won, that they’d put us together because of the big drama thing.

“But if Cruz won, I didn’t want the same thing to happen. I didn’t want him to look for another fighter or retire. Who knows what? I figured that was the only way that I could still get a title shot.”

And the “drama thing” is already in motion. Even after months of an intense, animosity-filled promotion, Garbrandt proved willing to go a few more verbal rounds just a few hours before his fight, bringing up an alleged video that shows Dillashaw being “knocked out cold” (via Twitter):

Dillashaw, in turned, denied the video’s existence.

“It’s definitely false,” Dillashaw said. “They’re not going to put anything out because I’ve never been knocked out. I’ve never been knocked out. The closest I got knocked out was when (John) Dodson hit me in The Ultimate Fighter Finale, and that got stopped.

“My lights went out, but that’s the closest I’ve been to being knocked out.”

“Healthy and “feeling good,” Dillashaw said he’s up for another stab at the title whenever the promotion makes it available. But, early drama aside, he has nothing but compliments for the way his likely next opponent performed against the man who took the title from him.

“I’m impressed,” Dillashaw said. “I thought Cruz was getting into his head so much and having his buddies and his cornermen, whoever it was, getting in his head and trying to get his feathers ruffled. And for him to keep his composure the way he did, I was really impressed.

“He did a good job of not getting getting too aggressive and not winging punches and kind of held back. I felt like Cruz almost looked like the one emotional on the fight tonight. I feel he looked a little bit more stiff and didn’t use his jab as much as he does and falling over from kicks and stuff.

“I thought it was a gameplan of Cruz to get in his head, but it looks like it went the other way. Looks like it backfired on him.”

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