Plenty of History

Squaring off as the head coaches in The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption, these two have plenty of history. Pranks, wars of words, and even scuffles. There has been tension between these two elite fighters for a long time.

We all know that Cody Garbrandt has anger ignition issues which can lead to sometimes cringe-worthy trash talking. But despite his apparent emotional instability, which tends to be the Achilles Heel of most fighters, it just seems to inspire Garbrandt in the octagon. His 11-0 record … 9 by way of KO/TKO proves that.

We all saw the explosive exchanges in the TUF 25 series … TJ Dillashaw constantly seeming to win the battle of who can get into the other’s head, but in a recent interview, Cody stated that for him, Dillashaw was never a problem.

“For me, it was never a problem until he [TJ Dillashaw] went to the media and had to build this character that he wasn’t; he was portraying it. That’s not TJ. Everyone knows that’s not TJ.” -Coday Garbrandt via FOX UFC

Last Times Around

Both Garbrandt and Dillashaw have impressive racked up impressive resumes. Most recently, TJ Dillashaw has back-to-back, impressive wins over John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao, but failed where Cody Garbrandt did not … Dominick Cruz.

Garbrandt’s unanimous decision over the legendary, Cruz placed him on the list of ‘special fighters’. In fact, Dominick Cruz is the only fighter to face Garbrandt in 10 fights to make it out of the octagon without being knocked out or having the fight stopped. It’s safe to say that Dillashaw has something to prove … a little more dog in this fight than any other match.

However, Cody Garbrandt is definitely going to want some payback for that wicked ass-whooping he got at the hand of TJ Dillashaw in water tetherball!

Ready To Fight?

Could Cody Garbrandt’s back become an issue? Well … it already is an issue, everyone is just hoping that his rehab is fully successful and this fight doesn’t get pulled from the card on Noveber 4th in Madison Square Garden. Garbrandt’s own words were that he should be ready as early as November … so he could be cutting it close. After two procedures on his back [disc] Garbrandt was reportedly in so much pain that he couldn’t even walk and was sent to Germany for further cutting-edge disc regeneration treatments. It’s going to take a lot of spinal decompression and most of all time to heal.

The problem I find with this is: to what extent is his ability to train and actually prepare for one of the best bantamweights in the UFC?

Despite the questions surrounding his health, oddsmakers are giving ‘No Love’ a bit of love listing him on the early odds as a slight favorite (-130), Dillashaw (+110). You can review a top betting sites list for the full set UFC217 odds and other MMA props.

The Prognosis

TJ Dillashaw is an excellent wrestler, so Garbrandt has to keep this one standing up, especially won’t want to be torquing and wrenching that bad back by going to the ground with the likes of Dillashaw. If Cody can keep it standing, he just might add another knockout to his record.

If TJ Dillashaw can pass Garbrandt’s take-down defense and get Cody on the ground, I question Garbrandt’s ability to sustain the long ground game due to possible limitations in training while trying to rehab his back. Dillashaw should be able to manhandle him and institute some beautiful ground and pound action.

The odds are not out yet on method of victory, but I am going to take the fight to go the distance and end in a split decision.

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