UFC 227: Cody Garbrandt must stay cool if he’s to gain revenge against TJ Dillashaw in grudge match of the century

UFC bantamweight champion Dillashaw can end his rivalry once and for all with another victory, but Garbrandt can take one of the sport’s great feuds to a decisive rubber with victory

The grudge match of the century goes down this weekend, as downtown Los Angeles hosts UFC 227. Current UFC bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw, defends his throne against his arch nemesis and former champion, Cody Garbrandt.

In their previous match-up, at UFC 217 in November, Garbrandt was defending his title for the first time. Dillashaw, a former team mate of Garbrandt, was once a regular on the mat at Team Alpha Male, in Sacramento, California. The animosity between the two stretches back to TJ’s departure from the team and with them both occupying space in the top five, it was inevitable that their paths would cross. The grief between the two is just the icing on the cake which makes the whole thing sweeter.

Their first fight had a great build up and turned out to be a very closely-matched contest. Garbrandt was angry, pacing back and forth and talking trash in Dillashaw’s direction. TJ, with a smile on his face, knew that Cody would be unnecessarily aggressive and started out confident. His movement patterns are hard to follow and he danced around Cody, teasing his defence with kicks. Garbrandt stood his ground for the most part and tried to strike Dillashaw’s head when he came into range. Their familiarity with each other’s game allowed them to make adjustments quickly and the feeling out process was cut short.

When Cody realised that TJ would fall into a punching combination if his kick landed, he was able to check the initial attack and plant a clean right hand on TJ. Knocked down and obviously hurt, Dillashaw was saved by the bell and struggled to walk a straight line back to his corner. This filled Cody with confidence and probably put him ahead on the scorecards. The first minute of the second round saw a cautious Dillashaw throwing slow kicks from a distance, perhaps to keep Cody back while he cleared his head. Garbrandt was reassured by the knockdown in the first and opened up a little more patient.

Cody Garbrandt claimed the bantamweight title with an intelligent win over Dominick Cruz (AP)

It wasn’t until Dillashaw set up a head kick knockdown of his own that engaged Cody’s ego again and forced him back into the flat-footed power-punching style with which he started the fight. Feinting with a jab, Dillashaw drew the attack of Garbrandt and stepped off to the side. To Cody’s credit he adjusted his attack but the counter hook of Dillashaw found its home and put the champion on the canvas. TJ Dillashaw was once again the bantamweight king and the rivalry between the two grew deeper. An immediate rematch was demanded by all parties, including Dillashaw who was happy to cement himself as champion with a second victory.

For Cody Garbrandt to perform to the best of his ability he needs to keep his cool. If we compare his first fight with Dillashaw to his five round domination of Dominick Cruz, it’s clear that Cody is an intelligent fighter with good boxing skills. He just got too invested emotionally and was intent on punching when he would have perhaps slipped or rolled against Cruz. Anger clouded his judgement and the challenge for him this time around is to stay calm, with a smiling, confident TJ Dillashaw across the Octagon. It must have been difficult in the build up to this rematch, as it’s clear that TJ is playing the game.

Dillashaw saw off Garbrandt with smart head kicks and end the fight with a counter-hook (Getty)

At every opportunity Dillashaw is poking and antagonising Garbrandt, trying to rile him before they face off on Saturday night. Garbrandt is keeping his cool but his impatience to finish Dillashaw won’t pass until the belt is back around his waist. If Dillashaw is able to keep the title then he has a score to settle with Dominick Cruz. If Garbrandt is able to recover his champion status then a rubber match will surely be on the cards. These two are very evenly matched. Cody has tremendous power and a solid boxing skill set.

TJ Dillashaw celebrates his UFC 217 victory over Cody Garbrandt (Getty)

Dillashaw leans more on his wrestling background but has developed a diverse striking arsenal under the tutelage of Duane Ludwig. They are both going to need to show something new in this next bout. They both got tagged in that previous fight and there is so much on the line, not only with the title but with the rivalry being so fierce. I’m sure that they would both like to move past this and focus on dominating the division. While they both stand in each other’s way though, that can’t happen. In many years’ time I’m sure we will all see that it was this rivalry that forced them both to excel and as a result we get to see some incredible fights.

Garbrandt became emotionally invested in the first fight with Dillashaw (Getty)

In the co-main event we also have Demetrious Johnson defending his flyweight title a second time against Henry Cejudo. Having cleared out the division Johnson has received much criticism for not taking on TJ Dillashaw himself. I’m sure he will be paying close attention to the main event if he is able to stop Cejudo a second time.

Watch UFC® 227: DILLASHAW vs. GARBRANDT 2 live on BT Sport 2 from 1am BST early on Sunday, August 5, or catch the Early Prelims exclusively on UFC Fight Pass from 11:30pm BST on Saturday