The longstanding feud between Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw comes to a head during UFC 217 , but before the big showdown, Garbrandt has released a sparring video seemingly depicting him knocking out Dillashaw.
The two have hated each other since Dillashaw’s departure from Alpha Male, an MMA fighting team that Garbrandt is currently part of. This event, along with others, has had the two squaring off against each other.
Garbrandt has continually criticized Dillashaw’s exit from Team Alpha Male as a lack of loyalty, according to Rolling Stone . The two trained together with the coaches of Alpha Male, sparring to become better fighters, but all that was lost the moment Dillashaw left the team.
Dillashaw leaving Team Alpha Male had largely been in part to striking coach Duane Ludwig’s own departure from the team, as well as differences with Alpha Male’s founder Urijah Faber. When Ludwig exited, Dillashaw wanted to continue training with him, but that didn’t sit well with Faber, who gave him an ultimatum.
His decision to leave Team Alpha Male set up a rift between the team and Dillashaw.
This led to Faber and Garbrandt’s decision to openly talk about the way Dillashaw was behind the scenes. They said that he took cheap shots on other fighters he sparred. In one case, he was “choked out” by Chris Holdsworth to which Dillashaw got up and “kneed him” in the back of the head while he was still on the ground.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbCbHEZhu8K/?taken-by=cody_nolove
However, Dillashaw maintains that the animosity that’s being perpetuated by Team Alpha Male is more of a “one-way traffic.” He doesn’t harbor the same hate for Team Alpha Male as they do for him.
At a recent press conference for the UFC 217 fight they’re co-headling, the Garbrandt did not mince words about other controversial information on Dillashaw. Garbrandt stated that Dillashaw was the one who showed Team Alpha Male how to use performance-enhancing drugs and reminded everyone about the video showcasing Dillashaw getting knocked out by him.
Dillashaw responded that the knock out that Garbrandt keeps talking about never happened.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaphFCMFA0L/?hl=en&taken-by=tjdillashaw
Garbrandt posted the video on his Instagram account and can be viewed below. However, it is a short video and cuts off before we can see what is assumed to be Dillashaw and Garbrandt. It’s a little unclear because of the low quality of the film, but it does appear to show what could be Dillashaw getting knocked down. The video immediately cuts off before you can see if the fighter gets back up.
Only UFC 217 on November 4 will tell how the fight between these two will go and how this feud will end.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbAuCSIhEth/?taken-by=cody_nolove
[Featured Image by Thos Robinson/Getty Images]