UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is gearing up for his first title defense. “No Love” will be taking on former champion and former teammate T.J. Dillashaw in the pay-per-view co-main event for UFC 217. The event goes down Nov. 4 inside the Madison Square Garden Arena in New York. Of course, the champion’s team is already thinking ahead to what will come next.
Speaking on the Five Rounds podcast, as transcribed by MMA Fighting, Team Alpha Male head coach Justin Buchholz explained that a super-fight against UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson may be next on the list after Dillashaw.
“For sure, [Cody] can do it right now. He’s real big and strong right now and he’s getting bigger so he’s gotta do it right now if he does go down. For sure, [Demetrious Johnson] is a fight that we would love to have but we’ll just see about getting his body down to 125 [pounds].”
Finishing his thoughts on the matter, Buchholz added:
“I’m confident that can happen. That’s nothing. I’ve seen a lot harder things than that. Cody can make that weight and keep his power and put the weight back on and go back to ‘35 at this point in his career, while he’s young. We know the dangers of switching weight classes and whatnot with Roy Jones Jr. and you can see the stuff with B.J. Penn. We know what we’re doing here. Everything’s a science now. You’ve got to be on top of your game so you can get the correct people and set the right systems in place. We can do it old school so that’s why I’m confident with all the new school stuff it’d be even easier.”
