There’s much more than a title on the line onn Saturday’s UFC 217 main event between champion Cody “No Love” Garbrandt and his former teammate T.J. Dillashaw.
The drama, emotions and what’s at stake means everything for both sides of the bout.
Team Alpha Male (TAM) founder Urijah Faber discovered, recruited and cultivated T.J. Dillashaw from his college days, taking him all the way to the UFC bantamweight title.
One would think that doing so would merit some loyalty to his mentor, and the team Faber built from the ground up, but that isn’t the case.
Instead, Dillashaw took a cash grab and swapped camps, then went and talked smack about his old team including Faber.
Now we’re in a spot where the new champion Cody Garbrandt can right the wrong, and put an end to the Dillashaw chapter. Not only for himself, but for his team and his general Urijah Faber.
In a final parting message from Urijah Faber, he took to instagram to send a message to his former pupil T.J. Dillashaw. In it, Faber stated, “A man’s right to chose 2015 #tbt get that money @tjdillashaw just quit lying ?@ufc #ufc217 nobody kicked u off any teams. We just build champions @cody_nolove @teamalphamalemma”
This year’s return trip to Madison Square Garden is proof the UFC can still deliver a stacked mega-card, with all the bells and whistles.
Set to headline next week’s MSG card, Georges “Rush” St-Pierre returns to the Octagon for the first time in over four years. He will face off against the UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping in the UFC 217 main event, on pay-per-view.
Also on the night’s fight card is a long-awaited title fight between ex-teammates Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw. And a big strawweight title fight between Joanna Jedrzerjczyk and “Thug” Rose Namajunas.
