Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw said that longtime rival Cody Garbrandt’s KO loss at UFC 329 was “depressing” to watch.
Garbrandt was brutally knocked out by Adrian Yanez on the UFC 329 undercard. It was his fifth knockout loss during his UFC career, including two previous knockout defeats to Dillashaw back in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
At age 35 and having taken so much damage during his UFC career, Garbrandt likely doesn’t have much time left in the sport. As talented a fighter as he is — he is a former UFC bantamweight champion himself, after all — all of these knockout losses have added up, and this latest one was so devastating that fans are starting to get concerned for him, as are his fellow fighters, including Dillashaw.
TJ Dillashaw Reacts to Cody Garbrandt’s Latest KO Loss
Speaking on the “JAXXON Podcast,” Dillashaw shared his honest thoughts about seeing his longtime rival get brutally knocked out yet again.
“For me, it’s just depressing because I know how good he could be. He’s super fast. He hits like a truck. Even before the fight started, they talked about him working on his defense – he does not need to work on his defense when someone is throwing at him. What he needs to work on is his head motion while he’s throwing,” Dillashaw said (via MMAjunkie.com).
“He throws great combos, but his head stays super tall and always in the same exact position. It never gets off the line. Like if he’s throwing a right hook, his head’s here (straight); left, his head’s here, rather than dipping his head out of the way while he’s throwing. He’s getting caught in the counter. He’s getting caught when he’s throwing.”
Will Cody Garbrandt Fight Again?
After losing to Yanez at UFC 329, Garbrandt was seen taking off his gloves in the center of the Octagon, which is typically a sign that a fighter plans on retiring. But he did not make the decision that night, and he may want to step into the Octagon one more time, as UFC president Dana White revealed that Garbrandt had a conversation with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby following the event.
If Garbrandt wants one more fight, the UFC would likely honor it, since he has been such a good soldier for the company and he is still a fan favorite despite all of his recent losses. But that would have to be the last one, because the risk of him continuing to get brutally knocked out in future fights going forward is too high.
But the UFC didn’t give Garbrandt a proper sendoff at UFC 329, so he would have to fight at least one more time for that to happen, and perhaps that’s what he wants. So we’ll see if the UFC ultimately does grant Garbrandt one more fight, but there seems to be a pretty good chance of him wanting to step into the cage one more time just based on his latest social media post, where he made cryptic comments to fans.
Former Rival Calls Latest Cody Garbrandt KO Loss ‘Depressing’