UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw defends the gold in a rematch against former champion Cody Garbrandt at UFC 227.
The new champion isn’t exactly convinced that the former title holder deserves an immediate rematch.
“I don’t think in any form does Cody deserve the rematch,” Dillashaw said on The MMA Hour. “But I’m happy to do it. The UFC obviously wants it. So I mean, if they want it, they’re going to pump this up. For whatever reason they want to put Cody in there. I think it’s a great fight for me. He doesn’t deserve it whatsoever on the sport side of it. But I’m a businessman and I’m going to go out there and put him away.”
Dillashaw and Garbrandt first met in the co-main event of UFC 217, where Dillashaw scored a second round knockout win to become the bantamweight champion for a second time.
One thing is quite apparent to Dillashaw, which is that he expects the second fight to be easier then the first encounter.
“Immediate rematches or rematches in general, I don’t know if they ever really do change,” Dillashaw said. “I see myself winning this fight even easier. Just like with the Barao situation, I went out there and won the second time even easier.”
UFC 227 takes place on Saturday, August 4 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California with TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
