Former UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw faces current champion Cody Garbrandt for the gold next month at UFC 217.
The former champion says Garbrandt?s downfall is going to be that he is more of a fighter than he is an athlete.
"An athlete's going to go out there and figure out ways to win, see the holes in the game,? Dillashaw said on The MMA Hour. ?I do treat myself more as an athlete than I do a fighter, as a fighter you're a street thug. Going out there trying to knock someone out, being really aggressive. I'm going to go out there as an athlete just as he said, and pick him apart using that. Don't get me wrong, he's very athletic. He's quick, he's got some great athletic attributes. I think yeah maybe his downfall is that he's more of a fighter. He could be more of an athlete; I just don't know if he's smart enough to be that way."
Dillashaw and Garbrandt have been at each other?s throats for a while now, ever since Dillashaw left Team Alpha Male a few years ago.
Besides the UFC Bantamweight Champion, the eyes of Dillashaw are on another prize in the UFC Flyweight Title.
"I would love that. I wanted it when it should have happened,? Dillashaw said. ?He's the pound for pound kingpin, he's the guy that's top of the world right now and I think he's a winnable fight. I think that I could have stopped him from breaking the record and it could have been something great, a big money fight for himself. And yeah, that's something I'd love to do, especially knowing that I can make the weight, knowing that 125 is a very doable thing."
UFC 217 takes place on Saturday, November 4 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York with Michael Bisping and Georges St. Pierre headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.