TJ Dillashaw Credits Team Alpha Male For UFC 217 Win
TJ Dillashaw captured the UFC Bantamweight Title for a second time when he defeated Cody Garbrandt in the co-main event of UFC 217.
The new champion credits an unlikely source in Team Alpha Male for helping him get the victory.
“I walked back to the corner and I heard their cornermen being jerks, just like they’ve been the whole camp, saying they’ve got my number,” Dillasaw said on The MMA Hour. “‘We’ve got your f’ing number, Dillashaw! We’ve got your f’ing number!’ I heard that. As soon as I heard that, I turned back to my corner and was like, ‘Alright, let’s get our sh*t together.’ I kinda hit my hands together and I was like, ‘Alright, I’ve gotta change it up.’ So I sat down in the corner and just listened to (coach) Duane (Ludwig). He’s the one looking from the outside in. That’s why he’s in my corner, he’s got great eyes and we changed up the tempo. We decided to come out for the second round a different fighter.”
Dillashaw and Team Alpha Male have been at odds ever since the new bantamweight champion left the camp awhile back.
However, there was one member of Team Alpha Male who was willing to congratulate Dillashaw and that was Justin Buchholz.
“In the back, the one guy who was willing to come up to me and shake my hand was (Team Alpha Male coach) Justin Buchholtz,” Dillashaw said. “All of the other guys still seemed pretty bitter. They put a lot on this. They put their whole legacy of Team Alpha Male behind Cody. They put a lot of pressure on that guy to live up to what they wanted him to be, and I didn’t feel like that was really fair to him either. But they put all of their eggs into Cody, and I smashed them. I smashed their dreams. I smashed who they were, and they’re all bitter about it.”
Garbrandt has called for a rematch against Dillashaw and the new bantamweight champion has stated that the former title holder won’t get an immediate shot to reclaim the gold.
