Max Holloway, a UFC featherweight champ who suffered a leg injury that led him to pull out of his scheduled title fight against Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 on March 3. That caused the big fiasco as UFC is actively hunting for a new candidate to fill the main headliner.
UFC is looking into an option of a rematch between bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw and former champ Cody Garbrandt, who fought back in November in a fight that saw Dillashaw scores the bantamweight title via second-round TKO at UFC 217.
While it’s clear TJ Dillashaw doesn’t believe Garbrandt deserves a rematch at this point, especially on such short notice, it’s also clear he has his sights set on the super fight with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. He just had a baby and needed some time off for his healing.
Now, Dillashaw has also revealed that he’s also dealing with some nagging injuries that would make it difficult for him to compete so soon.
“I’m doing some rehab here for the next seven, eight weeks, trying to get back to being healthy,” the champ told MMAjunkie.
“[The UFC] called me, and we were talking about [fighting at UFC 222 against Garbrandt],” he said. “Anything’s possible, but it just depends. It’s definitely not something I want to do right now.
“I want to enjoy my time with my kid and heal up and get healthy. Obviously, if they need it desperately – that was something that was in talks – but it wasn’t the case. They weren’t able to do anything [for a bigger offer].”
Even, Cody Garbrandt has gone on record by offering some part of his purse to TJ Dillashaw if he accepts a rematch at UFC 222. It seems like Dillashaw is still not convinced with the offer and keeping his sights on only one fight with Johnson.
“I bet Dominick Cruz $100,000 to do a rematch, and it didn’t work out,” Dillashaw said. “And I feel like it’s the same scenario. I’ve got bigger fish to fry. I’m looking to be the best pound-for-pound guy. I’m going to go out there and beat Demetrious Johnson and be a double champ, be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and see what happens from there.”
Who do you want to see TJ Dillashaw fight next?
