TJ Dillashaw may have won the battle against former Team Alpha Male training partner Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217, but he hasn’t won the war. Members of his previous camp still seem to hate his guts, and that goes all the way up to the top with their typically chill leader Urijah Faber. Faber recently retired last December, but hinted at a return following Dillashaw’s recapture of the bantamweight title.
During a Metro PCS fan Q&A, someone asked him what would be interesting enough to prompt a comeback.
“I would say probably the [fight] with the most zeroes behind it, number one,” Faber replied. “You know, I would say probably T.J. Dillashaw. That sounds like a good time.”
Dillashaw earned Team Alpha Male’s ire after winning the 135 pound belt and then departing the team with striking coach Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig. Since then, there have been endless stories from former teammates on how Dillashaw uses performance enhancing drugs, how he injures teammates during sparring, and how he’s just generally a terrible person who smells and is not to be trusted.
The UFC went so far as to build an entire season of The Ultimate Fighter around the hate between Team Alpha Male and Dillashaw, which resulted in several heated confrontations and Cody Garbrandt grabbing TJ by the throat.
Dillashaw got the last laugh, though, knocking out Garbrandt in the second round of their title fight at Madison Square Garden. While the two will undoubtedly face off again sometime in the future, for now TJ has declared Cody unworthy of an immediate rematch and has plans to move down to 125 and challenge flyweight powerhouse Demetrious Johnson. It sounds like Faber is also a possibility now, too. And let’s not forget the rest of the studs at Team Alpha Male who compete in the lower weight classes.
With the way things are going, Dillashaw could spend a big chunk of his career battling guys from his former team looking to dethrone him as champion. It’s an interesting bit of drama in a division that’s often pretty squeaky clean, but we think TAM will have to do better than the 38 year old Faber if they want to vanquish the nemesis they hate so much.
