Several weeks ago, fight fans were made aware of a back injury sustained by UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt. As a result of the back injury, Garbrandt will be unable to defend his bantamweight title against TJ Dillashaw this summer.
As a result, UFC President Dana White informed fans that Dillashaw will be dropping down to flyweight to challenge UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight championship in a fight which could see Johnson break the UFC record for most consecutive title defenses. With that being said however, the champ seems to want no part of a flyweight showdown with TJ Dillashaw, explaining that it isn’t fair for the former bantamweight champ to cut the line at 125 pounds.
The way Dana White sees it, Johnson not wanting the fight is absolute madness. He spoke on UFC Unfiltered:
”T.J. is going to go down to 125 to fight D.J. to stop him from breaking the record, but D.J. doesn’t want to fight him. It’s insanity.”
“Unfortunately for D.J., you don’t make the fights around here,” he said. “I do. (Johnson vs. Dillashaw is) the fight we’re pushing for.”
“This is the first fight ever in D.J.’s history that he actually gets pay-per-view,” White said. “He gets pay-per-view on this one, and this is the first real fight that people will care about and want to see on pay-per-view, and he is refusing to fight T.J. Dillashaw.”
“What’s he ranked – like (No.) 5 or 6?” he said. “T.J. Dillashaw is a former world champion, coming down from the weight class above who’s next in line for the title shot there. Absolutely he’s next in line (at flyweight), if that’s what he wants. … It’s nothing against Ray Borg.”
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This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/1/2017.