Chael Sonnen seemingly agrees with TJ Dillashaw’s criticism of UFC rival Cody Garbrandt.

TJ Dillashaw has met Cody Garbrandt in the Octagon twice. In November of 2017 at UFC 217 Dillashaw (18-4 MMA) defeated Garbrandt (12-5 MMA) with a second round knockout, reclaiming his UFC Bantamweight Championship. Meeting again in August of 2018 at UFC 227, the result was much the same, Dillashaw finished Garbrandt via first round TKO, defending his crown.

TJ Dillashaw recently appeared on ‘The Schaub Show’ podcast and made the claim that Cody Garbrandt although the fastest fighter he’s sparred or fought with is not ‘the smartest human being inside the cage’.

Addressing TJ Dillashaw’s comments on ‘Beyond the Fight’, Chael Sonnen had this to say:

“T.J. Dillashaw took a swing at old nemesis Cody Garbrandt. And T.J. made an observation, and he actually complimented Cody, talked about how fast he is, how fast those hands are, and said but he’s too dumb within the sport. Now, that’s a way that an opponent would word it, right? I’m an advocate. I’ll see T.J.’s point. I’ll just word it differently. Cody’s stubborn.”

Sonnen went on to speak about Garbrandt adopting a more grappling style instead of standup fights in the Octagon. Also Sonnen noted Garbrandt’s penchant for getting into in close-quarter striking exchanges when he has exceptional wrestling skills.

Offering up some advice, while critiquing Garbrandt’s fighting style, on how he could fight smarter and safer, Sonnen finished with (h/t Sportskeeda):

“Would you rather have a few of those [critical] comments out there, or would you rather have your hand raised? Would you rather go out in dynamic style, or would you rather have a safer fight? These are fair questions to ask. And for right now, the more risk is the way Cody’s going with it. He is for sure stubborn.”

Do you agree with Sonnen and TJ that Garbrandt could fight ‘smarter’? Would you like to see a trilogy fight between ‘No Love’ and ‘Lieutenant Dan’?