UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has been removed from the UFC 213 card, and is out indefinitely due to a back injury. His challenger T.J. Dillashaw, in turn, wasted no time in getting himself a new opponent, calling out flyweight champion and top pound-for-pound fighter Demetrious Johnson.
Mighty Mouse seems uninterested in facing Dillashaw, but if the fight does happen, Garbrandt wants in on the action. On Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, he laid down his own stipulation for his former Team Alpha Male comrade.
“TJ, if you get beat, I will never fight you,” Garbrandt said (via MMA Fighting). “I’m gonna go down and fight Demetrious at ‘25. You lost that chance. TJ, you go in there and beat DJ, I’m gonna jump down to ‘25 and steal your belt. That’s what I told [UFC president] Dana [White].”
Garbrandt has yet to make his maiden title defense since winning the belt against Dominick Cruz last December. But even so, he is already looking ahead and planning out his immediate fighting future.
“I’m gonna finish him and then I want to go and fight Demetrious. That’s my legacy that I’m creating,” Garbrandt said. “TJ is a generic version of everything. He’s a generic version of Dominick Cruz. I wanted to fight Demetrious and now he wants to fight Demetrious.”
“That’s my goal. I’ve spoken to Demetrious numerous times,” he continued. “That’s my goal after the TJ fight. TJ, first and foremost, but I’m wanting to go down and fight Demetrious right after that.”
“They all know that I’m the money fight, and I’m the big fight at the lower weight classes.”