Garbrandt vs. Dillashaw Pick
Two former friends, now bitter rivals, will meet for the UFC Bantamweight Championship tonight as Cody Garbrandt faces T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 217.
According to the latest oddsmakers, Garbrandt is favored to defend his championship, as he is listed with odds of -200 to prevail, while Dillashaw is getting a money line of +160 to win. These two will meet in the co-main event of UFC 217 tonight from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The main card airs live on PPV starting at 10PM ET.
Garbrandt is the young and unbeaten champion at 11-0 in his pro career. The 26-year-old native of Ohio is making his first title defense since winning the title back in December of last year with a clear decision victory over Dominick Cruz. Garbrandt has suffered injuries leading up to this fight when it was previously scheduled, but now appears ready to go. Garbrandt is very quick with his hands and feet. He has tremendous footwork and was able to out-strike Cruz in his last bout, which is something no other opponent has done to the former champion. He also has proven he can go 25 minutes without letting up.
Dillashaw (14-3) is the former champion looking to regain his title. He lost it in a close decision to Cruz back in January of 2016, but has since won two decisions to earn this title opportunity. Like Garbrandt, he hasn’t fought since December of last year either. Dillashaw has a similar style, as he uses a lot of footwork to set up his strikes and takedowns. He has great speed as well and is more compact than Garbrandt. Dillashaw and Garbrandt used to be teammates, but Dillashaw left for greener pastures after becoming champion, which created bad blood and has led to this interesting matchup tonight.
Both men are tremendous fighters that really use their technique well. However, their common opponent in Cruz. Dillashaw fought well against Cruz, but lost a decision. Garbrandt soundly beat Cruz for 25 minutes last year to win the belt. Garbrandt was a step ahead of Cruz the whole way and dictated the pacing of the fight. I think the same happens tonight as he will be better at Dillashaw’s game than Dillashaw will be.
UFC 217 PREDICTIONS: CODY GARBRANDT -200