Cody Garbrandt VS TJ Dillashaw Fallout
Cody Garbrandt lost his belt to long time rival TJ Dillashaw. Let take a closer glance at what actually happened.
Cody Garbrandt is an explosive counter puncher who typically likes to wait for you to make your move, then beat you to the punch with a right hook… TJ knew this and sought to fight long, hold his aggression, and pick Cody apart with his fight IQ…
First-round, it appeared he made a mistake and was clipped hard… A few more seconds under that level of power and the fight might’ve ended then… Tj was clearly dazed, but sometimes, hatred can be a powerful source of motivation… With taunts from Cody’s corner, TJ snapped back into the game.
TJ Dillashaw Got Back to His Senses
This is where TJ’s timing and style completely changed… Instead of having an emphasis on aggressive illusive movement, he grounded himself… TJ transitioned to holding a firmer position and sought to strike Cody from a distance with heavier single shots; essentially seeking to return back to a safe position after each strike…
I believe this was his original game plan… Getting overzealous vs Cody, an explosive and precise counterpuncher could be dangerous, for with his speed, sight, & reaction he can take advantage of the smallest windows of mistake.
TJ’s more patient style paid off. Using a technique signature to Donald Cerrone, TJ feinted his jab, and just look at how Cody’s attention is all on that jab… He knew it was a feint moving just an inch out of the way, peripheral vision activated he’s looking for the follow-up, it’s not across it must be low… on that coin toss, Cody guessed wrong, it was heads.
Just the speed of Cody… This is how talented he is… After taking a flush shot to the dome, look at how he enters the matrix and literally dodges everything by a hair. TJ doesn’t get over-excited, he slows it down… If he did, Cody was back and ready to counter, TJ would’ve been knocked out. Fight IQ.
Watch how Cody reacts differently to this jab, he moves his head at the same time this time… That kick engrained a bit of respect, and TJ predicted this seeking to catch Cody, by increasing the range of his cross via stance swap. TJ swapping into southpaw again feints his right attempting to bait Cody’s counter, it works… Cody loads up, TJ sees the shot coming, attempts to slip into a cross, misses, but so does Cody.”