Cody Garbrandt, Luke Rockhold enters pound for pound rankings

Cody Garbrandt says he knows why TJ Dillashaw got caught using EPO

TJ Dillashaw is just about finished with his USADA suspension that he received two years ago following his flyweight title fight with former champion Henry Cejudo. With Dillashaw planning his return, a former teammate of his is speaking out on the backstory behind Dillashaw’s banned substance usage and more.

“The reason why he got popped is because he had it down to a tee at 135 pounds,” Cody Garbrandt said in an interview on The Schmozone Podcast. “Now, you go and you’re doing different supplements, you’re doing different training, you’re cutting to 125, you might not know what it takes to get out of your system because you’re cutting the extra 10 pounds, and that’s how he got busted. Because he didn’t have it mathematically or scientifically, whoever his doctor or team that was administering his EPO usage or himself. Because T.J.’s a pretty smart individual. And that’s where he messed up.”

Dillashaw and Garbrandt had trained together for many years as members of Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male. When Dillashaw left the gym there grew a rivalry between the team and Dillashaw. That rivalry spilled over onto The Ultimate Fighter season coached by Garbrandt and Dillashaw. They even fought each other twice with Dillashaw winning both contests.

After testing positive, Dillashaw did come out and apologize in a public statement. However, this statement is not regarded as a full apology by Garbrandt.

“He still hasn’t fully came and said that he did EPO,” Garbrandt said. “Oh, some kind of bullshit about how he cut weight. Like, you don’t just stumble upon EPO the first time in your career when you’re cutting down to 125.”

Both TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt are looking for title shots when they return, Dillashaw at 135 pounds and now Garbrandt making the drop to 125. Perhaps if either wins a belt we could see a rematch between these two former teammates turned bitter rivals and a possible trilogy fight.

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Nicole Bosco