Former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and Urijah Faber many not be on the best of terms any more after he left Team Alpha Male to train at Elevation Fight Team, but he claims he’s still be cheering him on in his trilogy fight with Dominick Cruz at UFC 199 on June 4th.
“I have to be happy for Urijah,” Dillashaw told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour show. “I had a friendship with the guy, it’s a cool story if he goes out and beats [Cruz] and finally gets his belt in like his eighth title shot or something like that, it would be a cool way for him to finish his career in the UFC.
“So I’m going to root for him, even through all this drama going on, this bullcrap that got blown out of the water that went on between me and him. I still hope he wins the fight, I like him a lot more than I like Cruz. Cruz is not very respectful and kind of a dick.”
That being said, Dillashaw doesn’t give Faber much of a chance of defeating the current bantamweight king, despite the fact that ‘The California Kid’ does hold a prior win over Cruz dating back to 2007 in the WEC.
“Cruz [wins], for sure,” Dillashaw said with conviction. “Cruz is a little too athletic for Faber, Faber is flat-footed.”
Dillashaw has first-hand experience, having trained extensively with Faber, and also having lost the 135lb title to Cruz by split decision back in January of this year.
The 30 year-old had been hoping to head into an immediate rematch with Cruz, and admitted that he’d been disappointed and angry when Faber got the nod instead.
