TJ Dillashaw won back the bantamweight title from his bitter rival Cody Garbrandt tonight at UFC 217 with a big second round comeback that led to a TKO finish.
Round One:
The UFC 217 co-main event bantamweight title fight is underway at Madison Square Garden!
Dillashaw misses with a hard leg kick and Garbrandt is already showboating. Undeterred Dillashaw fires out another kick. Garbrandt fires out a right hand.
Dillashaw thinks about a spinning backfist, but it doesn’t find the target. Garbrandt taking his time here and seems to be looking for opportunities to counter.
That comes soon after I write that as Dillashaw goes for a kick and then Garbrandt comes charging forward with quick hands and puts DIllashaw in reverse gear.
Another quick punch from Garbrandt. Again he waits for Dillashaw to come into range and then puts together a lightning-quick combination.
Garbrandt avoids punches from Dillashaw. Dillashaw misses with a hook and Garbrandt blasts to the body and head. Another exchange and Dillashaw lands a punch.
Towards the end of the round now and Garbrandt lands a bombing right hand that floors Dillashaw, but the bell saves him. He gets to his feet, but staggers back to his stool.
Round Two:
Dillashaw looks to have decently recovered inbetween rounds. Dillashaw whiffs on a kick and Garbrandt showboats afterwards.
Garbrandt still looking for the chances to counter. Dillashaw attempts to get in on a takedown, but Garbrandt easily stuffs that.
Dillashaw with a head kick and it briefly drops the champion, though he gets right back up and manages to get away as Dillashaw looks for more offense.
Garbrandt with a flurry of punches to try to ward off Dillashaw. The action starts to settle down for a moment, but then it ramps right back up again as Dillashaw delivers a huge right hook that floors Garbrandt hard.
Garbrandt gets to his knees but he’s still badly rocked and isn’t defending himself, so as the punches continue to rain down the referee has seen enough and brings the fight to an end, handing Dillashaw a massive TKO victory over his bitter rival to reclaim the bantamweight title!
Impressive stuff from Dillashaw here, particularly as he had to come back after being badly rocked late in the previous round. However, these two fighters are young enough that you’d have to imagine that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of them in the Octagon together, and as fight fans that’s defintely something to look forward to!
However, Dillashaw now has his eye on fighting pound-for-pound No.1 and long-time flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, which is also an exceptional match-up.
