UFC bantamweight champion Cody Gabrandt and TJ Dillashaw were going to battle for the bantamweight championship. All that needed to be determined was when and where.
When asked by a reporter whether the rematch between light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones would take place at UFC 213, White confirmed during the UFC 210 post-fight conference that Garbrandt and Dillashaw is scheduled for UFC 213 on July 8 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“Obviously, Cody and T.J. are already on that card, so yeah, we’ll see how that goes,” White said in response.
Garbrandt and Dillashaw are coaches on the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter 25” that begins on April 19. The top two bantamweights have a long history together. Garbrandt and Dillashaw were teammates on Team Alpha Male which is run by Urijah Faber. Dillashaw left the gym to go train at Elevation MMA in Colorado and the rivalry intensified from there.
Garbrandt won the title from Dominick Cruz, winning by unanimous decision at UFC 207 back in December. Dillashaw lost the bantamweight strap to Cruz in Jan. 2015. He got back into the title position defeating Raphael Assuncao by unanimous decision at UFC 200 back in July and most recently at UFC 207 back in December beating John Lineker by unanimous decision.
A main event hasn't been announced for UFC 213. White has stated he would like to put the scheduled fight between middleweight champion Michael Bisping and former welterweight champ and the returning Georges St-Pierre on the headlining position.
