T.J. Dillashaw claims UFC put '$6 million' into former champion in hopes of being 'next Conor McGregor'
T.J. Dillashaw recently claimed that the UFC heavily backed a former champion because of his incredible potential early on. He noted that the rapid rise was accompanied by plenty of pressure, but heaped praise on his abilities.
Dillashaw and former teammate Cody Garbrandt had a memorable rivalry that stemmed from their personal animosity after the former's well-documented departure from Team Alpha Male. The split caused a rift, which made for a heated buildup to both of their bantamweight title fights. Garbrandt surged in popularity as he went on to dethrone Dominick Cruz in spectacular fashion as an unbeaten fighter in December 2016.
During his latest appearance on The Casuals MMA, Dillashaw claimed that the UFC put millions of dollars behind his former teammate-turned-rival. Dillashaw mentioned that the promotion had high hopes for Garbrandt, especially following his performance against Cruz, and wanted him to talk more and reach Conor McGregor's level superstardom:
"[Garbrandt] had an amazing fight against Cruz...The UFC's like, 'Hey, this is our next big horse. Let's put some money into him'. So they marketed the sh*t out of him, put him in a bunch of commercials, got some celebrities behind him. From what I was told, they put like $6 million into marketing him before our fight...So he went to massive stardom fast. They wanted him to be the next Conor McGregor." [43:45]
Check out the full interview with T.J. Dillashaw below:
T.J. Dillashaw opens up about his rivalry with Team Alpha Male
In addition to his claims regarding the UFC getting behind Cody Garbrandt from a marketing perspective, T.J. Dillashaw opened up his rivalry with Team Alpha Male.
During the aforementioned appearance, Dillashaw mentioned that Conor McGregor added more fuel to the fire during their famous exchange on 'The Ultimate Fighter', but noted that he became a lot more popular so viewed it as a positive:
"[McGregor] just springs on me saying, 'There's that little snake in the grass', like saying that I'm going back-and-forth training. So the whole thing started there, but at the same time, I do need to thank him because the whole [Cody] Garbrandt thing happened [and] skyrocketed my stardom when it comes to fighting." [27:32]
Check out the exchange between T.J. Dillashaw and Conor McGregor on 'The Ultimate Fighter' below: