TJ Dillashaw

By FCF Staff

The UFC has approached TJ Dillashaw about fighting Cody Garbrandt at UFC 222 next month, but increasingly, it looks like the fight won’t happen.

The promotion is scrambling to find a new headliner for the pay-per-view card, after Max Holloway withdrew from a bout with Frankie Edgar, due to injury. When reports surfaced that the UFC is hoping to book Dillashaw – Garbrandt II for the March 3rd card, the bantamweight champ said he wasn’t interested, on account of the fact he recently had a son. Dillashaw has also argued that the former champ doesn’t deserve an immediate rematch.

Since then, Dillashaw appeared on MMA Junkie.com Radio, and he revealed he’s dealing with an injury (quotes via MMA Junnkie.com):

“I’m doing some rehab here for the next seven, eight weeks, trying to get back to being healthy”

“They called me, and we were talking about (fighting at UFC 222 against Garbrandt),” Dillashaw said. “Anything’s possible, but it just depends. It’s definitely not something I want to do right now.

“I want to enjoy my time with my kid and heal up and get healthy. Obviously, if they need it desperately – that was something that was in talks – but it wasn’t the case. They weren’t able to do anything (for a bigger offer).”

UFC 222 is scheduled to be hosted by the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.